Chapter 238: Whistles
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
It was a long way to the bird breeding base. The driver was talkative, so it wasn’t too boring of a car ride.
Guo Dongyue remained silent to strangers. He was a pragmatist, so he wasn’t interested in talking to a driver that he would only meet with for a short while. He closed his eyes to rest as soon as he got in the car.
Zhang Zian chatted with her for a bit and then finally asked the most important question: “Do you know any of the staff members in Phoenix House? We want to get a bird and were wondering how to get a discount.”
“I am sorry. I don’t know anyone,” she smiled with an “I-am-sorry” face. “I have been there once or twice. Some bird pooped on me every time I was there. I hate it.”
Zhang Zian perked up when he heard that birds pooped on her. He realized something important: “You mean, the birds’ house is all open?”
“Yes, it is all open,” she said excitedly. “As soon as you walk in, tons of birds will fly towards you. It is extremely overwhelming. Everyone is shocked when they go for the first time.”
“Well, it looks like the owner really knows how to raise birds,” Zhang Zian praised from the bottom of his heart. He had never been to a birds’ house before and he only knew the A-B-Cs. He knew from his parents’ experience that an open birds’ house was much more difficult to manage than raising the birds in a cage. The cost was also a lot higher. It looked like the owner was not only capable, but also knew what he was doing.
“Yeah. I heard many bird lovers go there.” She was paying attention to the road. “I don’t know much about it. I like cats more.”
She adjusted the rearview mirror to look at Fina and Snowy Lionet as she spoke.
Although it was the first time Snowy Lionet had been in a car, it soon got used to it. Every time the car turned, it pretended to lose balance and leaned on Fina. Fina would push it away with one paw.
“Hey, your cats are cute. Do you have more?” Jamie was truly fond of the cats. “I have three cats at home already, but I can’t help myself when I see nice cats like that.”
“I am sorry. That’s all I’ve got.” Zhang Zian understood these cat lovers. He wasn’t surprised, “You have three cats at home? Are they expensive?”
“Yeah! They cost a lot. I am driving in my spare time to make some money for their cat food, ha-ha!” she laughed.
“You can buy cat food from my store; I will give you a nice discount.” Zhang Zian wouldn’t let any business opportunity slip away.
“Thank you! I buy all my cat food from overseas. I am nervous about buying Chinese-made cat food. There are too many negative reports about it,” she rejected indirectly.
Jamie’s words reminded Zhang Zian of Zhao Qi. Zhao Qi was the same way. She didn’t want to buy Chinese-made cat food due to its bad reputation, so she chose to purchase from overseas. However, buying cat food from overseas can be very risky because the cat food might be taken away at customs. Zhang Zian promised Zhang Qi that he would find some imported cat food for her. If he couldn’t keep the promise, he was going to be laughed at.
Zhang Zian was deep in thought. Suddenly, a big shadow flew by, accompanied by a long whistle. He looked out the window. A group of blue-gray pigeons flew around an old building, then headed out.
“A pigeon raiser…” He thought about the PBL that Sun Xiaomeng mentioned.
Jamie laughed, “You are funny. If I hadn’t seen the pigeons, I really wouldn’t have been able to figure out what you were talking about.”
Zhang Zian laughed without further explanation.
“I hate having pigeons.” Her face didn’t lie. “Especially the people who put a whistle on the pigeon’s leg. The noise is so annoying! They are dirty and smelly and bring mosquitos. When I was young, our neighbor raised pigeons and my parents always fought with them.”
“The city is not a good place to raise pigeons,” Zhang Zian agreed. “I mean, residential buildings are not good places for raising pigeons. They bother people and spread bird diseases. However, it is good to raise pigeons in public parks.”
“Most people only care about themselves, not others,” she sighed.
Another whistle came from one side of the sky to the other. Zhang Zian looked out the window again and saw that the pigeons were flying in the same direction as their car. The pigeons flying under the blue sky and white clouds formed a beautiful picture. The whistle was clear and crisp.
Pigeons were only pretty to look at; they were too annoying to raise. Pigeons could bother the neighbors. The problem was that raising one pigeon wasn’t as fun as raising a group of them. The more, the merrier.
Zhang Zian casually searched for news about pigeons and found many complaints online. There was even a report about a 4-year old girl that got PBL because of her neighbor’s pigeons.
The little girl started having symptoms when she was two years old. The doctors diagnosed that it was asthma and told the little girl’s mom that it might be from chickens, ducks or pigeons.
Zhang Zian remembered the psittacosis and PBL that Sun Xiaomeng mentioned. Now, he thought Sun Xiaomeng probably knew more than that doctor.
The little girl’s neighbor changed the roof into a pigeon raising base and had hundreds of pigeons. Every time pigeons flew by, their feathers came down like snow. Every household in that building, subsequently, had all sorts of feather residue and pigeon poop, which was smelly and dirty.
In two years, the little girl struggled to live and was scared of pigeons. When the housing committee requested that the pigeon owner remove the birds, he said he would get rid of them after the pigeon contest in April…
Pet lovers and pet haters were sometimes two extremes. Some people were not born to hate pets. Instead, there were reasons. On the contrary, pet lovers, most of the time, overly spoiled their own pets and didn’t care about others.
