Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhang Zian opened his eyes. The light was dim. He saw a familiar bedroom ceiling.
It was very quiet around him, and there was nothing, sound or light, that could have woken him up. He didn’t know how he’d woken up. It was as if he’d known it was time to wake up naturally. He felt no sense of sleepiness.
Was it the biological clock formed by his work?
He thought a little while lying in bed. Although he worked hard and often worked in the 996 system, at least he got to work at 9:00 in the morning. It didn’t seem like he needed to be up so early. In addition, he could disrupt the excessively regular work hours on Sundays. The natural wake situation he was experiencing now seemed to be the inertia of the biological clock that would be put to work when he got used to waking up at a fixed time every day.
Of course, maybe it wasn’t so complicated at all. It might have been that he’d gone to bed early last night, so he had woken up early today.
The door next to his room opened, and quiet footsteps came from the hallway. It seemed that his parents had also gotten up at this time.
What a coincidence.
Anyway, he was not feeling sleepy, so he also turned around and got up. He put on some clothes, went to the bathroom, and washed his face.
In the middle of the night, he’d stumbled to the toilet, but his eyelids had been too heavy. He should have gone straight from the bedroom to the bathroom. However, when he came back, he found that he had taken a few small bends, as if he were instinctively avoiding some obstacles. However, everything seemed to be clear and empty here…
As he wiped his face, he looked at the reflection in the mirror and noticed the bathtub, in which there was debris stacked.
He did not really enjoy what he saw, and this feeling lingered in his heart. However, it was not as strong as what he’d felt the day before. He seemed to have slowly but surely gotten used to this slightly-empty room.
People’s ability to adapt was so scary.
In a few days, this feeling of his may disappear completely, and even the existence of it may be completely forgotten.
There was nothing wrong with this. Anyway, the root cause of this feeling could not be found.
He opened the door and happened to bump into his mother, who was busy in the kitchen.
“How come you didn’t sleep more?” his mother asked in surprise.
“I couldn’t sleep, so I got up.” He smiled and rolled up his sleeves. “Is there anything I can help you with?”
“No, you go back and lie down. It’s too early!” his mother exclaimed, squinting at him.
“Then I will go downstairs and see if Dad has anything for me to do.”
He ran down the stairs with a smile, only to hear his mother nagging in the kitchen: “Really, this child…”
His father had opened the shutter door, and he stood outside the door and greeted the neighbors who passed by him. When he turned around, he found that Zhang Zian had already picked up a British shorthair cat that a customer had sent in for a bath yesterday. He intended to take it into the pet bathroom for a bath.
“Put it down! Put it down! Don’t do it! That cat is amazing! It will go crazy when you try to give it a bath!” His father rushed over and took the British shorthair cat from his arms.
“Then I will help you do something else.”
When his father took the cat back to the cage, he picked up the small bag with professional tools in it and helped the Garfield kitten clean its tears.
“Don’t—you don’t know how to do that. Don’t fool around…”
After his father said the first half of what he wanted to say, he swallowed the latter half, because Zhang Zian’s movements suggested a sense of familiarity with this work. It was as smooth as a stream of moving water. It often took two people to complete the work of cleaning up the tears, but he was now completing it alone.
“You… Are you raising cats outside?”
“No. How could I have time…?”
No wonder his father was suspicious. Even Zhang Zian himself was surprised. He didn’t remember that he had cleaned up the cat’s tears before. However, with the tools in hand and the Garfield cat here, his muscle memory reacted on its own. It was as if he did not need to involve his brain to remember how to do it.
“It doesn’t take much time to raise a cat.”
His father shook his head in disapproval. He still thought that he had a cat, and that he might have a Garfield cat. Otherwise, he could not explain this unusual skill.
“I really am not raising one. Maybe… I have talent?” He laughed.
Although it didn’t take much time to raise a cat, his work, which often required overtime, made him very tired when he reached home at the end of the day. He would have no further energy to look after a cat.
His father snorted. “Where would you get such talent? What nonsense!”
Zhang Zian laughed a little and changed the subject.
“Aunties, uncles, good morning…”
A small girl was jumping around outside the door. With a pair of asymmetric ponytails on her head, she looked like a lively elementary-school girl.
She rushed into the store but found that besides the auntie and uncle she commonly saw in this shop, there was another young man she did not know. Suddenly, she softened her greetings and stopped at the door of the store. It seemed like she wanted to retreat back outside.
Zhang Zian saw that the little girl was familiar, but when he thought about it, he didn’t remember anything. He turned around and asked quietly, “Who is the child?”
“Oh, she lives nearby. She likes the hamsters and lop-eared rabbits in the store, but her family won’t seem to let her raise one. So she will come over when she has free time to look at them.”
His father’s lips moved quickly as he quickly explained the situation. He then said, “Little Celery, don’t go. Come in and see the animals. Don’t be afraid. This is my son—isn’t it the holidays right now? He just came back from the big city yesterday.”
Zhang Zian chuckled a little. Little Celery. Was that her real name or a nickname?
Little Celery bowed cautiously. “Good morning, Uncle. Good morning, big brother… I…I was merely passing by…”
Zhang Zian also waved and said, “Hello, Little Celery. If you want to see the animals, just come in and see them. It’s okay.”
Little Celery peeked at Zhang Zian, and his father saw that both of them were cleaning up the store. She knew that she had come in too early today. Even though she would like to visit her hamsters and lop-eared friends, in order to avoid disturbing them while they worked, she still cautiously waved her hand. “No, no. I will disturb you if I come in… I will come again tomorrow…”
Zhang Zian handed a rag to her and said. “Then…do you want to come in and help me? After cleaning, you can stay and see the animals for however long you want. Besides, you don’t have to go to school today, do you?”
His father felt something is wrong. How could he ask someone else’s child to help in his store?
Little Celery was also stunned, but then her eyes lit up. “Really? I can see them for however long I want?”
“Yeah, because you have contributed to the shop,” Zhang Zian said seriously, telling her through his eyes that he wasn’t kidding.
“Then I will help you!”
Little Celery happily took the rag, went to the pet bath and soaked the rag, then ran out to wipe the checkout table, the door, and the glass window.
As she was short, she couldn’t reach the higher parts. However, wherever she could reach, she wiped it down. She put in more effort cleaning here than cleaning in her school.
“That’s very good. Do you always help your mother at home?” Zhang Zian talked with her while cleaning.
“Yes!”
Little Celery nodded hard. She felt that this strange big brother was very gentle and did not behave like an adult. Although the auntie and uncle in the pet shop were nice people, they did not like to talk very much. They also did not speak to children like equals.
She quickly dismissed the wariness she had of him and talked relentlessly.
