Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
When Zhang Zian’s parents opened for business today, a golden cat and a tea-colored cat walked into the store one after another. The latter was somewhat understated but the former was simply arrogant and jumped to the cat climbing frame. It may have disliked that ashes or the hair of other cats were on the climbing frame, so it pulled a paper towel and wiped down the cat’s climbing frame before casually throwing it aside.
His parents saw that there were no bells or nameplates on the necks of the two cats. They first thought that they were stray cats, but upon closer inspection saw that they weren’t. The two cats were very clean and had no odor or dirt on it. The tea-colored cat was an authentic raccoon cat, but they couldn’t recognize the golden cat because they haven’t seen it before. However, they have seen many pure breed cats The difference between a pure breed cat and a mixed cat was observable, and this golden cat looked like it was from some rare cat species.
Maybe someone else’s cat ran here?
The old couple had run their pet shop for many years but never encountered such a situation. It was time to close the store and their guests have left, but they didn’t close just yet. Firstly, their son has not returned yet. Secondly, they didn’t know how to deal with the two cats. Should they have posted a lost-cat-found poster at the door?
They were discussing their next course of action when Zhang Zian came back carrying a cat, a birdcage, and … on his shoulder… isn’t that a monkey?
“Zhang Zian, you… you… went to the dog market?” The old couple was so stunned they couldn’t talk properly.
“Oh! Why did you buy the monkey back? We can’t raise it! It’s illegal! Hurry and go back to return it!” The father hurriedly took his outer coat. He wanted to head back to the dog market before it closed and make Zhang Zian return the monkey immediately.
They heard that the management of the dog market wasn’t standardized. Some vendors who wanted to make quick money took advantage of the buyer’s information. With a gibbed tongue, they could persuade customers to buy some pets that weren’t allowed to be sold in the country. An example of this was leopard cats being sold under the guise of other types of pet cats. They also peddled rare birds and thumb monkeys. When trouble occurred, they would move. They wouldn’t stay at the dog market long enough to get caught.
They probably thought that Zhang Zian went to the dog market and was fooled by the unscrupulous traders into buying a monkey. They didn’t know what was in the birdcage, but they assumed it was a rare bird as well.
“No, don’t worry about it. I met a couple who were putting monkey shows on the road. Their monkeys are undocumented, so I reported them,” Zhang Zian took out his mobile phone and showed some photos he took of the monkey couple being seized by the Forestry Bureau.
The old couple understood, but they felt relieved and worried at the same time. They were relieved because their son was not deceived but also worried because what he did was dangerous. If others found out, what would he have to do to retaliate?
However, the son’s approach was correct and couldn’t be scolded for doing the right thing.
“As for this little monkey, it was from the monkeys in the chaos that I met. It is already late, and the Forestry Bureau should have gotten off work. I’ll send it to them tomorrow morning.”
“There is also this gray parrot, which will be sent there together tomorrow morning,” He put down the birdcage, picked up the black cloth covering the birdcage, then went to the door to pull the shutter door down.
“Was this gray parrot… also raised by the couple who have monkeys?” The old couple felt incredulous. They have never heard of monkey shows having parrots. After all, this wasn’t the circus.
Stunned by the light, the gray parrot turned his black eyes and looked at the old couple, flapping its wings and shouting: “Hey! Hey! Look! The stylistic monkey, two flowers blossoms!”
The old couple’s doubts were suddenly dispelled. This parrot was definitely raised by the couple and attracted business by talking rubbish!
Since the monkeys and the gray parrot would be sent to the Forestry Bureau tomorrow morning, it was fine for them to stay here for one night.
“This cat…” They stared at the black and white kitten again. “They not only raised monkeys but cats too?”
“This is not their cat. It is from the outside. It seems to be abandoned. I already contacted one of my high school classmates who said he intends to raise it. I will send it to him tomorrow,” Zhang Zian randomly came up with a reason.
“Oh… yes, while you were gone, two cats ran into our store…” The old couple pointed at the golden cat and the tea-colored cat.
“This…” Zhang Zian scratched his head. “They look like someone else’s lost cats. It’s already late, so let’s talk about it tomorrow. They’ll likely leave by themselves tomorrow morning. If they don’t leave, I will help you get a notice up and find their owners.”
The old couple nodded as they could not think of another solution.
“Your date today… How was it?” The mother peeked at his face as her heart rate increased. Her son went out all day and did many messy things, but how his date went was what mattered.
When the old couple had no customers during the day, they quietly discussed this matter. They wanted to send a message asking their son how things were progressing, but they were afraid that their son would be annoyed. They also feared that the sudden beep from their text message would disturb the supposed romantic atmosphere. They were even more worried that many girls nowadays disliked Mama’s Boys. Although their son definitely wasn’t one, what if they sent the wrong message to the girl?
They kept discussing until they finally decided not to send. They chose to wait for their son to come back and ask again, so they spent a whole day anticipating his return.
“It was good,” he said earnestly. “We all had a good impression of each other and were very happy today. We went to the street, the beach, and the old church in the south. We plan to keep in touch.”
“Okay! That’s good!” The parents glanced at each other with joy as the stone in their heart finally fell to the ground. As long as this matter can be achieved, nothing else mattered.
They were eager to go for dinner, and his mother seemed to be in a good mood. She carefully asked, “When is your… next date? Have both of you talked about it?”
Zhang Zian pretended as if he had just thought of it. He slammed his head, “Speaking of that… I have one thing I forgot to mention.”
“What?”
The old couple thought it was a matter related to dating and stiffened up slightly. The purpose of blind dates was marriage. Did the lady state a requirement that was too difficult to fulfill? Did she ask for a big house, a fancy car or a huge wedding dowry? After all, they heard that the girl’s family was well-to-do so it was normal that she asked. However, the economic conditions of their family were normal…
“Actually, the company called me today.”
Zhang Zian took out the phone call record, pointing to the message his boss sent as he said, “He told me that the company has a new batch of orders and I must terminate my holiday early… The company needs me to go back to work by the morning two days later at the latest. So, I must leave tomorrow afternoon.”
