Pet King

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Zhang Zian felt that it was not as pitiful as a stray cat, but opening a shop was really quite high risk. If he was not careful he would have lost all his savings and become a homeless person under a bridge. That would have made him very similar to a stray cat… Or even worse. After all, there was no one who would create a Branch Organization for the Homeless…

Having his own shop was quite all right. If it was a rental shop, there was an 80 percent chance of losing money, and only the landowner stood the a chance to win anything.

But at least he really liked the freedom; that was not wrong.

Vladimir asked again, “The pet shop you were talking about… Is it the one you guys always mention?”

“It’s the one to the north of here. Did you not go over?” Zhang Zian pointed to the north.

Vladimir thought about it. “We passed by it a few times, but did not enter. This is a place where house cats are treated for their illnesses. It has nothing to do with stray cats.”

Zhang Zian smiled. “Perhaps you have some misunderstanding… Let’s go. I’ll bring you in to take a look, and we can hopefully gather a few signatures.”

Zhang Zian stopped strangers on their way and explained his proposal to them. Although most people still refused because they were indifferent, disgusted, and worried about their personal information getting out, a small number of people did generously sign and leave their mobile phone numbers. Besides Zhang Zian’s rapid improvement in conversational skills, another reason was that they saw that there were more and more names on the proposal. They subconsciously gave in to a herd mentality––since so many people had signed it, it was okay for them to sign it.

“Aren’t we becoming more and more like professional salespeople?” Zhang Zian smiled and said to Vladimir casually. “Perhaps I can even go and sell insurance in the future.”

“The idea of selling goods is very similar, but it’s not the same thing at all,” it pointedly said, “The promotion of goods is limited by the law. No matter how many goods they manage to sell, they are just a successful businessman that is good at marketing… As long as there are enough people that accept your idea, it is common to amend or even deny the law.”

Zhang Zian was not as bold as it. As long as he worked to push the law for the protection of small animals, he was satisfied.

The street was not very long, and they very quickly reached the doorway of the Spirit Curing Pet Clinic.

The working class people normally did not have time, but the Golden Week holiday allowed them the flexibility to bring thier pets in for check-ups and surgeries. The clinic’s parking lot was full of cars, and there were people occasionally entering and leaving with their pets.

“Let’s go in.” Zhang Zian pushed open the door to let Vladimir enter.

“Please take a number and queue up. We are quite busy today, so please wait patiently.” Long Xian’s head was lowered as she dealt with a file about a pet’s medical history.

“I’m not here to see the doctor. I just came to take a look. There’s no need to take a number, right?” Zhang Zian said.

Long Xian heard the familiar voice and raised her head. She said in shock, “Ah, isn’t this Shopkeeper Zhang! You came just in time. You can take these stray cats back from last time. It would save the trouble of these two women carrying them down.”

“All right, then it looks like I’ve sent myself to your door to be your coolie…” Zhang Zian laughed bitterly.

“What are you holding in your hand? Pamphlets?”

The smell of disinfectant was very strong––much stronger than in the pet shop. It was a bit stifling. Vladimir looked at all the cats and dogs brought by the people in the clinic; there were of various kinds. The faces of the owners were shining with love and care and worry, and they were waiting patiently for the nurse to call out their numbers. It was obvious that they loved their pets.

“What happened to your dog?”

“What happened to your cat?”

“Oh, I don’t know what’s going on. It suddenly became listless, so I hurriedly brought it over to get it checked out. I’m hoping it’s not some major illness…”

Some owners were bringing pets for their routine check-up, or for deworming––those sorts of normal things––so they seemed very relaxed and would talk about pet rearing with the people next to them. Through the topic of pets, they would branch out to other topics, and after chatting, they would even exchange WeChat accounts.

Because there were too few doctors and too many customers, the wait time was long. The veterinarian office was a small version of a pet salon.

There were a few customers that knew Zhang Zian, as they had bought pets from his shop. They had brought their pets in for their injections or for their fixed physical examination, and they all greeted him.

After they finished greeting each other, Long Xian brought Zhang Zian to the hospital room behind them, and Vladimir followed.

Passing through the clinic, the door to the back was not closed tightly. Out of curiosity, it pushed the door wider and looked inside. It was filled with strange instruments. An adult American Shorthair was tied to a stainless steel operating table with its legs spread open. Its face was emotionless. A young woman wearing surgical clothes and a mask was holding a surgical knife that was glistening coldly in her hand. She looked at the American Shorthair and gestured around its crotch…

Long Xian noticed Vladimir’s actions. “This cat… doesn’t seem to be a stray cat, right?”

“It’s not,” Zhang Zian answered, “It’s a cat from the pet shop. There’s nothing going on today, so I just brought it out for a stroll so it would begin to recognize its surroundings.”

Long Xian smiled and said, “I can practically identify stray cats and house cats now. Even if they are of the same species, their looks are not the same. The stray cats always have a cowering, fearful look. They look sensitive, and display a fear of not knowing what tomorrow holds. But recently, the stray cats have changed a bit.”

She brought him to the hospital room all the way in the back and pushed the door open.

Although the ventilator had been on, the smell in the room was still a little strong. There were several rows of iron cages on the wall––some empty, some with small animals such as cats, dogs, rabbits, birds, and other common pets. When they saw people, they would chirp, meow, and bark, which made the place very lively.

One of the cats scratched the iron cage and attracted Vladimir’s attention. It thought that it had seen the cat before––the night when it came to the pet shop. It was out all night familiarizing itself with the nearby terrain and had met some strange stray cats. It used its ideas to enlighten them and raise their awareness. In the process, it had seen the cat in the cage.

Vladimir recognized many of the stray cats. Even if they only counted the main members in the Meow Meow Branch Organization, there were around more than 100, and adding on to the outstanding and well-behaved stray cats, then they were innumerable.

There were so many stray cats, and they were all stray cats without names. Vladimir wanted to remember them. He could only give them nicknames based on their physical characteristics, such as the fat, orange cat, which he nicknamed “Big Orange;” the short-haired, white cat, which he nicknamed “Little White;” the small, white, soft-eared cat, which he nicknamed “Softy;” the grayish white, soft-eared cat, which he nicknamed “A Que;” and so on. When he saw the stray cat in the cage, he immediately gave it a suitable nickname: “Scald-head.”