Chapter 373: Firm Opposition
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“It’s cloudy again…”
Lying against the window, Snowy looked outside.
When she got up in the morning, she noticed that clouds in the sky had been gradually accumulating. At this time, a large piece of cloud, lead in color, had covered the entire sky. Without opening the window, she could tell it was cold outside.
Perhaps it was a coincidence, but the weather was bad before Zhang Zian went abroad. It was cloudy, snowy, and windy. As soon as he went abroad, the weather turned nice immediately, and for several days, Binhai City was sunny. And then the weather worsened again since she had received the message of his return.
Snowy smiled. It seemed that even the sky despised him…
She sat back in front of the computer, typing quickly to reply to the comments left by netizens on her Weibo and WeChat public accounts, and then posted a brief new post: “Live broadcast notice: The broadcast in the dog market that everyone has been waiting for will shoot today, please check in to my channel on time! But the weather conditions are bad today, so if it snows suddenly, the schedule might change. Please see the update in Snowy’s Weibo should there be any changes!”
Closing the computer, she put on thick clothes. For those who were brand-sensitive, they could recognize that all the clothes on her body were from international luxury brands, but the styles were relatively simple and low-profiled. These were all new collections bought by her mother when traveling abroad. As for those one-piece dresses and evening dresses, they she had locked them all in her closet.
She picked up her Persian cat, Snowball, from her bed and fondly rubbed its forehead with hers, “Snowball, take care and wait for me to come back. Ouch, you are so heavy!”
Snowball softly purred in her arms a few times.
Putting Snowball back on the bed, she picked up her phone and selfie stick, and left her bedroom briskly. But when she reached the stairs, her heart sank. Holding the stair handrail, she was hesitant.
Damn! She forgot today was Sunday. No matter how busy her father was usually, he would try to stay at home on Sunday.
Jiang Tianda was sitting on a couch and carefully reading a newspaper. He liked reading the important national and local government newspapers and periodicals such as People’s Daily, Reference News, and Binhai Daily. Although Snowy didn’t think these newspapers were interesting at all, according to her father, these newspapers often subtly revealed some clues of the reform by the delicate changes in tone or wording. Whoever could notice these nuances in advance could stand on the forefront of the next era.
Snowy was not interested in what newspaper he was reading. She just wanted to sneak out.
Unfortunately, her father seemed particularly vigilant today. She had stepped on just one stair before he put down the newspaper, glanced at her clothes and his face became gloomy.
“Are you going to host a live broadcast again?” he asked sullenly.
Bad luck! Why am I so unlucky today! I tried to be quiet, how come he heard me?! said Snowy in her heart.
Her mother, who was baking tarts, had heard the sound and stuck her head out from the kitchen and said unhappily, “The weather is bad today. Don’t go out!”
“I’m fine. I will come back if it snows.” Snowy said sheepishly to her mother. As for her father… well, she just considered his silence to be acquiescence.
Mother helplessly shook her head, “How do I have such a wild daughter…”
Strangely, today, her father did not stop her unreasonably. Instead, he asked, “Where are you going to host the live broadcast?”
Snowy blinked, wondering if there was a trap in his words.
“I’m going to the dog market to see the puppies,” she said casually.
“Don’t you already have a cat? You want to raise a dog, too?” her mother chimed in.
Snowy clarified, “No, I’m just going to play with them.”
“I don’t believe you… you will buy one eventually. Let me tell you, you must train the puppy yourself. If it barks and poops in the house, I will send it away.” Mother warned her.
Snowy waved her hands repeatedly, “Trust me. I’m not buying one.”
She had hosted live broadcasts several times in Zhang Zian’s pet shop, and got to know that the time and energy one should spend in raising a dog was several times more than raising a cat. She didn’t have the patience required for that.
“You can’t go,” said her father firmly.
“Yes, I’m going!” her father’s tough attitude had provoked the rebellish side of Snowy, and she shouted aloud.
Father and daughter stared at each other for a while. Jiang Tian’s attitude softened a bit, and he eased his tone, “You can go to somewhere else, but not the dog market.”
Snowy didn’t believe his words, “You just won’t let me go any place I want to go!”
Father shook his head. “I won’t stop you if you want to go to other places. But the dog market is not an option.”
“Why not?” asked Snowy unyieldingly. She thought her father’s attitude was a bit weird today, but why?
Mother frowned. She did not want to let Snowy go out at all because it might snow today. But she couldn’t understand why her husband was so determined to prevent her daughter from going to the dog market today. She remained silent, went to the kitchen to pause the oven from baking, and leaned against the door to hear their conversation.
Father said seriously with rigid expression, “Whether it is a restaurant, teahouse, old bookstore or a pet shop, at least the owners are law-abiding and have business licenses, and the customers there are decent and well-educated.”
Listening to these, Snowy got more perplexed. How did her father find out where she had been to? But right now, she had no time to figure out that. She was thinking about how to convince her parents so that she could arrive at the dog market on time. She didn’t want to flake out on her audience.
“As for the dog market… Do you know what the dog market is? The dog market is in a remote urban-rural fringe zone of the Nancheng District with little and chaotic city administration. There are all kinds of nefarious people, swindlers, thieves, robbers, and abductors… You might be safe if you only want to see the place. But what if a young girl like you hosted a live broadcast with your phone and then you touched some unspoken rule under the surface of the industry? Who do you think you are? A vigilante?”
Her father was getting increasingly more outrageous, and finally threw the newspaper onto the ground. Snowy was so scared. She had never seen her father so angry before!
