Pet King

Snowy didn’t know why her mother had been neurotic, nor why she had been sitting in the lotus position lately. In fact, it was because she wanted to be a Buddhist-style mother after Snowy had annoyed her, but she failed all the time.

“When I was eating breakfast this morning, Snowball suddenly vomited. It puked out a puddle of disgusting stuff with a lot of cat hair in it. I had to suck up my nausea and clean it up,” she said with a bitter face. “Is it because its hair is too long?”

“It’s not because of the long hair. It’s now shedding season, especially for long-hair cats such as Persian cats. They shed heavily. Cats like to lick their hair, which cannot be digested. It will form a ball, and then be puked out,” Zhang Zian corrected. “Cutting its hair short is the right choice. We have short springs anyway; it’ll get hot soon and the long hair will make it very uncomfortable. You can feed it some hairball remedy after you get home.”

“Okay.” Snowy nodded in agreement.

She knew that Zhang Zian didn’t offer any pet grooming services at his shop. She had to cut Snowball’s hair by herself if needed, but that was fine. She wouldn’t entrust others with the task. The reason she didn’t cut it at home was that Snowball always behaved very well each time it came to the pet shop.

As they were talking at the entrance, a few young people came over merrily.

“Snowy, we are your fans! We knew that you were live broadcasting here today, so we came to watch. We can be on camera at the same time,” they said.

They seemed to know each other. Maybe they were classmates or colleagues.

“Thank you! No problem!” Snowy answered with a big smile.

Such things happened a lot. Most of her audience members were Binhai locals. The fans often recognized her while she walked in streets. The die-hard fans even showed up in the broadcast locations that she had forecasted and asked to be shown on camera.

After getting Snowy’s permission, they turned to Zhang Zian and said after a short silence, “We know you––you are the Sexual Harassment Store Manager! Time for a duel!”

Zhang Zian stepped back, made a “T” with his hands and said, “Wait! Why are you calling a duel right at the start? It’s unlawful to fight in public! I won’t ask why you’re calling a duel, but which one of you will duel against me? Stand out!”

“We will duel against you together,” they said with righteous confidence. “We can also give you a chance to duel against all of us.”

Zhang Zian thought, …You want a group fight, don’t you? Cut the fancy words!

A short guy among them was observant and noticed the Wuling Hong Guang parked in front of the shop. He gave the others a meaningful look.

Before Zhang Zian could realize what was happening, they took a red banner with some big words written on it out of someone’s purse. He could not see the banner clearly.

His anger turned into happiness as he thought that they were there to congratulate him. Except that they gave him a banner instead of a pennant… and the banner was wrinkled and of poor quality. Apparently, it was poorly made in a rush.

But that was fine. It was better than nothing.

Two tall guys grabbed the banner by the two ends––one on the left and the other on the right––and stood behind Zhang Zian. Others took out their phones, searching for the best angle for pictures and videos.

Zhang Zian cooperated with a smile.

A girl dubbed a voice while trying hard not to laugh out loud. “Store Manager Zhang joined the pet industry less than a year ago. He purchased a Wuling Hong Guang as the fruit of his hard work! He’s a new role model in sexual harassment. He poses with his left hand and slaps his own face with his right hand! He is enthusiastic, young, and energetic. He bought a Wuling Hong Guang so that all the cats and dogs in his pet shop can have a ride…”

After that, she was no longer able to read her script. She held her stomach and bent down to the ground.

As Zhang Zian heard her words, he began to wonder where the lines came from. Why did they sound so familiar?

He lifted his head and saw the banner. Written on it was: “I, Mr. Zhang, CEO of Amazing Fate Pet Shop, congratulate myself on purchasing the Wuling Hong Guang!”

Before he had time to respond, the two tall guys threw the banner to the ground after finishing their task and ran away. The other people in charge of photos and filming also scattered all over the place!

Zhang Zian almost exploded in anger!

He estimated that, after a short while, the photos and videos would spread online. The live broadcast fans would start mocking him soon.

Snowy laughed so hard that her belly hurt. Her fans were too good at pranks!

Apparently, they had come prepared. They pretended to be there for Snowy, but in fact, they came to prank Zhang Zian. While he was not paying attention, they actually succeeded…

Zhang Zian was wondering if he should take Zhan Tian to track them down and ask them to give back the photos and videos. Before he could decide, someone else arrived.

“Mr. Zhang, it’s us again!”

He turned his head and saw Electrician Wu with Welder Zhao. They stopped their electric bicycles in front of the shop and greeted him while they locked their bikes.

Business was more important. He had no choice but to give up on the idea of chasing after the pranksters. He went over and said, “Good morning, elders! What can I do for you?”

“Haha, last time we saw you we heard about your aquarium’s opening. We are planning to get some saltwater fish. After talking to each other, we decided to wait a few more days and get some from your aquarium after the opening. We trust your shop more than the others!” Electrician Wu said cheerfully.

He had been thinking about buying some high-grade saltwater fish for a while. After visiting several aquariums, he had not yet found anything satisfactory. He decided to buy some from Zhang Zian becuase he trusted him.

“Yes. This time, I’m ready to spend a fortune!” Welder Zhao put his hand on the wallet in his pocket with a serious face, as if he was afraid that the wallet might fly away like a bird. “Right, shouldn’t there be some promotion for the grand opening?”

Electrician Wu’s face suddenly turned serious. He elbowed his old buddy for hinting that he decided to be there just for the promotions. Even if he was, he should not make it so obvious. Wasn’t it embarrassing?

When it came to being stingy, Zhang Zian could not compare himself to anyone else but Welder Zhao. The old man had made an aquarium tank from scratch, all by himself, without spending a penny. Despite its problems, his gift in building things was beyond doubt.

“Mr. Zhao, rest assured. All marine creatures are 20 percent off today. All the aquarium equipment is full price.” He lifted his hands to signal them. “Please come in and have a look around.”

Welder nodded in satisfaction. “Okay then. If your fish are of good quality and a reasonable price, I’ll recommend it to my fish lover friends. Oh, is it safe to leave my electric bike at the entrance?”

“Don’t worry; it won’t get stolen. Otherwise, I’ll compensate you,” Zhang Zian promised generously. A man capable of stealing things inside or outside his shop had not been born yet––with the exception of the Holy Cat statue. It had disappeared on its own; nobody had stolen it.

Electrician Wu knew that it was the first day of the opening, and Zhang Zian was surely overwhelmed with customers and visitors. He could not waste too much time on two old men with limited purchase power. He dragged Welder Zhao’s arms, bringing him into the aquarium.

Before Welder Zhao could say anything further, he was dragged into the shop by Electrician Wu.