Pet King

Zhang Zian drove away from the beach and headed back to the pet shop.

As soon as he walked through the door, Wang Qian greeted him. He pointed next door and said, “Master, you should go over there for a look. Those two old men are here again.”

Zhang Zian wondered which two old men Wang Qian was referring to. He walked towards the aquarium quickly. Before he entered, he heard the loud and slightly hoarse voice of Welder Zhao.

“Store Manager Zhang, you are back!” Electrician Wu breathed in a sigh of relief after he saw Zhang Zian walk in. “We are here to disturb you again. You were not here just now, and we were hesitating about whether or not we should head back… Please don’t feel annoyed by us. It’s mostly this guy—the trouble maker,” he said, pointing at Welder Zhao next to him.

It was the same old Welder Zhao—a tall man with a loud voice—except that he didn’t look as healthy that day. His cheeks were not as red as they usually were. After all, he had just been released from the hospital.

“Wu, watch your words. Who’s the trouble maker?” Welder Zhao responded resentfully. He looked at Zhang Zian and said, “Store Manager Zhang, I’m here to pick up the fish I reserved. Did you keep them for me?”

Before Zhang Zian could answer him, Electrician Wu interrupted, “Zhao, shouldn’t you thank him first? How can you be so insensible? Had it not been for him, you would have been lying in the hospital like a dead body right now!”

“Pooh! What dead body? So unpleasant to hear!” Welder Zhao complained.

“If he had not pointed out that the cause was Palytoxin, the doctors may not have found a specialized treatment so soon. Who else would have been the dead body but you?” Electrician Wu rebuked him. “If you and Carpenter Wang didn’t make such trouble, how would this incident have ever happened? You almost dragged the entire neighborhood underwater…”

“Hehe, Wu, you are flattering us. We are not capable of doing that…”

“This is not a compliment!” The two old men started arguing with each other. The customers nearby gave them strange looks, thinking that the two elderly citizens were so immature…

As the argument seemed endless, Zhang Zian interrupted them. “Mr. Zhao, since you didn’t pick up the fish you pre-ordered at our agreed upon time, they were sold to other customers.”

Welder Zhao turned restless right away. “Am I not here now? Why did they sell so fast?”

“When was your appointment with Store Manager Zhang? What day is it today? So many freaking days have passed. He didn’t even know if you would get out of the hospital alive. Why would he keep the fish for you?” Electrician Wu asked sarcastically. “Learn your lesson and pay attention next time. Don’t bust your a** to save money all day!”

Welder Zhao turned sulky and sighed. “Crap! Instead of saving money, I lost so much! And the hospital ripped me off with medical bills!”

“Don’t worry. All the money we busted our a**es to make all our life will wind up in the hospital. It’s just a matter of time.” Electrician Wu had seen it through.

“How’s Carpenter Wang?” Zhang Zian asked.

“Don’t mention it. He’s still in the hospital. They have to keep them for observation for a while. His family members were released. They smashed up his fish tank and chucked it as soon as they were out of the hospital,” Electrician Wu answered.

“What a shame. Why do they have to smash it up to toss it? Wang’s fish tank was pretty nice…” Welder Zhao said with regret. “I bet Wang will not give up so easily. He’ll surely get another tank after he’s released from the hospital.”

Everybody there could figure out what he was thinking.

“How about this: I’ll let you know the next time I get the fish you wanted, and I’ll offer them to you for a lower price.” Zhang Zian wanted to send him away as soon as possible, as the other customers might find him noisy and annoying.

“Really? That’s great! Store Manager Zhang, you are a nice fella!” Welder Zhao rubbed his hands with excitement. “Don’t worry. After Wang gets out of the hospital, I’ll bring him here to buy fish. You’ll make a lot of money! Wang is very generous with money. You can charge him as much as you want!”

“You plan to rip Wang off?” Electrician Wu vented.

Zhang Zian knew that he was cheap and liked to boast. He didn’t take his words seriously. After a quick acknowledgement, he added, “The only thing is, our fish are acquired from local fishermen at the beach. I can’t be sure how soon we’ll get similar fish in. You may have to wait a few days.”

“No problem!” Welder Zhao waved his large hands. “Just let me know when you get them. I got a few fish from Wang, so I can start with them.”

He turned his head and told Electrician Wu, “Wu, let’s go. I heard that the suspended aquarium is liquidating the stocks in secret to minimize their loss. Let’s head there now and check it out. Maybe we’ll find nice bargains…”

As a result of the Palytoxin incident, the aquarium that sold Carpenter Wang Palythoa corals was raided by the police and the Industrial and Commerce Bureau for selling dangerous creatures and their business license was suspended. The incident was widely spread among the local aquarium fans in Binhai City.

In fact, it was quite unfair to the poor aquarium owner. He must have been shocked when his aquarium was raided… Had he known about it, he surely would not have been bold enough to sell such a thing. It was impossible that he sold the Palythoa corals on purpose—he would not have had such guts. Very likely, the extremely dangerous corals smuggled themselves into Carpenter Wang’s tank by attaching themselves to the live rocks.

However, as it was a vicious incident, someone had to take the blame.

Unfortunately, the aquarium owner took the blame… Luckily, he only needed to close his shop. He could still do other business. If he was suspected of intentional poisoning, he would have to pay a much bigger price.

As the shop was suspended out of the blue, there were a lot of tanks, pieces of equipment, and aquatic creatures in the shop. It would be a shame if the owner could not get rid of them.

Carpenter Wang had introduced Welder Zhao into the aquarium fan group. He heard that the employees of that shop were selling things privately at a very low price—even lower than the cost. They would go back to their hometowns after the liquidation.

The news had spread out the night before from some unknown source. After hearing the news, some local aquarium owners went to the shop overnight to pick out their stuff, and they bought back truckloads with their cars. Whatever they had bought was a steal. Aquarium fans from other cities were very jealous.

For a man who could never skip out on any bargains, Welder Zhao had totally forgotten about the incident. He had been unable to go even after he had heard about it, so he was eager to fly over there and make a “I want them all” gesture.

Electrician Wu gave Zhang Zian a dumbfounded look. He was too tired to complain about Welder Zhao.

Welder Zhao was so anxious that he dragged Electrician Wu outside before he could say no. He ran as if he would miss out on the bargains if he arrived late, as the best items had already been purchased by others.

Zhang Zian wanted to remind him to pay attention, and to not buy things that he didn’t know about only because they were cheap. Before he had time to speak, however, the two old men were already gone, leaving a trail of dust behind them.