Pet King

They didn’t lower their voices, so the conversation between Zhang Zian and Old Time Tea was overheard by the other elfins.

“Meow, meow, meow! There was a stray cat spying on us? Was it coveting after my beauty?” Snowy Lionet sat on the bench with its head looking upwards, but because it was still too low, it couldn’t see anything. Snowy Lionet then hugged the pillar of the pavilion and tried to climb up it, but whenever it was halfway up, it would slide down again.

“What cat is so bold that it dares to spy on this queen?” An icy emanated from Fina’s eyes.

Famous also asked in confusion, “Old Time Tea, could you be mistaken? Besides, you’re invisible now, so it shouldn’t be able to see all of you.”

The incident was really beyond belief. How could an ordinary, stray cat spy on them? However, Old Time Tea had always been calm and cool-headed, and it wouldn’t have brought it up if it wasn’t sure about it.

Zhang Zian nodded. What Famous said made sense too… All the other elfins aside from Famous were currently invisible. If the stray cat was indeed spying on them, it could only be spying on Zhang Zian and Famous.

Old Time Tea talked in great detail. When they left the hotel building, it had noticed that there was a stray cat probing around in the hotel parking lot.

It was a very normal phenomenon because spring nights were still very cold. Stray cats liked to rest near car engines, like on the front tire or the engine cover, using the engine’s residual heat to warm themselves. If it rained or if the temperature dropped suddenly, the stray cat might even sneak into the engine compartment from the chassis. To the stray cats, an engine compartment was a magical place that could shelter them from the wind and rain, and there were situations where stray mother cats would give birth to their kittens in the engine compartment…

However, for car owners, that situation was very bad. Because they didn’t know that a cat had entered their engine compartment, when they started their car, they might hurt the stray cat. Also, if the stray cat excreted in the engine compartment, there was a foul stench.

Old Time Tea saw the stray cat in the parking lot, but it didn’t think much of it. It had thought that it was looking for a warm engine compartment to stay in for the night.

As Zhang Zian and the other elfins walked towards the garden, however, the stray cat quietly followed behind them, maintaining a distance of 100 steps. It was hiding as it followed them, as if it didn’t want Zhang Zian to find out.

Old Time Tea continued to observe their surroundings. The other elfins did not realize that they were being followed by an unfamiliar stray cat, only Old Time Tea had noticed it. It still didn’t really care; it felt that the stray cat could just be hungry, so it was following Zhang Zian in hopes of finding something to eat.

However, when Zhang Zian walked into the garden and began to chat and play with the elfins, the stray cat didn’t come over for some food. Instead, it quietly snuck into a corner and used the surrounding flowers as a cover as it watched every move both Zhang Zian and Famous made.

It was starting to behave unlike ordinary stray cats.

Old Time Tea was bold with confidence. It didn’t make any noise when it discovered the stray cat’s abnormality, but instead, it started to observe the cat. Even if the stray cat was conspiring something, Old Time Tea wasn’t afraid.

After some observation, it noticed that the stray cat wanted to leave, so it immediately notified Zhang Zian.

It had also considered approaching the stray cat quietly then taking it down by surprise, but what could it do after taking it down? Torture it and force out a confession? That was obviously impossible, and the average cat had limited intelligence, so it might not have even been able to get anything useful out from the stray cat.

Another way was to quietly follow after the cat and see where it went after it left, but that would take up a lot of time.

As they listened to Old Time Tea, everyone was surprised that they had encountered a strange incident just after they arrived in the capital.

Zhang Zian decided to maintain the status quo. If the stray cat was really spying on them, it would definitely come back.

They played hide and seek in the garden for a while, but during the fun, Zhang Zian and the other elfins kept their eyes open. The stray cat didn’t appear again.

******

The next morning.

Zhang Zian woke up on a soft, sun-soaked bed and did some stretching. He didn’t want to get up. The bed was too soft and comfortable. No wonder the princess in The Princess and the Pea could feel a pea under her mattress; she was most likely sleeping on such a soft bed, too.

It was the day of the opening ceremony of the Beijing International Film Festival and their schedule was quite packed. In addition to meeting with the media, Famous would also participate in the opening ceremony as a special guest where he would have to have his photo taken and be asked for interviews. Fortunately, both Zian and Famous had already gotten used to such situations.

Fina was sleeping under the blanket on another bed, while Snowy Lionet slept on top of the blanket. It had tried several times to get under the blanket so it could sleep with Fina, but it was pushed out every time.

Galaxy slept on the windowsill, and the rising sun decorated its fur with a golden circle. The white curtains gently swayed as the wind blew out of the central air conditioner and covered Galaxy’s body like a blanket.

Pi was still in a daze. It turned over and fell off the sofa, but fortunately, the floor was layered with a thick carpet, so it didn’t feel much pain. It yawned and felt around for its pince-nez glasses, but after some time, it couldn’t find them anywhere. It opened its eyes to look around, then it remembered that they weren’t on the second floor of the pet shop.

Pi woke Famous up when it fell off the sofa. Famous was in high-spirits and it didn’t take it long to wake up completely. It stood up from the carpet and shook its hair.

Old Time Tea slept on another sofa near the coffee table. Soaked in the teacup on the coffee table was the tea bag from last night. Zhang Zian had forgotten to bring the tea that it loved––a careless mistake––so it had to make do with the instant tea bags provided by the hotel.

Richard’s mouth was tied shut with a cloth strip, and it wanted to call out but it couldn’t, so it just jumped around and flapped its wings.

Zhang Zian had a headache. When the room attendant came in to clean the room and saw so much cat furs, bird feathers, and monkey hair, what would the person think?

Zian put on his clothes, got up, and went to the bathroom.

“Wow! This bathtub is great! It’s so blissful! Is this the rumored life of those from the higher class?” Sihwa laid in the tub and watched as water and bubbles continued to rush out from the jacuzzi jet. She was almost moved to tears.

“Did you have the massage function on for the whole night?” Zhang Zian asked. “You must’ve enjoyed it enough, right? I’ll have to keep you in the phone when we head out later.”

Sihwa slapped the surface of the water and objected. “No! I don’t care! Today I will broadcast live in this bathtub, and shut the mouths of all those audience members who laughed at my bathroom and called it shabby!”

“No, we don’t have a choice. After we leave, the room attendant will come in to clean up the place, and if the person sees a mermaid in the bathtub, they will definitely faint.” Zhang Zian refused without hesitation. It was not even going to work if he left her invisible––the water in the tub would give her away.

“D*mn! Cheapskate!” Sihwa vented her temper and splashed water everywhere.

Zhang Zian brushed his teeth and washed his face, then woke up the other elfins.

Pulling the curtains open, he caught a glimpse of something at the parking lot. There was something that shot out from beneath the cars that looked like a cat.