Pet King

Old Time Tea sucked in a breath of cold air, but this time it wasn’t because of the stray cat. It said: “Who is this old woman? Why are her eyes so sharp?”

Next to the blue-gray wall, the grandmother wore a gray vest and a pair of gray trousers that matched the color of the wall. At first glance, it was the perfect camouflage; only the red armband on her arm seemed striking.

She looked around with vigilance and scanned her surroundings as if everything was a suspect. Any unfamiliar car or stranger that passed by would have to bear her watchful eyes until they disappeared completely from her sight. Her look would send chills down anyone’s spine, which was enough to deter anyone that had malicious intents.

A hand-woven, woolen phone sock was hanging around her neck, and once she discovered a suspicious person or a suspicious vehicle, she would immediately pick up her phone and whisper into it.

Zhang Zian coughed and explained, “She’s probably part of the residents committee for the neighborhood. Although they’re both residents committees, her aura is much stronger than Grandma Gu from our Zhonghua Road residents committee! This is the capital’s Chaoyang District, so if I’m not wrong, this vigilant grandmother should be the legendary secret s… No, not that. The legendary Chaoyang Residents!”

“Oh? Are the Chaoyang Residents powerful?” Old Time Tea was shocked.

“Of course. Countless cases have been cracked every year by the Chaoyang Residents. The cases range from big cases that shocked China to smaller security issues. The Chaoyang Residents are active everywhere! They’ve also been listed as one of the top five intelligence organizations in the world, together with CIA, KGB, MI6, and Mossad! The key is that the people in Chaoyang Residents are very secretive. Everyone you meet in the Chaoyang District, regardless of gender, may be a member of the Chaoyang Residents. They might be all nice and friendly in front of you, but once they dig out the information from you, they report you when you turn around. They’re everywhere and there’s no way to guard against them! Like the old grandmother earlier––look at her vigilance. She’s probably a small leader in the Chaoyang Residents. The annual reward claimed for reporting crimes is much higher than the retirement bonus… Oh yeah, I wasn’t speeding just now, right? I hope she didn’t report my license plate…”

Zhang Zian continued with the story as he drove. The elfins in the car were really amazed by what they heard.

“Speaking of this, could the reason there are no cat abuse incidents in the capital be because of the presence of the Chaoyang Residents?” Old Time Tea asked.

“It’s possible,” Zhang Zian said, “The security situation in the capital is relatively better than anywhere else. They have satellites in space, surveillance cameras on top of people’s heads, and the Chaoyang Residents on the ground. It’s a three-in-one security system, so if you want to commit crimes here, you must first put yourself against the system and take a look at your odds.”

Having said that, even if the people in Chaoyang Residents were all comparable to James Bond, the capital had only one Chaoyang District, and it could not explain why there were no cat abuse incidents in the other districts.

Jokes aside, Zian and the elfins had kept their eyes open. They were observing their surroundings while they drove. Fortunately, the sky was still dark, and there were fewer vehicles on the road, so they wouldn’t go in the wrong direction or hit another car.

It was so early in the morning, yet there were already many old ladies out walking; some were wearing training clothes, some were carrying baskets, and some were walking their dogs. What they had in common was that everyone’s eyes were burning as they stared at the vehicles that had foreign license plates and those who spoke with a foreign accent.

Not only that, but there were also quite a number of stray cats in the Chaoyang District, and the eyes of the cats were similar to those of the Chaoyang Residents. Whenever a stranger passed by, their ears would perk up, and they would poke their heads out from over walls, between trees, under porches, and from behind solar water heaters to watch. One could easily get the creeps from their watchful stares.

But the locals seemed to be accustomed to it. The stray cats would switch their behavior when they were with a familiar local. They would sway their tails and meow for food. The old ladies had a lot of snacks to feed the stray cats; they were already used to this situation.

After going through the Chaoyang District and entering the core of the capital, Zhang Zian and the elfins couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. The eyes staring at them felt like daggers on their backs.

“Famous, I’ll have to make you invisible, too, because the capital doesn’t allow dogs with a height of 35 centimeters or more. Also, no pets are allowed in the parade square where the flag is raised,” Zhang Zian said while they waited for a traffic light to turn green. Famous wasn’t unhappy about it at all, but it was very curious. It lifted its claws and asked, “35 centimeters? Isn’t that just small dogs then? On the way here, I clearly saw that some dogs were pretty tall… They were definitely over 35 centimeters.”

“It should be. In fact, I don’t know how the 35 centimeters standard came from. It was probably decided on a whim… As for those people, they’re probably raising them in secret and no one’s really bothered to call them out about it. But I’m a law-abiding citizen, so I won’t do anything that’s against the law. Of course, as long as I don’t get caught, it doesn’t count,” Zhang Zian said as he made Famous invisible.

Many cities banned aggressive dogs, which was understandable, but it wasn’t known why large dogs were forbidden. It was important to note that many large dogs were more docile and less likely to bite as compared to small dogs that were fiercer… So it could only be said that the people who made the policy probably didn’t understand dogs at all, and had proceeded with a “one size fits all” approach.

Old Time Tea suddenly sniffled and praised, “Good tea! Where’s this tea fragrance from?”

Zhang Zian looked around and saw that there was a tea house in front of them that was decorated with an ancient touch: two slightly cheesy golden dragons riding on a pink and blue cloud with their claws bared.

It was still too early, so the tea house had yet to open for business, but the fragrance of their tea was already brimming up the place.

Zhang Zian said, “That’s Laoshe Teahouse. It’s basically one of the finest teahouses in the capital, and it’s also ranked in the top few in the country. On our way back later, how about we stop by to drink a few cups?”

“Good! Good!” Old Time Tea’s eyes shone brightly and it nodded happily. “Judging by the scent of the subtle tea fragrance alone, the tea inside must be good!” Old Time Tea had been drinking the instant tea bags provided by the hotel, and although it hadn’t complained about anything, it was definitely not enjoying them.

“It won’t be easy to find a parking lot up ahead, so let’s park the car near the entrance of the teahouse and walk over,” Zhang Zian suggested.

When Fina heard that they had to walk, it started to grumble again and again, but there was no other choice since there weren’t any parking spaces near the parade square. If they were to park there without any care, they would most likely not make it back to Binhai City.

Several cars were already parked at the entrance of the teahouse, so Zian parked the car there.

There were many crows along the street, so the cars parked there were inevitably attacked by bird droppings. The front windshield of one car was covered in yellow and white bird droppings, but it’s a rented car, so it didn’t really hurt.

Zian locked the car and took the elfins to the underground passageway to the parade square.