Pet King

Chu Manhua settled the payment and got an invoice together with a pet sales agreement. Once all of that was completed, the mini poodle that could smell signs of hypoglycemia in a diabetic patient belonged to her.

In fact, it was not uncommon for poodles to have an excellent sense of smell. It had been said that the ancestor of the modern poodle was a kind of Truffle Dog in Britain in the fifteenth century. Their mission was to help their owner smell out precious mushrooms known as truffles, and they were very sensitive to the smell of that mushroom––perhaps the mushroom also exuded a scent similar to that of a hypoglycemia reaction in a diabetic patient.

In short, she bought a lot of pet supplies. There were too many things and they were too heavy, so she asked Zhang Zian to mail them over.

She wanted to put on a collar and a leash on the mini poodle, but it just wouldn’t keep still. As if it knew that it was going to leave the pet store, it broke free from her hands and ran back to her mother.

Chu Manhua asked, “That dog is…?”

“Its mother,” Zhang Zian answered.

Wang Qian had thought about carrying it over, but he was stopped by Chu Manhua. She suddenly wondered if she was being selfish. Should she really be breaking up the mother and child?

The mother of the mini poodle was the female poodle that had escaped with it from Love Lovely Pets. Because it was forced to give birth for a long period of time, her physical condition had not been very good. Giving birth caused its body to lose calcium and it even lost some of its teeth. After a period of nursing, although it had partially recovered, it was not as healthy as other adult dogs.

Zhang Zian did not intend to sell the female dog to his customers. He planned to raise it in the pet store unless he met a very suitable customer.

The mini poodle seemed reluctant to leave its mother. It whimpered as it went around in circles and sniffed her scent, but its mother acted very cold to it. Recently, its mother had not paid any attention to it. It even pushed it away when it came close to her. The same was true that day when it tried to get close to its mother––the mother, who was lying on the floor, suddenly stood up, turned around, and left. She then chose another spot and laid down again, not looking at it at all.

Her cold attitude made the mini poodle feel very sad. It sniffed where its mother had just been before it walked in a depressed manner towards Chu Manhua.

Chu Manhua squatted down and tried to put the leash on it again, and that time, it did not resist or break free. Instead, it kept still for Chu Manhua so she could attach the leash on it.

“We’ll be heading off. Thank you, Mr. Zhang––and thank you, everyone.” Chu Manhua thanked Zhang Zian, Lu Yiyun, and Wang Qian, and said her goodbyes.

“Be careful on the road,” Zhang Zian said. “Come back again if there are any problems.”

Wang Qian and Lu Yiyun both also waved goodbye to her.

She led the mini poodle out of the store. Although she would usually take a taxi home, she decided to walk home that day because her doctor had advised her to move around more. Since she still wanted to live a long, healthy life, she was going to follow the doctor’s advice.

When Chu Manhua and the mini poodle disappeared from their sights, the female poodle stood up and stared blankly at the door of the store. Even after some time had passed, it did not lay back down.

That night at Love Lovely Pets, it had pushed its child that was only the size of a palm to Old Time Tea and Famous. Now, it had done the same thing again.

Whether it was humans or animals, when the child grew up, the parents would force the child out of the house and push them towards the wider world. Eagles would even push their eaglet off from their high nest in order to make the eaglets learn to fly. To a certain extent, it was also the instinct of the creatures to survive and multiply.

The others may not have noticed, but Zhang Zian did. He walked over and patted the back of its neck. The mother whimpered and laid back down on the ground, its eyes still staring at the door.

Zhang Zian saw that there was no other thing in the store that required his attention, and both Wang Qian and Lu Yiyun seemed to be handling everything well. He went out of the store and took out a long object that was wrapped in plastic sheeting from the trunk of the Wuling Shenguang and went back up to the second floor.

Entering the living room, Pi was typing away on the keyboard as usual. Many of the keys had already worn off since the keyboard was originally not a high end keyboard. Fortunately, Pi had already adapted to touch typing, and whether or not there were the letters on the keyboard made no difference to it.

Zhang Zian put down the things in his hands, walked up to the desk, and said, “Pi, do you have time now? I need to use the computer for a while.”

“Zhi zhi.” Pi raised its hands high and did a little stretch. It then took off its pince-nez glasses, rubbed its eyes, and jumped from the swivel chair, gesturing for Zian to go ahead.

“Well, Pi, you can take a break. I’ll be done soon.”

Zhang Zian opened up the browser, entered the omnipotent Taobao, and typed in the keywords he wanted to search before pressing enter.

He didn’t really hold much hope before, but he was relieved to see the loaded pictures. It really was the omnipotent Taobao. Such things were really sold, and there was also quite a number of sellers…

“Zhi zhi?” Pi also saw the pictures on the screen. It curiously stood next to the desk. Its height was only a little higher than the desk, and its eyes were barely over the desktop.

Pi gestured, as if to ask, “You want to buy a boat?”

The pictures on the computer screen were all boats––to be precise, inflatable boats.

Zhang Zian said, “To buy or not, I haven’t decided yet. Let’s just take a look at them first and compare the price and performance ratio for each merchant.”

The screen of the mobile phone was too small, which made it very inconvenient to compare them. It was more intuitive on the computer, and more content could be displayed at one time.

“Actually, I’m planning to buy an aircraft carrier… Preferably a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier––those that carry fighter jets––but I didn’t expect them to be taken off the shelf. Now, there are only their models left, and it seems like the omnipotent Taobao is no longer what it used to be…” he sighed.

Pi was in a complete blur.

The inflatable boats displayed by the Taobao sellers came in a variety of models, from unpowered inflatable boats that could only accommodate a single person for about one hundred and something dollars, to four-seater assault boats with electric motors for about two to three thousand dollars. The boats of different grades came with different prices and different configurations, which only made Zhang Zian, who had no knowledge about it, confused.

Of course, in theory, one got what they paid for, and they could never go wrong buying the most expensive one. In the scope of economic conditions, buying the most expensive item in one’s price limit was basically the right option.

Two to three thousand dollars was not expensive. Zian could afford the number, but he still had to consider another piece of criteria: the size of the boat didn’t seem as though it could be loaded into the boot of the Wuling Shenguang. How would he bring it to the beach then? Lug it over?

He was planning to buy the inflatable boat to use it, and not display it in the aquarium.

“Zhi zhi?” Pi wonderingly gestured. It meant to ask, “What are you buying a boat for? Are you going out on the sea?”

Zhang Zian pondered for a moment before he nodded, “I have that thought, but it’s not confirmed yet.”