Pet King

“Snowy, when is the next live broadcast?”

“Snowy, it’s been a long time since you broadcasted, what are you doing?”

“Thousands of people are begging Snowy to come on live!”

“Is Snowy sick? Did she get heatstroke?”

Snowy looked at her Weibo’s messages and private messages and scratched her hair in annoyance, looking sadly at the bright sun outside the window as if she felt the hot flashes and summer heat outside.

As the fans have said, she hadn’t done a live broadcast for a long time mainly because of a worm disaster some time ago. Her mother was so scared that she issued an ultimatum. She was forbidden to take a step out of the house, or her mother would abandon her. Although Snowy herself usually looked like a boy, she was afraid of those caterpillars. She had also heard that many caterpillars were poisonous. Once they fell on the body, they would sting and cause a rash to be formed that may even have been red and swollen. Thus, she temporarily took her mind off on going to the outdoor to live broadcast, since there was nothing to broadcast live anyway. Many shops were closed, so wasn’t her only option left to broadcast which caterpillar can be eaten?

She broadcasted live for fun and out of loneliness, but not to be second only to Bear Grylls.

Her mother lifted her ban after the insect disaster subsided, but the coastal city in summer was too sultry and humid, and it often rained heavily. She really didn’t want to leave the air-conditioned room, and she couldn’t live stream like those that only played games. Although many fans said that any form of live streaming was okay, she felt so apologetic to the audience as she didn’t know what to say. Plus, she had to prevent her mother from suddenly entering her room whilst she was broadcasting.

Like all humans who were constantly dragged on by inertia, she became too lazy to leave the house. The most she was willing to do was taking Snowball out for a walk after breakfast and in the evenings.

Faced with the fans’ concerns, she didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t tell them that she was lazy and had been hiding in the house, right?

“Snowy! Come down and eat some fruit!” shouted her mom from downstairs.

“Coming!”

She responded lazily, pulling on her slippers and went down the stairs.

To her surprise, her father was also there. She did not know when he returned, but he was sitting on the sofa and reading the newspaper.

A salad bowl full of various fruits was on the dining table, and her mother used her mouth to motion for her to sit down and eat.

A furry Snowball laid on the wooden floor on its side to cool down. When it heard Snowy, it just looked up before laying back down and narrowing its eyes.

Snowy felt that she was now like this salty cat.

“Be honest; how have you been lately? Have you changed your mind?” Father looked over the top of the newspaper and glanced at her.

“It’s too hot, I’m too lazy to go out,” Snowy muttered.

Her father put down the newspaper and said solemnly, “Didn’t you say that you like live broadcasting and wanted to pursue it as a career? Is this your three-minute passion for your career?”

He pointed out the window, where gardeners were mowing the lawn outside with their uniforms soaked in sweat.

“Everyone knows that the weather is hot, but even if the weather is ten degrees hotter, don’t they still have to work to support their families?” He began his daily sermon. “Regardless of what career you choose, you must persevere with your choice. If you cannot do that, accept it and then move on as soon as possible … ”

“Ah! You’re eating, can you talk less when eating?” Mom slaps the table angrily. “This is not your company, why are you struggling?”

Snowy ate the fruits silently and rarely spoke back.

The atmosphere was a little awkward.

Her mother changed the topic and said, “Snowy, where do you want to go for summer this year? Still Switzerland?”

“I can’t go to Switzerland, I’m going to the United States for a business trip soon,” Snowy’s father interjected.

Her mother shot him a look that said, “Did I ask you to go? If you don’t go, it’s just us two ladies!”

The father did not get any response and helplessly decided to shut his mouth.

“Snowy, how about you? Where should we go?” Mom asked again.

“Anywhere is fine,” Snowy said lethargically.

“Anywhere… there must be a place you want to go to, isn’t there? We can’t stay here anyway, it’s too hot outside and it’s not good to feel all stuffy in the house,” her Mom said, sounding rather distressed.

As if he hadn’t learned his lesson, her father interjected, “Will you go with me to the United States? You haven’t been to San Francisco yet, right?”

Her mother glared at him angrily, “America? Do you think I don’t know where that is? Aren’t the latitudes of the United States and China about the same? Won’t it be as hot as it is here?”

“You are wrong. I can’t speak for anywhere else in the United States, but San Francisco is very cool in summer. It’s often filled with cool mist, and it is dry and warm when the sun is out. It is never hot like this. There are many fun places near San Francisco, too. You can go to the marine park to watch the killer whale show, the fisherman’s wharf to eat seafood, Silicon Valley to visit high-tech companies, or Redwood National Park to go hiking. In short, it will be enough for you to play all you want!”

He likely didn’t want to be separated from his wife and daughter for a long time since they were going to wait out the summer of Binhai City before returning. He had no idea when that would be.

Her mother stared at him suspiciously. “How do you know so much? Have you been fooling around with another woman?”

Her father remained silent.

He knew that the time for a regular summer vacation abroad was approaching, but he couldn’t travel because his business was going to cooperate with a high-tech company in Silicon Valley. However, he didn’t like the idea of his wife and daughter heading to Europe alone. Thus, he checked in advance to see if he could persuade his wife and daughter to follow him to San Francisco.

Snowy’s mother was slightly persuaded by his words. She just went to Switzerland last year, so it would’ve been boring to go again this year. If they picked another European country… European countries were almost the same. They had nothing more than the castle, church, and opera. At most, they had slightly different styles. They could probably head up to Northern Europe to see Aurora Borealis, but the bitter cold place was sparsely populated with nothing to do except see the lights. If Snowy’s father was right about San Francisco’s climate then it was a good choice since there were many fun places to go.

“Snowy, where do you want to go? Europe or America?” Mom asked again.

Snowy thought about it. She had to leave to avoid the summer heat; staying in Binhai City was rather masochistic. There wasn’t much to do in Europe. Most of them are humanistic landscapes that required an appreciation of the vicissitudes of history, such as visiting a winery that has been established for more than a century and tasting whiskey. This was unsuitable for Snowy’s temperament and made her feel like a stale old man.

If she had to choose one, the United States may have been better.

“America,” she said and pushed her bowl aside whilst standing up then trotting upstairs.

“Okay then. We’ll go to America.”

Both of her parents heaved a sigh of relief.

After a short while, she changed into her usual clothes and went downstairs.

“What are you doing?” His father asked.

Snowy rolled her eyes at him and waved her cell phone at him. “Doing my career.”