Pet King

“Sir, we are here.”

The taxi stopped slowly by the side of the road, and the driver reminded him.

“Ah? Oh, thank you! How much?”

Zhang Zian suddenly returned to his senses.

He noticed that he was sitting in a taxi that was rather typical. In the back seat, faint smoke from the driver’s seat could be seen and smelled. The driver was also looking at him through the rearview mirror.

It must be because he’d had to work continuous overtime for the last few days. He was rather tired. Every time he was in a daze, it seemed that time had passed quickly. Even the impression of him taking the train was now nothing but a vague memory in his mind. Much like a montage in the movies, he was constantly switching between scenes. Within a short while, he was in a new locality.

Alas, this was not what he wanted. Initially, he might have been too smitten with whatever his boss said to him and believed everything. He also had tons of passion and full of dreams as a young person joining a startup. However, upon joining the company, he’d discovered that the so-called startup company was merely a place where women were treated as men, while men were treated like animals. Every day, he had to get up earlier than a chicken, sleep later than a dog, and take care of a large workload every day, and he still earned very little money. The enthusiasm he’d had for his work, fueled by the imaginary concepts of dreams and passion, was waning. He did not know when he would truly ever add real value to anything…

Many of his colleagues who joined the company at the same time couldn’t stand this kind of life, and they all left their jobs. What he thought was that he was still young and had no girlfriend. He should be able to do this and strive hard. Perhaps the company would get bigger and more powerful one day. With that, he would be rich and could achieve financial freedom.

He used his mobile phone to scan the QR code provided by the driver. He thanked him again, asked the driver to open the trunk, and got out of the car, taking his suitcase.

The taxi drove off.

That was right.

It was here.

Zhonghua Road.

Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

He looked up at the pet store’s signboard and glanced back and forth, making sure it was the right place.

Then he chuckled again. How could it be wrong? Binhai City was not a particularly large city, and taxi drivers generally did not pull up to the wrong place.

Many shops had promotional billboards on the doorstep, and they planned to use Golden Week to generate a ton of sales. Even at the door of his pet shop, there was a sign reading “Golden Week! Pet Bath 20% Discount Off!”

He remembered that tomorrow would be the start of a seven-day-long holiday. Although four days were simply weekends, a holiday was nevertheless a break. On the streets, men, women, and children were relaxed and had happy looks on their faces. Some were heading home to reunite with their families or dragging their suitcases like him and taking a long vacation.

Slam!

The shop next to the pet shop with the sign “China Road Shoes Store” was pushed open, and Grandma Gu said with a sigh, “Little Taozi, didn’t Grandma tell you that you can’t always owe health and management fees. The other stores here have already paid. If you keep on delaying the payment, aren’t you putting me in a spot?”

Xie Tao, who was a few years older than Zhang Zian, looked like a poor man. He nodded and sent Grandma Gu out. “Okay, okay. Next time, I will not default on my payment. Grandma Gu, please leave slowly…”

The two of them noticed Zhang Zian, who was dragging the suitcase, and cried in surprise, “Oh! It’s Little Zhang Zian. You are back!”

“Well, yes, I came back.” Zhang Zian laughed. “Grandma Gu, Brother Tao, how are you? Is everything okay?”

“It’s okay.” Grandma Gu smiled and nodded. “If you come back, you should stay for a few more days. Your father and your mother have long been hoping to see you. Alright, no more talking. Grandma Gu still has to go to other stores to collect fees. You have been sitting on the train for a long time. You must definitely be tired. Hurry home and rest.”

“Okay, Grandma Gu. You, too, and please walk slowly…”

Zhang Zian watched Grandma Gu turn around and leave. Then he felt his shoulders being rubbed by Xie Tao.

“Hey, Little Zhang Zian, we haven’t seen each other for a long time. We must get together this time around! Let’s go out and have a few drinks together tonight! Don’t you dare say no!”

The two shops were right next to each other. Both of them had grown up together. Although they’d grown apart when they pursued different studies and work, the foundation of their friendship still existed.

“Okay, but I can’t drink too much.” Zhang Zian nodded and smiled.

Xie Tao suddenly lowered his voice and said with a satisfied smile, “Yes! Anyway, we are good buddies, so I won’t keep it from you. Let me tell you a piece of good news. You are the first one to know besides my family—I have a girlfriend. And it’s already at the point where we are talking about marriage.”

