Pet King

The sun rose slowly.

On a warm spring day, even the most hardcore Otaku would go outside.

There were more and more visitors to the pet shop and aquarium. Some were there just for a look, while some came for the promotions. Some were seriously searching for a pet, while others came for Famous.

During promotional periods, Zhao Qi would surely be there––she had to seize the chance and buy enough foreign brand cat food for Lan Lan.

She came with Shi Shi, despite that Shi Shi would rather spend time with her boyfriend, Liu Sanlang. After she was accused of “dates before mates,” however, she followed her in obedience. She could also buy some dog food for Xiao La.

As the official screening of Dog Warrior in mainland China approached, the production team and producers started new rounds of promotional campaigns. Famous, the new Best Actor of the Berlin Film Festival, was surely the center of all promotions. Therefore, more and more people came to look at Famous with their own eyes. There were even tourists coming in from other cities.

The production team also asked Zhang Zian if they could borrow Famous for a while. If Famous could be present during the promotional activities, it would be better––of course, if he had time to participate in the promotional activities with Famous, the team would greatly appreciate that, too.

Zhang Zian had no time: The aquarium business was just starting; the cat abuse issue was still troubling him deeply; plus, he had the trouble-making mermaid in his bathtub… He was unable to leave Binhai City at all.

He was not comfortable of lending Famous to them; therefore, he didn’t agree.

Famous had already acquired the ability to move around freely. It could understand human languages, and it was able to foresee impending danger due to its crisis prediction ability. It was unlikely to run into danger, though; the production team could make a ton of money with it, so they would surely take good care of it.

He didn’t refuse them up front. He told the team that if the promotional activity was very important, he might squeeze in some time to attend. As for other activities, he agreed to make Famous available as much as possible, either for photos or videos.

Zhang Zian put a vase of tulips in the aquarium to add some fragrance to the dark room. Then he returned to the pet shop.

After knowing what to do, Snowy borrowed a basin from Lu Yiyun. She sat in a corner and put Snowball inside the basin and tried to groom it using scissors, holding her phone on the side.

Snowball was very obedient, but it was naughty occasionally. If it suddenly became active while being groomed, the scissors might hurt it. But after coming to the pet shop, Snowball became so quiet and obedient. Snowy could do almost anything to it. It was like a living, fuzzy toy.

The live broadcast fans were laughing and joking as usual, teasing Snowy not to overgroom it, in case Snowball became a bald cat like a monk…

Snowy opened her eyes wide and bit her lips. She was grooming very carefully. But as she was not so good at it, the more careful she tried to be, the worse she did. Snowball was so badly groomed that it seemed as if it had been chewed by a dog, which made the online fans laugh even harder. They teased that she didn’t need to broadcast other things. She could earn millions per month by broadcasting cat grooming!

Luckily, Snowball didn’t care about it so much. It felt cooler with less hair, and the hair wouldn’t end up inside its stomach.

“Hello! Are you Mr. Zhang Zian?” A lady’s voice came clear and sharp from the shop’s entrance.

Snowy lifted her head to look. Zhang Zian seemed to be talking to a young lady dressed like a reporter.

Due to the high number of customers that day, Wang Qian chose to stay at the pet shop, while Li Kun helped out at the aquarium.

After hearing the question, Wang Qian also looked towards the entrance. The lady was a stranger, not Liu Ying, who had visited a few days ago. He didn’t pay much attention, as there were too many reporters lately. One group came after another, like in a market fair. They all requested and interview from Famous or Zhang Zian––in fact, interviewing Famous was actually interviewing Zhang Zian. Famous could not talk, after all.

Most reporters got the cold shoulder. Zhang Zian only accepted a few interviews from the media. Wang Qian didn’t know, nor did he care, about who got interviews and who didn’t. All he cared about was when Master would teach them advanced animal training…

He thought that, without exception, the lady at the entrance might get the cold shoulder, as well.

As soon as the female reporter spoke, Zhang Zian answered, “Sorry, we have an important activity today at the shop. We can’t accept interview requests. Please come back another day.”

Although it was just out of courtesy, there was nothing wrong in what he had said.

This female report wore a long jacket and a pair of delicately designed, oversized glasses. The lenses were non-prescription, and the frames were bright red. With her sharp-looking face, she seemed quite proud and overwhelming.

She held a microphone in her hand, and a cameraman was filming behind her. There was a “Global Entertainment” tag on the microphone; Zhang Zian had never heard about that media outlet before. Maybe it was some form of online media that not many people knew about. He had no time for them; therefore, he gave her the cold shoulder with respect.

Not all rogue media outlets were qualified to interview the Best Actor of the Berlin Film Festival. If she knew, then she should have given up.

After speaking to her, Zhang Zian turned back to the shop for the other customers.

“Mr. Zhang, please wait a moment!” Yet, it seemed that the reporter didn’t know about that at all. Not only did she not know, but she even quickly stepped in front of Zhang Zian to stop him from leaving.

Zhang Zian had dealt with a lot of reporters, but it was the first time he had seen such a rude one.

The customers inside the shop also took notice of what was going on at the entrance. They stopped shopping and watched quietly. Zhao Qi and Shi Shi were in the crowd and were watching the drama in broad daylight. Shi Shi grew a bit worried, but Zhao Qi didn’t care at all. As the first customer of the pet shop, she had almost witnessed the growth of the pet shop. She had seen––too many times––people come for trouble. Yet, Zhang Zian had bounced back from every single one.

Snowy was focused on grooming Snowball. After hearing the noise, she lifted her head again, but her view was blocked by the others. She could not see what was happening at the entrance.

The live broadcast audience had heard it, too. But as they could not see anything, they urged Snowy to take a break and take a look at the drama.

Snowy looked at Snowball regretfully, rubbed its chin, and said, “Snowball, wait for me. I’ll be right back.”

Snowball was half-groomed. The hair on the lower part of its body was so short–– almost bald. Its upper body was not finished, as she was planning to practice on the lower body. There was a lot of cat hair in the basin. She had never realized before that Snowball had so much hair.

Snowball meowed, then stayed inside the basin obediently.

“Excuse me! Excuse me!” Snowy lifted the phone, took advantage of her flexibility, and moved to the front of the crowd.