Chapter 311: Quoting from Classics
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhao Qi and Song Bai had come to Zhang Zian’s pet shop after work. When they had left, it was almost dusk. Zhang Zian watched the workers renovate his shop for a while and went back to the second floor.
He didn’t expect too much that Song Bai’s vlog could go viral on the internet, especially when there were millions of other videos on YouTube. What was most important to him was that he earned 3,000 RMB today. He could treat himself to some meat tomorrow.
“Master, as you required, we have moved the crib into your bedroom,” Wang Qian and Li Kun came out from the bedroom and reported to him.
“Thanks. We haven’t reopened for business and there hasn’t been much for you to do recently. You can call it a day now; you don’t need to stay here for dinner. When we reopen for business, you’ll have lots of things to do and I promise you will get a raise.” Zhang Zian nodded and urged them to leave.
Wang Qian pledged his allegiance to Zhang Zian yet again, saying, “Master, I’m willing to do anything for you!”
Zhang Zian had heard such words numerous times, and as usual, he decided to ignore them. Just when he was about to return to his bedroom, Li Kun stopped him.
“By the way, Master, there’s something that I don’t know whether or not I should tell you…” said Li Kun hesitantly. He was worried that his Master would look down on him for making a fuss.
“What is it? Tell me.” Seeing the strange look on Li Kun’s face, Zhang Zian turned around to ask him.
Li Kun winked at Wang Qian, who immediately understood what Li Kun was going to say.
“Master, the day you went out for a walk, a strange man stopped us on the street…” said Wang Qian.
Zhang Zian seemed very surprised, “What? What did he want? Your money? Or you young guys?”
“Master, no one will do that because we have no money or good looks.”
Zhang Zian got even more confused. He didn’t understand why anyone would stop these two stupid and poor college students. “Then what did he want exactly? Was he a leaflet distributer? A DVD seller?”
“Master, no one sells DVD nowadays…” whispered Li Kun.
Wang Qian continued seriously, “Master, that person claimed himself to be a pet shop owner. He offered us money if we told him about your cat training secrets… Of course, we have no idea of any superior methods of animal training. Even if we had mastered such skills, we would never reveal that to anyone,” he solemnly swore to heaven.
Zhang Zian became interested in this and asked earnestly, “Which pet shop was that man from?”
“Well…” Wang Qian and Li Kun looked at each other, “That we didn’t ask…”
Li Kun covered his head with his arms and tried to recollect, “That man’s last name was… Huang. Yes, Huang. His name was Huang Mingyu, correct?”
“Yes, that’s the name,” Wang Qian backed him up. “He dressed in a suit that seemed of fair price with a pair of leather shoes. He looked like any other ordinary real estate agent.”
“Oh, anything else?” asked Zhang Zian.
Wang Qian and Li Kun tried very hard to recall but didn’t come up with any other useful information, and they had to reply honestly, “No, nothing else…”
Zhang Zian was a bit disappointed.
“Master, it’s all our fault, we let you down.” Wang Qian and Li Kun felt really embarrassed. If only they could have talked more with that man instead of turning him down right away, perhaps they would have gathered more information from him and would be praised by their Master today.
“Forget it, even if you asked him, he probably wouldn’t have answered honestly.” Zhang Zian contemplated for a while. It’s not uncommon that companies would poach talents and business secrets from their rivals in the industry. He should have thought of the possibility that his competitors were interested in his cat training secrets.
“Master, what should we do?” asked Li Kun.
“We do nothing. It will waste our energy to remain vigilant all the time,” said Zhang Zian calmly. “It rains when Heaven deems fit, mother remarries when she wants to—just let it be.”
Anyways, he felt very lucky that Wang Qian and Li Kun, these two silly college students, wouldn’t betray him because of money, otherwise he would be in serious trouble. It’s always the worst to be stabbed in the back by allies.
Wang Qian and Li Kun grew to admire their master even more. His calmness and composure under various situations were truly rare and couldn’t be grasped by any ordinary people. As for that strange man, they shouldn’t be worried about him anymore, for their Master didn’t even bother to do anything about him.
“Master, see you later.” They said goodbye to Zhang Zian.
“See you.” Zhang Zian waved his hands. He left this thing behind and went into his bedroom.
He believed that as long as the people he trusted didn’t betray him, his secrets would be fine.
As required by Zhang Zian, Guo Dongyue had knocked down the wall between the living room and Zhang Zian ‘s bedroom and rearranged the furnishings on the second floor. Finally, Galaxy, Old Time Tea and Richard could stay with him on the second floor instead of sleeping on the first floor with the kittens and puppies. However, new problems arose—Old Time Tea stayed up very late, Galaxy got up very early, and Richard kept making noises all the time, so no one could sleep well. Sleepyhead Fina was on the brink of an outburst, and if Zhang Zian didn’t solve the problems soon, the results could be very horrible.