“Oh? Congratulations! Please remember to inform me when you have your wedding!” Zhang Zian was very happy for his good brother.

“You can’t miss it for anything!” Xie Tao smacked his chest with his fist. “You must hurry up! My future wife and I are waiting to drink at your wedding too!”

“Can’t seem to find the right one…” Zhang Zian reluctantly laughed at himself.

His eyes crossed the body of Xie Tao and fell on the signboard of the shoe store. He asked, “How has the business been recently?”

“Rather okay… It can’t be that you don’t know. I haven’t been business material since I was a child.” Xie Tao obviously didn’t want to talk about this topic. He took out his mobile phone and looked at the time. “I am leaving. You have to go home.”

It wasn’t that Zhang Zian wanted to deliberately spoil the mood. He asked because he really cared about this good buddy of his. Since he was getting married, he must definitely be in need of money.

However, Xie Tao’s mind had already drifted to other things. He was overwhelmed with the joy of his upcoming marriage.

Looking at Xie Tao’s back as he hurried away, Zhang Zian sighed slightly. The man was in love…

The local accent, the nostalgia… The sense of uncertainty in his heart had finally disappeared. This was indeed Binhai City. How could it be wrong?

He took his suitcase and walked a few steps to the door of his house. Suddenly, his eyes seemed to catch something.

Butterfly.

A butterfly, like a diamond that had just drilled out from its cocoon, fluttered its wings and flew from the door of a nearby store.

It flew up into the sky, and even though its flight was affected by the turbulent airflow above the roof, it still persevered and flew even higher into the sky.

With respect for life, he followed the butterfly with his eyes.

Tomorrow was the eleventh. This may be the last wave of butterflies in the local area this year… It was not easy to break out of the cocoon before it got colder. So strong and tenacious.

His heart was filled with warmth, and his lips could not help but form a smile.

Going to the door of the pet shop, he saw a familiar figure through the glass. His father was packing things, and his mother was standing next to the checkout counter and talking to a customer.

The kittens and puppies were kept in the display cabinet, and there was a row of iron cages on the wall, which contained several common parrots.

Opposite the checkout counter was an oblate fish tank with a pair of goldfish chasing one another between the grasses. The store did not sell fish. Raising these worthless fish was merely to attract luck to the store.

There was no computer at the checkout counter because his parents did not really know how to operate the computer. They are accustomed to using paper notes and did not want to spend extra money to hire people. There were only WeChat and Alipay QR codes available.

He suddenly hesitated. There was an inexplicable sense of disobedience in his heart from watching other people’s lives through the glass screen.

His mother, who was talking to the customer, turned her eyes and saw him standing outside the door. She pleasantly gestured for him to hurry in.

His hesitation was instantly defeated. It was as if he could not resist and subconsciously pushed open the door.

“You are back? Are you tired from traveling on the train? Go upstairs and go take a break.” His mother smiled and looked at him from head to toe. It was not the professional smile given when facing customers. It was the smile that said, “I have a customer here. I can’t talk more now.”

“Go upstairs. I will cook in a while.” His father held a small shovel to clean up the pet droppings. He stood up, stretched himself, and hit his own back.

He could see it clearly. The white hair on his mother’s head, their overworked and chapped hands, and the wrinkles of the father’s forehead. There was also their familiar voices and joyful eyes…

So real, so…nostalgic.

“I am not tired.”

He pushed the suitcase to the corner and rolled up his sleeves to pick up the shovel. “Let me do it.”

“No, no, you go upstairs and rest!” His father waved him off and hid the small shovel behind him.

“I am not tired…” he argued.

“If you are not tired, go to a corner and rest anyway. You don’t know how to do it, and you will only make a bigger mess.” His father guided him to the recliner.

He couldn’t argue with his father and so he had to sit awkwardly in the chair. This was because his parents hadn’t let him get involved in the daily affairs of the pet shop and only let him concentrate on his studies.

However, he felt awkward when he sat in a chair. It might’ve been because two old people were busy and he was a young man who sat like a grandfather and watched the show.

His eyes looked at the cat tree, which was empty. Usually, the cats in the showcase would be released at the end of the business day so that they could be active and move around.

He didn’t know what he had expected to see on the cat tree.

The sides of the recliner were also very empty. If one have a dog, it was better to have a bigger dog, like in an old-fashioned western American film. A classic cowboy, after retiring, brought an old dog to wander around the world.

