Pet King

As Wang Qian and Li Kun saw Zhang Zian taking out the dry cat food, they immediately understood what he was up to.

“Master, shall we feed the stray cats?” Wang Qian asked for confirmation.

“Yep. There are so many stray cats that I’m afraid there isn’t enough food nearby,” Zhang Zian answered.

Wang Qian tried to persuade him otherwise. “But… The more you feed them, the more stray cats will come here, right? Plus, if you feed them every day, the cat food will cost a lot of money…”

All animals wanted to avoid extra work. If they could find food at the pet shop easily, instead of searching the residential dumpsters and garbage bags under the danger of naughty kids’ flying bricks, the strays cats would surely choose the former. That would result in more and more cats coming to the shop. They would start mating and reproducing, thus resulting in a stray cat explosion.

Surely enough, Zhang Zian had thought about all of that. But he could not find a better way for now. The stray cats gathering there had already been a nuisance to the residents nearby––he confirmed that with Lu Yiyun. She told him that her neighbors had complained about the garbage all over the ground, as stray cats were going through the dumpsters.

If things continued like so, the residents would hate them even more. It would be better if he fed the stray cats and made them stay in the green field, instead of making trouble elsewhere.

“Don’t think too much. You guys come twice a day to feed––once in the morning and once in the evening––so that they’ll form a habit of eating here,” Zhang Zian instructed them.

“Okay.”

Since Zhang Zian had made up his mind, Wang Qian and Li Kun had to follow his orders. They each carried a small bucket of cat food, and brought them to the green field behind the shop.

At first, after they saw people approaching, the stray cats kept their distance in fear and hid in the grass. After a while, after they saw that Wang Qian and Li Kun had gone back, they went back to their territories out of their natural curiosity. They bowed down, sniffed the cat food, then licked it. They realized it seemed to be food.

As soon as one stray cat started eating, others followed. They even started fighting, despite the fact that there was plenty of cat food. They all wanted more to themselves.

All of a sudden, the grass was so chaotic that sharp cat screams were heard everywhere.

Wang Qian and Li Kun were a little bit worried about getting a rabies shot at the Epidemic Prevention Center, just in case they were scratched by the stray cats. After dropping the cat food, they headed back, stood aside, and watched.

Cats were not group animals––they were not meant to live together in harmony––but soon, they would form their own territories. Then the fighting would not be as bad.

Wang Qian and Li Kun wanted to count just how many stray cats there were as they started jumping out of the grass towards the food. But soon, they lost count and gave up.

A few bold, stray cats were not too afraid of people, as they might have been fed by someone while they were going through the dumpsters. They were still hungry, but they didn’t want to fight for food with other cats––or maybe they could not beat them. Instead, they tried to approach Zhang Zian and the others with caution, and stopped a few meters away, staring at the box they brought.

They licked their tongues, meowed softly, and stretched themselves on the ground with their bellies up.

The cats were experienced in dealing with people; they knew how to please people. As long as they posed a little, stupid people would offer food obediently with both their hands outstretched.

Yet, the three of them had dealt with cats all the time, and they had become immune to such moves. It was like a porn movie reviewer who had a hard time getting hard again after reviewing too many porn clips…

Zhang Zian put a handful of cat food into a small plastic bowl, then sprinkled it right in front of him, as if to say, “If you wanted food, come over here to eat.”

There were a few cats, but only one small bowl of cat food.

At first, the cats seemed to be distaining, as if they were too proud to eat food they begged for. Yet, as soon as one cat approached the bowl, driven by their appetite, the other cats soon followed, burying their heads into the crowded bowl.

Zhang Zian seized the moment and approached them from the back. He then grabbed one suddenly, and put it into a cat cage before it realized what had happened. Wang Qian opened the cat cage, then Li Kun locked it.

Then, they grabbed another one.

Soon, all cats were inside cages, except a smart one that ran away.

They were confused in the cages, as they were not used to the small space.

“Master, why do you catch those cats? Do you want to sell stray cats?” Li Kun asked in confusion.

Before Zhang Zian had time to answer, someone spoke at the grass field’s entrance, “Hey! There is an empty space hidden here? I didn’t know it before.”

It was Sun Xiaomeng. As she walked deeper into the field, she glanced around in curiosity. She was not a resident there. Choosing the clinic’s location on Zhonghua Road was because of the rent-client balance that existed there, and because of Binhai University and a few residential areas that were nearby. In other words, it was because she didn’t have enough money.

“Hello,” Zhang Zian greeted her.

She nodded. “Why did you call me here? If you didn’t tell me, I never would have found out about this big grass field. But it’s too empty… I wouldn’t dare to come here at night.”