It was relatively easier to negotiate with Old Time Tea and Galaxy, but Zhang Zian had to make rules for Richard and warn it time and again.
“First, no noises when others have fallen asleep. Second, no noises when someone is still asleep. Third, no flapping your wings inside the bedroom,” he extended three fingers and said to Richard.
“I can understand the first two points. What the hell is the last one?” argued Richard angrily.
“According to Sun Xiaomeng, parrots and pigeons always produce large amounts of feather dust from flapping their wings, and will impact other creatures’ health if they spend a long time together in indoor environment. So, try not to flap your wings in the bedroom.” warned Zhang Zian seriously.
“Quack! Quack! How are you going to find a boyfriend if you are so detail-oriented?” said Richard indifferently.
“I’m not finding boyfriends!” said Zhang Zian reluctantly, “You will regret it when you have provoked Fina. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!”
“Forget this. What was that woman yelling about downstairs?” asked Richard with great interest.
Zhang Zian almost forgot about what happened earlier. He only remembered that he had earned 3,000 RMB. He recalled, “You mean Zhao Qi? She always likes making a fuss…well, I asked Fina to teach the kittens dancing and I chose a song as the background music. Zhao Qi got furious when she heard the song; she said it was too vulgar…”
“What song? Play it for me,” said Richard.
Zhang Zian pulled out his cell phone, entered the music player, and played Little Apple.
“You are my dear, little apple…”
“I will never love you enough…”
When the song had finished, Zhang Zian closed the music player and said indignantly, “This is the song. It has clear and strong drum beats, which is suitable for teaching kittens to dance, but Zhao Qi said it was of poor taste! Come on, everyone loves listening to that song, who does she think she is?”
Richard had been closing its eyes to listen to the music, it reopened its eyes and nodded, agreeing with him, “This time, I have to admit that you, the idiot, are right.”
“What? What’s going on?” In fact, Zhang Zian was not certain about the song. He tried so hard to defend his choice because he was afraid that the song was indeed a little bit vulgar. But Richard actually thought the song was not that bad?!
Richard cleared its throat, “At least the lyrics of the song are not vulgar. There is a phrase in English that says, ‘the apple of someone’s eye’. I guess you idiot have never heard of it? Do you know what that means?”
“No,” answered Zhang Zian honestly. He thought about it and said tentatively, “Apple of someone’s eye? Meaning that the person loves eating apples?”
He felt embarrassed simply answering with “no”, so he tried to understand literally.
“Quack! Quack! I knew you didn’t get it.” Head held high, Richard walked on the table presumptuously like an old pedant. “Let me tell you, the meaning of this phrase is not that simple. What it means is ‘something or someone that one cherishes above all others.’ Here, ‘apple’ doesn’t mean the fruit, but refers to pupils of human’s eyes. It is said that this phrase can be dated back to King Alfred over a thousand years ago and became official later in the King James Bible.”
Zhang Zian couldn’t help but complain, why did a phrase need to have official meaning?
Richard continued, “So the lyrics, ‘you are my dear, little apple; I can never love you enough’, are not vulgar at all. In fact, the lyricists were quoting from the classics in English culture. Whoever they are, at least their knowledge of English is much better than yours!”
Zhang Zian acted like he didn’t hear its mockery but put forward his objection, “But it could just be a coincidence?!” He didn’t believe the lyricists quoted from classics.
Richard ignored his objection, “Anyway, if that man called Song Bai decides to translate the lyrics into English for foreign audience, Little Apple could be a suitable song, because audience from English-speaking countries can understand what apple means in this context. Especially for those cat lovers, when they see kittens dancing to a song with these lyrics, they can easily relate to their lives. “
“Really…” Zhang Zian walked to the window and looked at the scene outside, “That means I am a genius?!”
“How did you come up with such an absurd conclusion?” said Richard.
“You know, I just chose the song randomly, and it turned out to be perfect for the dancing kittens video! How genius am I!?” said Zhang Zian complacently.
Perhaps Song Bai’s vlog did have the chance to become popular?
Richard broke his illusion coldly, “I don’t know whether the lyricists wrote the lyrics down by chance, and I am sure that you just happened to choose that song, but…”
“But what?” Zhang Zian knew there would be a twist.
Richard glanced at Galaxy, who was playing hide-and-seek with the American Shorthair, “’Apple’ has stood for good luck and health in the West since ancient times. Perhaps there is good luck for you idiot after all.”
