Pet King

With the way that humans had been conquering nature, virgin lands, unclaimed by humans, were becoming fewer and fewer. Even the African rainforest and the Amazon rainforest were dwindling in size as the days went by and, every day, a new animal species ceased to exist. Although on land, there were still species that had yet to be discovered by humans. The main focus was all on small animals, such as arthropods. As for large animals, there weren’t many left that had not yet been discovered.

But the ocean was different.

About 70% of the Earth’s surface area was covered by the ocean, and, hiding within the blue ocean, was a large number of unknown, mysterious creatures––especially the mysterious, deep-sea organisms that were beyond human imagination. Scientists have pointed out that human understanding of the deep sea was not even close to the little knowledge they had about the surface of Mars.

Zhang Zian understood what Reina meant.

Every year, thousands of new marine species were being discovered. The population size for those newly discovered species was unknown––maybe the one discovered was the last of its kind, or maybe there were still millions more of it out there… anything was possible. Before the investigation was concluded, they couldn’t be arbitrarily listed in the International List of Endangered Animals; therefore, they were not protected by the law, which allowed some space for manipulations.

In China, cats and dogs account for almost 90% of the pet sales market, while it might not even be up to ten percent in Germany. The German pet market, however, was far more developed than Zhang Zian imagined. From Reina, Zian saw a new method he could use to make a difference, aside from completely relying on the selling of cats and dogs.

Previously, Zhang Zian had also considered fish as an option, since, among pets, fish were one of the more important ones. As a coastal city, however, Binhai City lacked many things, but fish were definitely not one of them. If one were to head to the night market during summer with just twenty to thirty dollars, they could stuff themselves full with seafood until they puked at any stall.  U.pdated b.y NovelFull.Com

There were a few aquariums in Binhai City, but their business conditions were basically bleak. Most of their sales were from the tropical fish and cold water fish, which were bought wholesale from Guangzhou and Jinmen. China had three major fish distribution centers: Guang, Jin, An––which represented Anshan.

With the aquariums as a precedent, Zhang Zian never did make up his mind about taking on the aquarium route.

The second floor was very spacious, but, relatively speaking, the area occupied by the marine life section was smaller when compared to the reptile section that took up most of the space. Perhaps the Germans have a preference for reptiles…

A young boy, aged around twelve to thirteen, was lingering around the glass display case for the Rhinoceros Iguana.

It was also possible that reptiles required a larger living space.

An adult male customer, who looked like he came from Asia, had some communication problems with one of the staff members. Reina apologized to Zhang Zian before heading over to deal with the matter.

Zian turned around to see that the elfins were all intrigued by the various different pets in the shop and, since he did not have anything to do, Zian decided to tag along and take a look at how Reina ran her business.

After getting closer, Zian realized that Reina’s staff was very enthusiastic when dealing with their customers, but, looking at the professional aspect, the staff was not proficient enough. There were a few occasions where the staff could not answer the customer’s query. It might be due to the large number of pets within the shop––if anyone was able to familiarize themself with any one of them, they could probably be a zoologist by then.

The Asian customer had his eyes on a ball python and a terrarium. Just when he was ready to make the payment for the two, one of the staff members held him back and stopped him from purchasing the terrarium. The customer could not speak German, nor was he proficient in English, which resulted in a problem in their communication that caused a dispute between the two.

Zhang Zian noticed that the mobile phone in the hands of the Asian customer was from a China brand. On the main screen of the mobile phone was the familiar WeChat icon, so Zian asked, “Hello, are you from China?”

“Yes! Are you a staff of this shop?” The Asian customer looked as if he had met his savior.

“No, I’m not. I’m here on a trip,” Zhang Zian said. “Are you having some problems?”

“It’s like this… I want to purchase this ball python and this terrarium, but this unreasonable staff refused to let me purchase this terrarium and kept forcing me to purchase another terrarium that was more expensive!” the customer said furiously. “I didn’t expect hard-selling to also exist in Germany! Can you help me file a complaint about him?”

The customer had chosen a golden Desert Spider Ball Python and a very ordinary terrarium. He was playing around with the ball python in the palm of his hand, just like someone who was used to handling snakes.

Fina stared coldly at the Ball Python, looking as if she might tear it in half at any time.

Zhang Zian hurriedly gestured towards Fina, motioning for her to calm down. If Fina were to attack the Ball Python, she would lose her invisibility status and would certainly shock everyone in the vicinity.

Most Ball Pythons were gentle by nature. They were not aggressive, were not poisonous, and they didn’t attack people.

Zhang Zian looked at the terrarium a few times, but he was not able to see a problem with the snake and the terrarium. As Zian was unable to understand why the staff refused to let the customer purchase the terrarium, he then relayed the question to Reina in English.

Reina pointed at the details on the Ball Python’s glass display case and explained to the customer, “I’m sorry, sir. The Ball Python that you have chosen is 55 centimeters in length, but the terrarium that you have chosen is just 100 centimeters in length. According to the law in Germany, the minimum length for terrariums that are meant for reptiles must be no less than two times that of the reptile’s length. As you had chosen a terrarium that did not meet the minimum requirements, we are unable to sell it to you. You will have to either choose a smaller Ball Python or a bigger terrarium.”

After she finished explaining, Reina took out a copy of the Code of Law from the service desk on the second floor. She flipped it open and showed the law to the customer. The pictures and text within the Code of Law provided a detailed description of the breeding instructions and related laws and regulations that involved reptiles.

Zhang Zian relayed Reina’s words to the customer in Chinese, and, at the same time, cleared his own doubts.

The customer was still dissatisfied after Zhang Zian clarified things, but he had no other choice. He was in a foreign land, so he needed to follow their rules.

With Zhang Zian’s help, the customer chose a larger terrarium and bought a heating mat, matching lamps for the terrarium, a water bowl, and mats. The price of the Desert Spider Ball Python was 399 Euros, and the price for the terrarium and the various accessories were also about 300 something Euros. All in all, it was still much cheaper than raising a cat or dog.

At the time of payment, Reina handed a copy of a document to the customer. On the front page of the document was the information about the Ball Python from the price, breed, size, origin, scientific name, and more. The customer was required to fill in his name, passport number, and other personal information on the second page, while the third page was filled up with legal terms and disclaimers. Just looking at it would make one’s head throb. The pet sale agreement from Zhang Zian’s shop was nothing compared to this document.

The customer probably could not understand the German words on the third page, so he briefly swept a glance over, filled in his information, and completed the payment.

The customer’s impression of the pet shop wasn’t a good one, but he was very grateful that Zhang Zian helped him clear up the misunderstanding. Zhang Zian generously said to him, “We’re both Chinese, so it is just right that we help one another out––especially when we’re away from home.

Reina, too, breathed a sigh of relief. At the opening of the Berlin Film Festival, there were always visits from foreign customers with language barriers.