“Do you see these stray cats?” Zhang Zian raised his chin to hint to her.

She had seen them as soon as she had arrived––they were all in the grass pockets, in the branches, under the long chairs… there were cats everywhere. Normally, there would not be so many cats gathering in the same place, as cats were not group animals.

“These cats… are all yours?” She was misled by the leftover cat food on the ground.

“How can that be?” Zhang Zian vented. “I’d be broke if I kept so many cats! Let’s get to business. I called you here to have a discussion. Would you be able to sterilize these stray cats?”

“What?” Sun Xiaomeng thought she didn’t hear him clearly, as there were so many cats gathered that she had a headache just from looking at them.

“I mean, the stray cats are getting out of control here. It’s spring now––breeding season. If it goes like I think it will, then by next spring, the stray cat population will double, or even more. So we must sterilize them,” Zhang Zian explained.

Sun Xiaomeng was also aware of the danger of too many stray cats. It would be a disaster to the urban ecosystem, as well as to the residents nearby. But…

“Who’s paying for the sterilization surgeries? You?” She pin-pointed the key to the problem.

Zhang Zian said, “…Look at you. It’s not noble anymore to talk about money.”

Wang Qian and Li Kun stared at each other as if they both realized something. They knew that the Master was about to give a flowery speech in order to get free stuff again.

But Sun Xiaomeng didn’t fall for his trap. She said directly, “One or two is fine. I can do it effortlessly, and I will surely not talk about money. But there are one or two hundred cats here––both young and old. Do you want me to work until I drop without getting paid?”

Zhang Zian shook his head. “I didn’t ask you to do everything in one shot. You can do it in batches––a few today, then another few the day after tomorrow, or whenever you have free time…”

“I don’t have any free time,” Sun Xiaomeng interrupted him. “Do you think my schedule is like yours?”

She was not exaggerating. As the clinic became well-known, she had accumulated a lot of clientele. Her appointments were pretty full from morning to evening each day. If she accepted Zhang Zian’s invitation, she would have to work overtime for free. Her legs were already sore after standing all day. Who would not want to go home and rest early?

“You can let Long Xian practice. Doesn’t she want to run her own vet clinic in the future?” Zhang Zian asked.

Long Xian was working as a nurse at Sun Xiaomeng’s clinic to gain experience and funds. Yet, her dream was also to have her own pet clinic one day.

Sun Xiaomeng frowned and answered in a conflicted manner, “But she hasn’t passed her vet licence exam yet…”

“That’s fine. Let her do the surgeries after work, behind closed doors. Nobody would find out. Besides, these cats don’t have owners. Who would even care?” Zhang Zian spread his hands.

Sun Xiaomeng glanced around at the stray cats again. She refused him earlier only to bargain, but she knew that she could not let them continue like that without intervention. Lately, she had seen a few cases of cats beaten up by strangers. If the stray cat population continued to grow, things would get very bad.

As for letting Long Xian perform the sterilization surgeries alone, it would be fine. Sterilization was a simple procedure, and nothing would go wrong.

“Okay. Let’s proceed this way.” She sighed.

“Don’t make sad faces. You’ll get wrinkles. In fact, you and Long Xian would not have that much work. All you need to do is sterilize the female cats here.” Zhang Zian encouraged her with ambiguous words.

Sun Xiaomeng paused after hearing this. “Why am I only sterilizing the females?”

She couldn’t understand that at all. Sterilizing the males was much easier than sterilizing the females. In theory, as long as all the male cats were sterilized, the stray cat population would be under control. Yet, that was only theoretic. In reality, there would always be new male cats joining. It was safer to sterilize both the males and females.

Zhang Zian chuckled and avoided the hard part of the question. “You don’t need to worry about this. I’ll take care of the male cats. You and Long Xian only need to sterilize the females. But, if you want to do it all, I won’t object…”

“…Fine. Send the female cats to my clinic for sterilization then. Let’s make it clear first: me and Long Xian only take care of the surgery, and nothing else.” Sun Xiaomeng shook her head, as she didn’t want to waste time with him. She still had client appointments waiting on her.

“No problem.” Zhang Zian agreed generously.

Wang Qian and Li Kun separated the cats they captured by gender. As Zhang Zian instructed, they kept the males, and sent the females to Sun Xiaomeng’s clinic.

After they left with Sun Xiaomeng, Zhang Zian sat down on a long chair in leisure. He glanced at a white cat on the wall with unusually long hair and a black streak on its forehead.

Snowy Lionet licked its paws. Its eyes were sparkling with a light of excitment.

“Meow, meow, meow! My sharp claws are getting blood thirsty!” It gazed at his pants. “Let me practice with their balls first!”