Pet King

Ever since Binhai City was built, the city had only experienced a few typhoons, and they basically just passed by––none of them had caused any major damages. Zhang Zian had never experienced a typhoon before, much less a mainland girl like Jiang Feifei. Even Wang Qian and Li Kun had put down their work and were engrossed in the story.

The horror of a typhoon could only be truly felt if one had experienced it themself.

In the face of such a disaster, it was already very fortunate for one to keep their own life. How would one have time to take care of the safety of their pets?

The survivor would continue to live on, while the deceased would be put to rest.

Jiang Feifei felt a little sad and it was not because the clownfish, who were lucky enough to survive the Brooklynella disease, still ended up dying. But it was because Grandma and little Liu Ying became distant again. Just like the death of the clownfish that had bonded them together, the relationship they had built up had also collapsed.

She had even secretly blamed Liu Ying. Wasn’t it better if the story had stopped after Grandma told the story about the Dragon King coming to pick up the clownfish? Why did she have to continue talking through the end? The story with the fairytale touch now had a realistic ending. It was just like the prince and the princess who got together and were now quarreling about their daily expenses every day, before they finally agreed to a divorce and split their assets.

But it was because of the imperfect ending that she knew that Liu Ying did not make up a random story.

In fact, it was not a story about the clownfish at all, but a story about Liu Ying and her Grandma.

“What about after that? You didn’t raise fish any more?” The camera was steadily supported on Qin An’s shoulder, and the camera was always focused at Liu Ying when she spoke. He had never thought that his old partner had such a thrilling past.

“Binhai City rarely experiences typhoons, and now you should have the sufficient capability to protect the clownfish, right?” he asked.

Although he was only the cameraman, he had been out interviewing with reporters for a long time, so he knew when to ask what question.

Liu Ying was immersed in her memory for a long time. She unconsciously rubbed her right thumb against her index finger. On the side of the index finger there was an inconspicuous white mark, which seemed to have been left after she was scratched by something sharp.

“Didn’t… No, I actually had plans to raise them,” Liu Ying replied slowly. “After working at the TV station, I borrowed a loan to get a house and had my own home—spacious, bright, strong, sturdy, and it was located on the upper floors, so even if the typhoon came, it would not be flooded with water. On the second day, I got the key, I bought a branded aquarium tank of 1.5 meters with two lamps on the lid, and an ultraviolet disinfection lamp; it also came with filtering and oxygenating equipment. I spent more than 3,000 dollars at that time, and you probably can’t get the same with just 3,000 dollars now. But after the aquarium was delivered to my house, I just couldn’t bring up the idea of ​​raising fish––like I didn’t have the mood or interest…”

Zhang Zian was somewhat able to understand her feelings because the person who raised the fish with her was no longer there.

Or, she was still waiting for the person who gave her the clownfish.

“So you’ve never kept any fish after that? The aquarium tank has been left empty?” Qin An started taking on the role of a reporter.

“No, of course it’s not empty. It’s such a waste to leave it empty, so I just decorated it with miscellaneous items.” Liu Ying faintly smiled. “When I fetched my parents over to visit in Binhai City, they were surprised when they saw the aquarium. They also felt that it was a pity to buy a fish tank yet not raise any fish.”

“Do they still remember that you had kept clownfish when you were a child?” Qin An asked.

“No. They do remember that I had kept fish when I was a child and that I was pricked by a fish hook and suffered from Tetanus, but they had already forgotten what fish I kept,” she replied with a depressed smile on her face.

After a moment of silence, she regained her spirit and smiled cheerfully. “Oh, yes, my parents have already retired. So, this year, I intend to bring them around the country for some fun, and the first stop shall be at my hometown––I haven’t been back in a long time. Of course, the premise is that I’m able to apply for a long vacation from the station leader…”

“About that… I think it’s going to be quite difficult,” Qin An said. “Currently, there’s a shortage of manpower in the station. So, you would probably have to wait for the graduation of the coming graduates, then recruit a few reliable interns before you can apply for your leave.”

Liu Ying let out a shriek and said to Zhang Zian, “I’m sorry, Mr Zhang, have I been taking up too much camera time? It was originally an interview for you, but I’ve only been the one talking…”

“It’s okay, I think it’s very good. In fact, the pair of clownfish you bought may have been wild-bred, so the chances of them contracting the Brooklynella disease is also higher. If it was a clownfish that was artificially bred by humans, it’s relatively harder for it to fall sick,” Zhang Zian said.

“Is that so? I thought that the constitution of the wild-bred is better?” Liu Ying was surprised.

Zhang Zian corrected her misconception. “Although the wild-bred are more beautiful, their constitution might not necessarily be better—the key is not if they were born in the wild. Do you know how wild clownfish are caught?”

“They are scooped up in a net… They can’t be fished out from the sea, right?” she jokingly said.