“Upcoming news…”

The television was on and broadcasting local news. The sound was rather quiet. When there were no guests in the store, his parents did not have much to talk about and watched the shows to relieve boredom.

He got up and walked over to the TV. He looked at the news but did not stand in front of the TV, as if he were used to leaving some space out front for others.

“Then I will go upstairs first.”

He wasn’t much help downstairs anyway. It was better to quickly put away his luggage and then help to wash vegetables and cook.

He picked up his suitcase and went to the second floor.

The second floor was quiet. The meows and barks from the first floor seemed to be miles away.

Anyway, he would only stay at home for seven days. He hadn’t brought back too many things. He placed his change of clothes in the closet in his bedroom, set the laptop on the desk in the living room, and opened it. This was so that, if he wanted to turn on the laptop, he simply had to press the button.

But why was it necessary to do this? He thought about it and closed it once more.

Whoosh!

It got windy.

The open windows rattled in the wind.

He closed the window without locking it at first. This was so that if anyone was left outside, they could just open it from the outside and come in.

He couldn’t help but laugh, and then he returned to his senses. Who, besides a thief, came in from the window?

Soon it would be dark. In order to avoid forgetting to lock the window at night and openly inviting thieves, it would be better for him to close it now.

After finishing up with his things, he went to the bathroom to wash his face. He raised his hand and tried to knock on the door, but after thinking about it, with his parents downstairs, there was no one in the bathroom. He pushed it open and looked down at the bathtub…

Bathtub cleaning was too cumbersome, and so the bathtub was not used very often. At this time, there was some debris in it, but there was not a drop of water.

After washing his face, he returned to the living room, pulled a chair over, and scanned the entire second floor.

He had a feeling that… He seemed to have lost something very precious, but he couldn’t remember what it was.

He felt as though he were missing something in his heart.

The dinner was very sumptuous. The food was too much for the family of three. He couldn’t finish his food, but his parents kept urging him to eat more.

“Mom, the second floor of the house… Has it changed?” He took a bite of his meal and asked vaguely.

“Changed?”

His parents looked at each other and shook their heads. “No. What do you mean?”

“Nothing. Just asking.”

He scooped the rest of the rice into his mouth and soon finished it. “Come, let me wash the bowls.”

After dinner, his parents sat on the second-floor sofa to watch TV.

He packed up the dishes, dried his hands, and sat down on the sofa with them.

His mother moved to his side. Full of anticipation, she passed him a note.

“What is this?”

On the note was a string of phone numbers.

“The girl that Auntie Liu wants to introduce to you. It is easier to talk by adding her as a friend via text, although it is best to chat face-to-face,” his mother said. Afraid he would be angry, she hurriedly added, “Don’t feel too burdened by this. Just take it as going out for a while, making a friend… I heard that this girl’s family is very well-to-do. Her standards are rather high as well. If nothing works out, it is fine. We can find someone else.”

Before Zhang Zian came home, he had been mentally prepared for this. He didn’t say much. He merely nodded and added her number.

He sent the friend request. The other party soon accepted it.

He first looked at her profile picture and her circle of friends. They were all photos of the scenery. He couldn’t see any details about her life. So he typed: “Hello, I was introduced by Auntie Liu. Did she mention me to you?”

The reply from the other party came very quickly: “Let’s meet up and talk tomorrow at 10 a.m. at the foggy hidden teahouse. What do you think?”

Zhang Zian stared at it in silence.

In his heart, the first impression that this girl gave him was good. She was clear, did not drag her feet, and could make her own decisions. However, if the man decided for her, she may be slightly dissatisfied in her heart…

But what was this about the foggy teahouse? When had the hidden hill opened a teahouse? It hadn’t been here the last time he was home.

Well, tomorrow was the 11th. The city would be full of people, and there would be long lines everywhere. Every shop would have a queue. Perhaps there would not be so many people in the suburbs of the hidden fog.

So he replied, “OK, see you tomorrow.”

The other party did not speak again.

He put down his phone.

“How was it?” His mother pretended to watch TV, but she was always peeking at his face.

“I will meet her at eleven o’clock tomorrow morning,” he replied.

“Good! Great! Sleep a little more tomorrow morning. I will wake you up,” His mother happily said as she skinned an apple.

His father didn’t say anything, but he took a sip of his tea and heaved a sigh of relief.

The family of three sat on the sofa and watched a variety show that was not very educational. They burst out laughing from time to time.

He even laughed so hard that he started tearing up.