Chapter 153: A New Start
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhang Zian was worried.
Fame portends trouble for man just as fattening does for pigs.
In the early morning, Zhang Zian was going to get out for some breakfast. As soon as he opened up the curtain door, there stood a student who begged to learn Kung Fu from him. He looked to be at least forty years old and called Zhang Zian “Master Zhang,” which scared him, so he closed the door immediately.
Looking down from the window, holy moly, there were at least thirty people waiting for him.
It looked like it would take a few more days to get his life back on track. He had to wait for his popularity to fade away.
If he was a Wing Chun master, he wouldn’t mind it. However, the problem was that he was nowhere near being a master.
Cyber popularity usually comes and goes fast. He was pretty positive that in a few days, his popularity would go away and some gossip about a celebrity having an affair would draw people’s attention.
Speaking about getting his life back on track… The store was a total mess at the moment. What should he do? He had been hoping to renovate the store, but he had never worked out any details.
“Master! Master!” There came two loud voices from outside.
Zhang Zian opened the curtain door. Wang Qian and Li Kun hopped in through the crowd.
“Master, here is some free breakfast for you from the street vendor,” They each had a big bag of steamed dim sum in their hands, and handed the food to Zhang Zian happily.
“What do you mean it was for me?” Zhang Zian took the food. “Did you pay?”
Wang Qian replied, “I did, but they didn’t take the money.”
Li Kun helped, “We did pay, but they just wouldn’t take it.”
Zhang Zian was confused. He didn’t really have that good of a relationship with the couple who ran the food cart. Why would they give him food for free? Did they want to learn Kung Fu from him? They were a bit too old for that.
“Did you eat?” he asked. “If not, then let’s eat together. I couldn’t finish all that food.”
The two silly kids didn’t eat before they came, so they each picked up a few dim sum and put them into their mouth.
“When you are done, clean up the glass and trash,” Zhang Zian said as he ate.
The two silly kids had a mouthful of dim sum and kept nodding.
“Zhang Zian, what is going on? Tell me!” Sun Xiaomeng came in from the curtain door.
Zhang Zian stuffed his mouth with food on purpose and pretended to be swamped.
Sun Xiaomeng was a typical curve wrecker. She worked really hard at work and after going home, she normally would read and learn new knowledge. She seldom spent time on Weibo, BBS or video websites. She only shared some normal pet diseases and methods for cures on Wechat. It was more of a way for her to keep records rather than sharing with others. She found an unusual scene at the pet shop as she drove by.
The pet store would normally be open at this time; however, today, the curtain door was halfway shut. There gathered a group of people outside pointing at the store. Glass fragments were everywhere. It all looked unusual, so she stopped to check out the situation.
Zhang Zian hadn’t explained yet, but Wang Qian and Li Kun couldn’t help it.
Wang Qian said, “Last night people were trying to rob the store.”
Li Kun said, “Master beat them up. That’s all.”
“Use human languages!” Sun Xiaomeng didn’t follow at all. What were they talking about?
Li Kun pulled out his cellphone and played the video he downloaded.
She was astonished after seeing the video.
Full of confusion, she looked at Zhang Zian, who was trying to stuff his mouth. Honestly, she didn’t know much about Zhang. What did he do for a living before having a pet store? Where did he go to school? How did he learn to train cats? She didn’t know a thing. All she knew was that he was a good neighbor and she might partner with him in the future. He was also a VIP customer of her father’s. That was all. So he was the man in the video, an undercover Kung Fu master?
The problem was that he didn’t look like one at all!
What Kung Fu master would stuff his mouth with dim sum like that? Hilarious!
Zhang Zian knew that there was no way he could explain what happened last night. It might be smarter to pretend as a profound person.
When he was done eating, he wiped his hands and said, “The store was ruined. I am planning a renovation. I might need to borrow your pet wards for a little while so my pets could stay there.”
Sun Xiaomeng immediately said, “It won’t be free.”
Zhang Zian nodded, “That’s fine. We could talk about the money later. I will send these two silly kids to clean. I will pay them. They won’t take long.”
Wang Qian and Li Kun looked around trying to figure out where the two silly kids were.
Renovation was a big project. It could be loud, dusty and smelly, which was not a suitable environment for pets. His original plan was not to get new pets after selling this batch and restock inventory after the renovation. However, plans never catch up with changes. It was only fair to pay Sun Xiaomeng if he needed to use her clinic temporarily.
To Sun Xiaomeng’s surprise, he was being quite reasonable. She knew that he was flaky from inside out, yet he could keep his mouth zipped. He would not reveal anything he didn’t want to let others know. It didn’t matter how many times he was questioned.
“Well, I am going back to my clinic,” she looked at her watch and found it was almost time for her appointment.
“Okay. Regarding the membership system, I am afraid you have to wait until the renovation is completed,” Zhang Zian reminded her.
She thought for a second. “That’s fine. I need to hire a nurse first. I have been getting really busy myself.”
“The road to success is full of hardship,” Zhang Zian said. “We could rethink over the details in this time and see if we could make further improvements.”
She stared at him, “Wow, you even sound like a philosopher… Tell me, who on earth did you offend? Was it Stars Pet Chain Supermarket?”
Who did he offend?
Now that the problem had been solved, let it be. He didn’t want to tell her the details which might worry her. She belonged to the world of brightness and she should stay there.
He smiled with pretended lightness. “No! You are wrong. They were only a few gangsters that came for money. I gave them some the first time but I couldn’t stand that they kept coming back.”
Wang Qian and Li Kun both nodded. Master was exceptional with his trick – he played dumb and got the monsters.
“That’s all?” Sun Xiaomeng didn’t totally believe him.
“Yeah! What else could it have been?” he nodded affirmatively.
“Okay, I am leaving then,” She knew that he wouldn’t tell the truth, so she walked to the door. Before she left, she turned around and said, “If you need anything…”
Zhang Zian interrupted, “Of course! I will let you know.”