Pet King

Jiang Feifei returned to the aquarium first; she was waiting to inform Wang Qian and Li Kun that Zhang Zian had to go out with the television station and wouldn’t be able to come for a while. But Zhang Zian then came in with television crew.

“Mr Zhang, your aquarium is very beautiful. It is rare to see such a beautiful aquarium in Binhai City.” Liu Ying glanced around the store and could not help but praise it. “It’s still under preparation, correct? I think it looks almost ready. When will it be officially open?”

“Probably a few more days. We’re trying to be fully prepared so nothing goes wrong,” Zhang Zian replied cautiously.

He wanted to start the business early to make money, but once he was open, he couldn’t just stop his business at will, so he had to prepare everything in advance to avoid unnecessary troubles in the future.

The creatures in the aquarium were the wild creatures he had picked from the seaside. When wildlife creatures were suddenly placed in a small, artificial breeding environment, they would not be used to it. Even if Zian were to try his best to prepare the perfect seawater with the perfect lighting environment, the narrowness of the aquarium itself could not be changed.

In addition, there were also many inconspicuous microorganisms and bacteria in the ocean, and together they created a stable ecosystem. But the aquarium was unable to provide that––not even with natural seawater.

But that didn’t mean that putting wild marine creatures into the aquarium would reduce their lifespan. On the contrary, most aquatic creatures were able to live longer in an artificial environment in comparison to the natural environment. It was like how a domestic cat could live longer than a wild cat.

The premise was that the breeder had to have common knowledge on raising animals and was able to solve some common problems.

If it was a complete beginner trying his luck, then that was another story…

He asked Jiang Feifei, “Which clownfish has a problem?”

“This is the one.” Jiang Feifei led him to a fish tank.

Liu Ying gave the cameraman, Qin An, a look and gestured for him to follow the two of them.

The clownfish was one of Zhang Zian’s first clownfish that he had brought back from the sea. It was an uncommon variant clownfish. It was still very healthy and lively when he brought it back, but now it was not okay. It looked very weak, and although it was still swimming, it looked very unstable: It was being pushed around by the water flow from the wave pump.

What was more noticeable was that part of its body was covered with a thin layer of white mucous membrane, which was more pronounced in the darker areas of its body, as if it had just burrowed its way out of a spider web.

“This fish… I remembered that it was fine just last night, but when we saw it earlier, it was already like this…” Jiang Feifei said with difficulty and glanced at the camera from time to time.

“Aiya, this is the Brooklynella disease!” Liu Ying exclaimed. Her voice had a peculiar semblance of pity in it.

Qin An, who was holding the camera, lightly coughed. He meant it as a reminder to her that they were here to film the special report on Famous and Zhang Zian, so she should just watch quietly from the side and maybe create some occasional chances for Zhang Zian to show off. She was not to add scenes for herself.

The two of them were old partners, and Liu Ying was now aware that she had spoken too hastily. She smiled apologetically to Zhang Zian.

Zhang Zian looked at her in surprise. “You’ve also raised clownfish?”

Brooklynella disease was a disease unique to clownfish, and if one had never raised a clownfish personally, it was hard to recognize it from a glance.

Liu Ying knew that she couldn’t hide it, so she nodded. “I raised them for a while, and one also got the Brooklynella disease, which I had cured by chance.”

“After that did you stop raising it?” Jiang Feifei asked curiously.

“After that… it died, not only that one clownfish, but my whole tank of fish died,” Liu Ying said dejectedly. “I stopped raising them after that.”

“How did they die? Infectious disease? Or did the water quality suddenly worsen?” Jiang Feifei asked.

Liu Ying smiled bitterly and said, “No, it was a typhoon.”

“What? Typhoon?” Zhang Zian and Jiang Feifei were both in a blur.

She nodded. “Yes. I’m not a local here––my home is further south, a small fishing village with typhoons crossing in the summer… Maybe it’s a town now? I’m not too sure. I haven’t gone back in a very long time.”

“Why haven’t I heard you mention this before?” Qin An couldn’t help but interject.

“Because… there’s nothing much to say…” She smiled bitterly. “It was a very long time ago, and the memory was already all a blur. At that time I was still young––probably about seven or eight years old.”

Zhang Zian hadn’t paid much attention to her appearance before––after all, he was a little nervous for his first interview––but when he looked at her, he noticed that she was not a pretty woman in the conventional sense. Her skin color was not so fair and it looked somewhat rough on a closer observation. It was similar to Jiang Feifei’s skin.

Qin An pointed the camera at her face.

“…Why are you filming me? We’re here to film Mr Zhang and Famous today!” Liu Ying said with a frown, wanting to push the camera away.

“It’s still too early now, and since there are no other customers, you can just take on the role of the customer and talk about your fish raising experience. It’s also great content for this theme, so don’t disappoint the station leader’s expectations!” Qin An stepped back two steps, but the camera was still aimed at her.

“Yeah, talk about it. I want to hear it, too,” Jiang Feifei yelled, then she ran away quickly to get a bottle of mineral water and handed it to her. “Come, come, come, what was that saying again? You have a story and I have wine, let’s sit and chat for a night! Since I don’t have wine, I will substitute it with water!”

Liu Ying became more and more powerless. “Don’t be like this! It’s not an interesting story… it’s just an ordinary little girl with a tank of ordinary fish…”

Woof!

Famous sat down, looking like it was also ready for a story.

Liu Ying was speechless.

“Look, if you don’t talk about it, Famous will probably go on strike,” Qin An joked. “Being able to tell a story in front of the Best Male Lead of the Berlin Film Festival is not something that just anyone can do. You have to cherish this!”

Liu Ying could not handle their persistence, so she said, “Okay then, I’ll talk about it casually—but don’t expect too much! It’s just a very ordinary story!”

“Okay, we all understand. Just tell us the story now! If it’s the old cameraman in our station, he would definitely complain that you’re wasting feilin!” Qin An urged.

“What’s a feilin?” Jiang Feifei softly asked.

“Film. Now it’s all digital cameras, so the use of film has long been eliminated,” Zhang Zian replied quietly. “While filming, some old-fashioned crew members would like to use this word to show off… it’s the equivalent of adding Mandarin into English, like the elites of a workplace…”

Jiang Feifei was speechless.

Liu Ying asked Zhang Zian, “Mr Zhang, are you not in a hurry to treat this clownfish?”

“It’s okay, you can go ahead with the story first. I have all the medicine that I need here, and this tank was originally a special quarantine tank. I’ve already prepared for the possibility of them getting sick,” Zhang Zian replied calmly.

“Okay then, let me just briefly talk about it,” Liu Ying said as she recalled her past memories.