Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The next morning.
Zhang Zian hoped that the weather forecast, which had been getting increasingly accurate, would trip up for once. However, the power of nature was not dictated by the will of the individual. When he woke up in the morning and opened the curtains, he looked outside at the sky. The heavens had pulled open the veils holding raindrops. Passing pedestrians were holding colorful umbrellas, like a bunch of moving mushrooms.
It had, indeed, started to rain.
Even if he didn’t consider the outbreak of caterpillars, the rain would have a negative impact on the business of the pet shop and aquarium. No one was willing to go shopping during rainy days. Thus, the staff could happily play on their phones.
There was, unfortunately, no way around this. Even if he knew that there was no business, he should open the business as usual. This was a matter of professional ethics. It was just like Pi, knowing that no one would read his novel but still updating it every day.
The staff arrived on time with umbrellas over their heads. They started the daily cleaning of the store. After they had finished, they found a place to rest.
Zhang Zian leaned by the doorway and looked at the pedestrians passing by. He started thinking about the caterpillar problem.
Sun Xiaomeng drove past slowly in her car, winding down the window and making a gesture to him. What she meant was, “It is the end of the month. The money for vaccinating the injured stray cats is due, so please transfer it to me. I am waiting to pay my nurses their salaries.”
Zhang Zian yawned and pretended not to see it. After all, with the money sitting in the bank for a few extra days, he could earn a few extra dollars in interest…
Due to the bad weather—or perhaps because it was the day for college final examinations—the freelance actor who passed by the store every morning was not to be seen.
The Swallowtail larva at the entrance of the shop had not changed its position for several days. At this time, the dust outside the store was being washed away by the rain and fog. It could now be seen clearly, and it was very green.
“Mr. Store Manager, good morning!”
It was Little Celery, wearing a translucent child’s raincoat. She had reached the store on time.
“Good morning, Little Celery. Do you want to come into the store to avoid the rain? There is a towel you can use to wipe your face.” Zhang Zian saw her little face stained with rain droplets and invited her into the store.
Little Celery wanted to visit the hamsters and lop-eared rabbits. However, she shook her head and wiped the rain off her face with her hands. She said, “No, today is the final exam. I have to hurry and do some last-minute prep.”
“Oh, the final exam… Little Celery must have prepared very well for the exam and is taking it seriously.”
Zhang Zian suddenly realized that in the blink of an eye, they had already reached the end of June. The students would have a break after they finished the test. Because of that, he would not be able to see Little Celery here in his store every morning.
“Well! I hope that the prepared article about the caterpillars can be used in the language test,” she said with a nervous look.
“It doesn’t matter if you can’t use it. In the process of carefully preparing the article, your ability to write has also improved. The store manager believes that you can do well,” he encouraged her.
“Okay! Alright, I will leave now. Mr. Store Manager, goodbye!” Little Celery waved, ran a few steps, stopped, and said, “Oh, yes, the teachers asked me to thank you!”
“It is alright! Go on now to school, and be careful on the road.”
Zhang Zian wanted to say that the thanks were not necessary. However, if any of the teachers knew a young, beautiful girl, it would be good for them to introduce him to her…
Little Celery was now very far away. Her figure disappeared in the direction of Zhonghua Road Primary School, and he was still where he’d stopped, leaning by the doorway in a daze.
Vladimir soon appeared next to him, sitting by the door and staring thoughtfully at the rain.
It would be very difficult to go out today.
Over the past few days, stray cats and stray dogs had followed the armistice agreement very well, and the stale situation between the two groups had eased somewhat. Besides going to the pet clinic to visit the injured stray cats, Vladimir did not have much to do.
Thanks to the professional care of the pet clinic, Big Orange had recovered very well and showed no signs of rabies. He should be discharged soon.
“I was thinking…” Vladimir suddenly said: “Why Binhai City?”
“What?”
Zhang Zian woke up from his thoughts and did not clearly hear what he’d asked.
It turned back, staring at the opposite side of the checkout counter, where the Holy Cat statue had once been placed, and noticed that there was still a scratch that had since turned white.
“I mean, why did the Holy Cat statue appear in Binhai City?” it asked.
“This…”
Zhang Zian hadn’t thought about this problem before. He also didn’t know why it had suddenly asked this, but since it was raining… He was idle, so he said casually, “Because the Holy Cat statue happened to be in Binhai?”
“So, what are the chances of the sudden revival of the Holy Cat statue, which has been dormant for so many years?” it asked.
Based on some known intel and some information from Pi, he guessed, “It should be a cat abuse incident… Before, there was a cruel cat abuse incident in Binhai, and a stray cat was dying. The great resentment that the cat had in it woke the statue of the cat god from its sleep.”
“Resentment…”
Vladimir thought for a moment, then shook his head again. “The so-called resentment should be something as illusory as the soul, shouldn’t it? I don’t think there is such an abstract thing in the world.”
“Resentment is illusory, but it is not necessarily abstract. After all, there are still many problems in the world that cannot be explained by our current sciences… Or you can try to approach it from another angle. For example, resentment may be some kind of electromagnetic wave. It was released by that stray cat before its death, and it was transmitted to the Holy Cat statue…”
These were all speculations. If they were wrong, he didn’t have to be responsible for them. Zhang Zian was simply letting his imagination run wild on this issue.
Vladimir listened very seriously and suddenly changed the subject. “Caterpillars… Do they have a brain and wisdom?”
Zhang Zian was stunned a moment by its questions and tried to keep up with the topic. He said, “The brain… It should be there, but the caterpillar’s brain is small and is not capable of producing enough wisdom on its own.”
“So is the caterpillar without wisdom?” it asked.
“This is not necessarily true.” Zhang Zian recalled some sort of saying that he had heard before. “Insects, although too small to produce individual wisdom, can form a certain degree of group wisdom. They are each an individual brain cell, and the communication between them is like the current in the brain…such as in bee colonies and ant colonies, which contain typical insects with group wisdom.”
“Oh.”
Vladimir nodded and tried to digest his explanation.
Zhang Zian thought that the conversation was over. He didn’t expect it to ask another weird question. “If the stray cat’s resentment before the tragic death caused the Holy Cat statue to be resurrected, then…the caterpillars that you massacred with pesticides… If they have group wisdom, will there be…some kind of resentment as well?”
He could usually speak eloquently and come up with an argument. However, this time around, he could not think of a comeback and was left speechless.