Zhang Zian gave a serious reply. “No, clownfish are always associated with sea anemones. They swim between the reefs on the seabed, so it’s difficult to catch them with fishnets. As far as I know, wild clownfish are often caught by spreading drugs into the sea, so after buying wild-bred clownfish, you should raise them separately, not feed them any food, and wait until the residual effects of the drugs disappear completely and their constitution returns to normal. You must not rush to feed them, or rush to put them together with the anemones.”

“They are caught with the use of drugs?” Liu Ying was shocked by what she heard.

“Yeah, a small dose of the anesthetic drug numbs the clownfish at the bottom of the sea, then they float to the surface of the sea and are easy to scoop out. If it wasn’t for this, the price of wild-bred clownfish might even be a few times more,” Zhang Zian said.

“This… won’t it numb them to death?” Liu Ying asked worriedly.

“Of course it’s possible, but for the capturer, they only care about those alive, and one or two deaths will not have much influence on them.” Zhang Zian then emphasized, “My clownfish here are not caught by drugs. Out of so many of them, only this clownfish has contracted the Brooklynella disease.”

“So it seems like we should still encourage everyone to buy artificially-bred clownfish?” she asked in a reporter’s tone.

Zhang Zian nodded. “Especially for seawater fish tank beginners. It’s best not to covet the beauty of the wild-bred clownfish, but to choose artificially-bred clownfish, which are relatively cheaper and easier to raise. In addition, due to pollution of the environment and the breeding with artificially-bred clownfish that were released back into the sea, there are more and more variants appearing. For example, the clownfish here in my place are an undetermined variant.”

He gestured for them to take a closer look at the clownfish in the quarantine tank. “How is it different from the one you raised when you were younger?”

Liu Ying frowned and observed it for a while. Although her memory of her childhood was not very clear, memories that involved the clownfish were still clear. She was sure that the clownfish she was looking at was not the same as the clownfish she had raised.

“It’s really not the same,” she said in a heartfelt manner. “This one is much better than the clownfish that I had when I was younger!”

Qin An interjected, “Just like humans, the mixed-blood are often more beautiful.”

“Probably.” Zhang Zian was not an expert in the genetics field, so he can only answer that way.

“Right, I had wanted to ask… Why do you have newspapers stuck on both sides of the fish tank?” Liu Ying pointed to the sides of the fish tank in confusion, where it was covered with thick, old newspapers.

“I don’t understand that, either,” Jiang Feifei said. She’d been gaining a better understanding of the breeding of aquatic creatures little by little, but there were still many things that she didn’t understand. She was also too embarrassed to ask because Zhang Zian was always busy, so she planned to accumulate more questions and ask them all at once.

“It’s very simple: It’s just to block out the light and create an atmosphere like a cave in the sea, which can give the clownfish a sense of security,” Zhang Zian explained. “Clownfish are very sensitive animals. Their vision is very sensitive to light and color, and bright colors will scare them, but they will also be afraid if it’s too dark. However, the fun of raising clownfish is that once they mature, they will be able to recognize you and get close to you, like kittens and puppies.”

In order to prove his words, he brought everyone to another healthy clownfish, pinched some minced prawn meat between his fingers, and stuck his fingers into the water.

After it smelled the food, the clownfish, which was quietly submerged at the bottom of the tank, swayed its tail and swam up towards the surface. It swam a few laps around his fingers before it swallowed the shrimp meat in one bite. It didn’t seem to be afraid of people.

After eating the shrimp meat, it didn’t leave immediately, but it continued to swim around his fingers, and even went closer to nibble on his fingers.

“Can I try it too?” Liu Ying was very envious. When she was a child, she didn’t get the chance to feed the clownfish in such a way; she had always thrown the minced prawn meat inside and watched them fight for it.

“I’ll advise you not to do that because they are able to recognize people. If you stick your hand in, they’ll either be too scared to get close, or they would open their mouth and bite you. Clownfish have teeth, so even if they didn’t bite through your skin, it’s still going to hurt,” Zhang Zian advised her.

“That’s a pity,” she said with a hint of sadness. She then seemed to have recalled something suddenly and hurriedly asked, “That… the faint light reflection I saw in the fish tank that time, could it be that they were staring at me?”

She was referring to the moment before they left home to seek refuge from the typhoon.

Zhang Zian nodded silently.

“So it was like that…” She was also silent.

Qin An saw that she really liked the clownfish, and she had such an experience before, so he urged her, “Why don’t you buy a few? If you bring them back and raise them up, you can feed them like this in the future.”

Liu Ying was hesitant. The clownfish in Zhang Zian’s shop were really beautiful, and they were of a rare species. Taking into account Zhang Zian’s reputation and word-of-mouth endorsement, it seemed like a good opportunity to buy them. If she waited until the aquarium was officially opened, they might sell out very quickly.

“Okay, I will buy two then. I’ll treat it as a gift for myself.” She finally made up her mind.

Qin An said with surprise, “Two? Why don’t you buy more? You have a 1.5 meter fish tank, and you’re only keeping two fish? It’s going to be ugly looking so empty!”

She still insisted. “I’ll just keep two––including this one.” She pointed to the clownfish with the Brooklynella disease.