Pet King

Zhang Zian thought Old Time Tea was really good at persuading children––maybe better than it was at martial arts. It had managed to get Sihwa under control with only a few words.

It was a pity that the regular folks could not hear Old Time Tea talk, otherwise it would be an awesome granddaddy.

Old Time Tea stroked its beard and smiled to respond. “Good morning, Sihwa. I think your name is beautiful. I hope you can be just like your name, a bright and beautiful light in this world.”

“Wahahaha! I think it’s pretty too!” Sihwa lifted her head with pride.

Old Time Tea waved secretly at Zhang Zian to call him to the side. It whispered, “Zian, did you buy clothes for her? The type of clothing called swimsuits…”

“I did,” he answered. “I ordered them last night and paid extra money for the courier. They should arrive today.”

“That’s great.” Old Time Tea nodded gladly. “The ancestors used to say: ‘When there are adequate stores, they will know what are decorums. When the people have enough food and clothing, they will know what is honor.’ Getting dressed seems to be a small thing, but it plays a long-term role in psychology.”

Some elfins got up and went downstairs, while some remained in bed.

Pi got up every day, including today. After it washed its face, it put on the pince-nez, turned on the computer, and flipped open the Book of Pi to get resources for today’s chapter.

Zhang Zian walked over, grabbed a chair, sat down, and watched it type for a while.

Pi was getting more and more skilled in typing. It was typing faster than him. He had been using the phone more often, after all. He had not typed on a computer in a long time.

“Eek?” Pi paused and made a gesture, asking if there was something wrong.

Zian thought for a moment and said, “Pi, regarding the Holy Cat statue… was the sentence ‘as cats meow about the changing sky, an epic encounter is about to take place in the ocean of sand’ the only clue? There was nothing else you could find?”

Pi typed, “What are you worried about?”

“I’m worried, indeed.” He smiled bitterly. “Isn’t it strange? Even if that Holy Cat statue is kind of spiritual, it stayed in the shop for such a long time. Why did it disappear as soon as I flew to Germany?”

He was not an all-knowing god. He had been seeing the Holy Cat statue incident as an isolated event, without connecting dots with the other recent events.

Pi grinned and typed, “Don’t worry.”

“Oh? Why?” Zhang Zian asked.

Pi opened its book and pointed at a page, but it looked blank to Zhang Zian. He could not see words. The pince-nez was on Pi’s nose, after all.

It typed again, “I can’t get more information on the Holy Cat statue, but a few other words may be connected with it.”

“What words?” Zhang Zian asked with interest.

He was eager to find out why Pi thought that there was nothing to worry after it knew the words.

Pi typed with a clacking noise,

“The Golden Monkey wrathfully swung his massive cudgel,

And the jade-like firmament was cleared of dust.

Today, we hail Sun Wukong, the wonder-worker

As a cat demon is once more rising.”

Zhang Zian gasped suddenly, then recited the poem repeatedly, especially the last verse. “As a cat demon is once more rising…”

If the Holy Cat statue, which had been silent for two thousand years, had gathered enough Strength of Faith and became an elfin, it would surely fit the verse, “a cat demon is once more rising.”

What was the meaning of the other three verses, then?

As Zhang Zian was meditating, he heard the shutter door open downstairs. Maybe Lu Yiyun just arrived for work. He had left the spare key with Lu Yiyun before going to Germany, as she was watching over the shop.

“Pi, go on with your writing. I’ll head downstairs and leave you to it.”

As he spoke to Pi, he headed downstairs.

“Mr. Store Manager, good morning!” Lu Yiyun felt relieved upon seeing him.

These days, she had to deal with not only the customers coming to the door after they heard the news about Famous, but also the sneaky reporters from media. She could not sleep well and had barely any time to paint in the shop during the day. Her fans on Weibo had been asking every day why the Gay Pet Shop series had not been updated in a while. Gay Pet Shop was not the name of her comic, but the nickname that the fans gave it––it was better known than its real name.

