Pet King

The night after the closing ceremony was sleepless.

Zhang Zian’s improvised speech was unexpectedly successful. Guests below the stage gave him the biggest round of applause there had been since the beginning of the film festival. Some celebrities even stood up to applaud the speech. The hostess on stage, the old lady who was one of the starters of the film festival, along with the jury standing behind the unawarded trophies all gave their generous applause to him and Famous.

The remaining awards, except the Best Actress, the Jury Grand Prix, or the Best Film, all ended up going to supporting roles in Dog Warrior.

There was only one leading role tonight, and it was Famous!

It finally stood on the stage of the highest award, showing everyone its real name and enjoying the glory it had long deserved.

After the speech, Zhang Zian bent down and put the microphone next to Famous. Its eyes were filled with tears as it barked a loud woof!

At that moment, Famous’s bark was broadcast to everybody watching the festival––all over the globe––through the internet at lightning speed.

******

“Eek!”

On the second floor of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, Pi, who barely watched television, wasn’t writing its novel tonight. Instead, it was dancing towards the online television app and clapping, despite the fact that nobody could hear it.

Book of Pi was flipped open to a blank page on the desk. The pince-nez was put aside.

******

“Holy crap!”

In the boy’s dormitory at Binhai University, Wang Qian and Li Kun looked at each other, each with a phone in their hands. “Now the Master is famous!”

Wang Qian said, “Isn’t it true that, after one becomes immortal, his chicken and dog follow him into heaven?”

Li Kun said, “Do you want to be the chicken or the dog?”

The dorm chief on the upper bunk yelled at them, “Fry your chicken and dog! What are you waiting for? Get online for the game. Now!”

******

“Meow.”

In the old residential area, Lu Yiyun was sitting in front of her small table with her pajamas on. She tickled Jasmine’s chin and sighed. “I know it, I know it. I’ll have plenty of work to do tomorrow…”

“Ah!” She lay down sadly, covered her face with a pillow, and rolled over. “I want a day off!”

******

In a brand new, big house, each door inside was widened intentionally for easier wheelchair access.

Guo Dong Yue held a bowl of hot food in her hands. She tested the temperature with a spoon in her mouth, then scooped a spoonful of food into her mother’s mouth.

While chewing subconsciously, she stared at the pair of red-headed love birds huddling in their cage and mumbled, “Little Purple, Yellow Pea Cake, are you hungry?”

Guo Dong Yue glanced at the television, then put the bowl down and moved her mother’s wheelchair in another direction. She pointed at the screen and asked, “Mom, do you remember this person? He gave us the parrots.”

Her eyes seemed lost and unfocused, as if she was trying hard to recall something. In the end, she just smiled.

******

“Mom, mom, mom! Mom, mom, mom, mom!”

Snowy jumped off the stairs like a monkey, her phone clutched in her hand.

“Oh my, little precious! Slow down!” Shi Rong tapped her thigh with concern.

Without saying one more word, Snowy projected her phone screen to the television in the living room. “Look! You keep telling me that my broadcast is just me fooling around, but look! I’ve gotten to know a big name!”

******

Jiang Tianda was drinking tea when he saw who was on the television. He spat the tea out!

Holy crap, this poser is posing outside China! he thought sadly.

******

Slap!

Good-For-Nothing lifted its head out of the bowl, licked off the beef residue around its mouth, then stared at its owner as if it were saying, “Why are you punching me again? Don’t you have better things to do? What if I get a concussion and become stupid?”

Jin Er was seeking the trend of jewelry in the fashion world, as usual. He stared at the screen and said with regret, “Look at him! You have to die after comparing yourself with others!”

Good-For-Nothing came closer with a grin and stared at him thoughtfully, as if it were saying, “Look, I’m not young anymore. When are you going to look for a girlfriend for me?”

Jin Er rubbed Good-For-Nothing’s head with a crafty smile. “Girlfriend? I’m bringing you to the vet tomorrow to turn you into a eunuch!”

******

Sun Xiaomeng fell asleep at her desk, an array of veterinary medicine books under her arms. Her phone screen was lit and left aside on the charger. She was planning to watch the live broadcast, but could not stay awake any longer. She fell asleep without realizing it.

******

Inside the dormitory of the police dog team, Xiao Liu, Xiao Wang, and their teammates were sitting around the television, knocking on the metal bowls and cheering loudly. They could not be happier, even if they had won the award themselves.

In the kennel, Red Dragon and Prince seemed to have felt something. They stood up, erected their ears, and gazed into the distance.

******

Luo Qingyu put his phone aside and quickly fetched the SLR camera to look for a picture with Zhang Zian or Famous. He remembered going to the opening ceremony of the pet shop with the photography club. He could use this opportunity to post on Weibo or WeChat moments to mooch some popularity.

He had even come up with a title. It was: “As the professional photographer of Famous, I have a word to say…”

After further thought, this title was not heroic enough. He wanted to change it to, “As the designated photographer of the Best Actor dog, I have a word to say…” It would definitely attract a lot of girls to come and get photoshoots done with him. He might become famous just like that!

However, after going through all of his memory cards, there were only sneaky photos of the girls in the pet shop from different angles. All of the photos with Zhang Zian and Famous had been deleted…

******

After helping his child with his homework and putting him to bed, Sheng Ke crept into bed himself. He stared at his phone while leaning on the headboard, keeping the volume at the minimum level.

“Hey!” He elbowed his wife’s back. “Get up and look! I introduced this dog to the production crew! I’m kind of a Bo Le, right?”

“Got it. Now go to sleep! I have to go to work tomorrow!” His wife didn’t move––she didn’t even open her eyes. Her voice was filled with fatigue.

Sheng Ke sighed. They were an old couple, after all, and had lost their passion.

He put his phone on the nightstand, turned off the light, and went to bed. In his heart, though, he remained excited. He could not fall asleep for a long time.

******

In the restaurant of the beach town, the television was not playing the local soccer game. Instead, it was playing the closing ceremony of the Berlin Film Festival.

Suddenly, Karl stood up and raised his beer glass high. White foam was overflowing from the glass. He shouted in a loud voice, “To celebrate my friend’s award, everyone gets a drink. It’s my treat!”

The customers raised their glasses one after another. “Cheers! Cheers!”

Then they emptied the glasses in one sip!

“Another one!” they shouted.

******

Many workers and students were busy with work or school and didn’t watch the live broadcast. It was midnight in China, after all. Some were like the Li couple and didn’t know which app to download in order to watch the broadcast. The next day, however, there would surely be more people watching the recording after they heard the astonishing news.

The night was still young.