“Good morning. Thank you for the hard work these past few days.” Zhang Zian smiled. “You can leave early this afternoon. Go back and take a good rest.”

Lu Yiyun didn’t decline. She was really exhausted.

She returned the key to the shutter door to him.

“Ah, right––congratulations on the award! It was a great speech! I watched the entire award ceremony, except that I couldn’t understand the hostess or the guests,” she said bluntly.

“It’s pure luck, all thanks to the excellent performance of Famous. I didn’t have much to do with it.” He stuck the key into his pocket.

“What should we do with these gifts?” Lu Yiyun asked, pointing at the gifts that surrounded the cashier counter. “I told them you were not here, but they insisted leaving the gifts here…”

Zhang Zian thought for awhile. Regardless of the motive, gifts were gifts at the end of the day. Offending a good man was better than offending an evil man.

Therefore, he instructed, “Please make a list of the gifters. I brought some souvenirs from Germany. Let’s return some gifts, depending on what they are.”

“Okay. I have a record here.” Lu Yiyun turned on the computer, made an Excel spreadsheet with the list of gifters, then printed it out.

After a while, Wang Qian and Li Kun also showed up for work.

“Holy crap! Master! You are amazing! You earned your fame in Japan, Korea, the United States, and Europe!”

They started making a fuss from the moment they entered. The admiration in their hearts was flowing like a river.

“Famous, did you know that your name can’t be found online anymore? It’s now called the ‘Best Actor Dog!'”

“Yes, Master. Our classmates heard that we work here at your shop and they want to come visit and ask for an autograph!”

“I think they want to call him Master! We’ll have followers then. Maybe there will be a few cute girls!”

They had a lot to say and wanted to continue, but Zhang Zian waved to interrupt them. “Do you think they will be like you? Clean up the place first. I’ll check things out next door.”

He walked out of the shop and thought, It would be nice to have a few cute girls around…

“Store Manager Zhang, can we get your autograph?”

As he turned around, Ting Ting and Xiao Zhuang were standing behind him with envy on their faces.

“We’ve all heard it. Can’t believe you did it! You managed to train a dog to win the Best Actor award at the Berlin Film Festival!” Xiao Zhuang said with excitement.

Zhang Zian thought to himself, Right. I can’t win it if I were the actor.

Xiao Zhuang continued, “Store Manager Zhang, today is our last day as volunteers.”

Zhang Zian granted their wish and signed an autograph. “Oh, congratulations. You can take the cat carrier home today, as you’ve been hoping for.”

“Yes, that’s just great!” Ting Ting nodded seriously. “We’ve learned a lot about cats during our time here and feel rewarded. The old couple has been so nice to us and let us eat for free in their restaurant. We’ll come over to help often in the future.”

“I’d like to thank you on their behalf. Go inside and pick a cat carrier you like. It’s my gift for you.” Zhang Zian pointed at the shop.

Volunteering for 30 days straight without a break was not an easy job. They deserved the reward.

Limited by the economical status, it was not feasible in China to establish a good pet adoption system or to punish people who abandoned their pets as Germany did. Even in Germany, stray pets could still be found in the streets, they were just very few in number. Europe was not doing well lately in the economy. Even the developed countries were short of funds.

“Right. Tell dumb and dumber in the shop that there is a big shipment arriving from Germany today. Ask them to open the package and sort it out, then bring them next door,” he said.

“Okay. Thank you, Store Manager Zhang.” Xiao Zhuang and Ting Ting walked into the shop happily to choose a cat carrier they liked.

Zhang Zian walked next door quickly. He had taken off the old shoe store’s sign the moment he had taken over the shop. Now the shop was bare on the outside, without any signs.

He took out the keys and opened the door, a decision already made in his heart. First, he was planning to name it the “Branch of Amazing Pet Shop,” but now, “Amazing Fate Aquarium” seemed like a more suitable name.