Chapter 377: Questions about Imported Cat Food
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhang Zian called Snowy over to the storage shelves to, of course, justifiably advertise for his shop. He called Lu Yiyun over too, to teach her how to answer questions for customers when he needed to go out.
Snowy focused the camera on her phone at him, while Lu Yiyun listened carefully.
Most of the audience members of Snowy’s live broadcast were rich, and a lot of them were raising cats and dogs. Some of the audience members had recognized the cat food brand at first glance.
“I’ve been buying this cat food for a long time — why is it so cheap here? It’s even cheaper than buying from the overseas websites! Is it fake?”
“Damn! The price is similar to what I bought in the supermarkets in the United States!”
Zhang Zian glanced at the comments on his cell phone and explained, “Because this is a premium discounted price for major clients offered by the cat food manufacturer, a number that retail prices at supermarkets can’t compare with. Besides, the cat food was shipped from the duty-free Oregon in the United States via express service to the Hong Kong free trade port, exempt from the 17% value added tax, and then was transshipped to Binhai City. Throughout the entire process, I only needed to pay the freight and a small amount of tariff. Here is a complete package of manufacturer authorization documents, customs clearance materials and import approval notice. If you have any questions, you can come check at any time.”
He put the relevant documents and materials in front of Snowy’s camera and let her film them.
“My baby girl’s food is about to be consumed completely. I will visit your shop in a day or two. If you are not bluffing, then I’ll buy some.”
“Cat lovers in Binhai City are so lucky. How come we don’t have such a pet shop in our city? We have to secretly buy overseas, and risk being confiscated by customs…”
Zhang Zian was so pleased with himself. He did not forget to emphasize, “The store’s cat food is not for public sale, it’s only for the internal welfare of our members. So, if you want this imported cat food, become our members quickly! The first 1,000 members may also receive the Hottie Store Manager’s autograph!”
Although the audience was condemning Zhang Zian, and many people even claimed that Zhang Zian’s signatures would be fed to dogs, the cat food had attracted a lot of cat lovers. Buying cat food overseas was too risky — unlike clothing or electronic products, without import approvals, once seized by the Customs and Excise Department, the cat food would be destroyed rather than requiring travelers to pay the required taxes.
Because of Zhang Zian’s imported cheap cat food, those cat raisers with limited budgets that had been feeding their cats domestic-brand cat food could upgrade to imported food without spending too much extra money. It’s uncertain whether there was a huge difference between domestic and imported cat food, but at least the imported brand was more reassuring. As for those cat owners who had been buying food directly from overseas, purchasing from Zhang Zian’s place would save them energy and money.
Some inexperienced cat owners raised their questions, “May I ask which brand is better?”
“I don’t understand cat food at all, I just buy randomly…”
“Hottie Store Manager, can you recommend some brands, in addition to the brand you sell here…”
A lot of similar questions popped up in the live broadcast room, and many experienced cat owners answered actively. There were many different opinions.
Zhang Zian picked up a comb and knocked at a can of cat food, as if drawing everyone’s attention. He cleared his throat and said, “Please quiet down! To answer the question raised by the person that just called me ‘Hottie Store Manager’, I can tell you how to select suitable cat food, but I won’t recommend other brands here.”
The audience went quiet. After all, Zhang Zian was a professional, and was more informed than ordinary cat raisers.
Zhang Zian picked up a bag of cat food, showing the side written with the ingredients to Snowy, and said, “We all know that cats eat meat, and that they can’t secrete much amylase. Nowadays, many cat food brands claim their products are grain-free. However, we must first make it clear that grain-free is not the same as starch-free, and every cat food contains starch, because inside the meat is muscle fibers that have no adhesive capacity. To make granular cat food, it is necessary to add starch to stick it all together.”
He added, “All the cat food brands that claim to be starch-free are confusing these concepts and misleading customers. The difference lies in which kind of starch and how much starch is contained within. The lower, the better. Generally, cat food that contain <15% of starch is safe.”
“Grain-free cat food is divided into two categories—pure grain-free cat food and gluten-free cat food. The former really does not contain any cereals because the binder it uses is potatoes! Pay attention! As in plant taxonomy, a potato is not a grain, but still it contains starch! This is a clever use of the two concepts. As to the latter category, someone might be asking, what is ‘gluten’? Gluten is the outer covering of cereals. Why is gluten-free cat food popular? Because the gluten in cereals and plant protein in gluten can cause soft stool or diarrhea in some cats.”
However, no matter how Zhang Zian exhaustively explained, the audience indicated that they still didn’t understand his long lecture. They insisted that he skip the proving process to show the conclusions, or simply recommend cat food brands.
How can’t they have the slightest patience? Zhang Zian thought to himself.
“Well, you want the conclusions, right? When different brands have similar formulas and prices, look at the list of ingredients and avoid those containing wheat, barley, rye, or oats. Those containing potatoes, green beans, and rice are still viable options. If possible, it would be the best if owners had time to buy meat and prepare food for their cats by themselves. Over!”
Since the audience were asking for conclusions, he had to give his.
“What the f**k? No way! I just checked my cat’s food and it was made with oats! Isn’t oat a good thing?”
“Didn’t you hear the Store Manager? Oats are good for people, but not for cats, for they have the chance to cause diarrhea!”
The audience members that were raising cats went to check their cat food. Some were lucky that the brands they chose didn’t contain oats, while others cussed the manufacturers.
It was good to eat freeze-dried or staple food every day, but not everyone could afford such food, and it could cause teeth problems to cats.
Homemade cat food was not bad, but was time-consuming and laborious. Young people were too lazy to cook for themselves. It was unrealistic to expect them to prepare cat food.
Zhang Zian finally stressed again, “Of course, the most economical way is to become members of my shop. You can buy our imported cat food at low prices, and there is absolutely no problem with them.”
Snowy and Lu Yiyun were listening to him very carefully because they were both cat raisers. Lu Yiyun also wrote down his points in a small notebook, so that when asked by customers, she could answer correctly. Only Deng Jie seemed to be a bit bored of the process. Zhang Zian looked at her. Seeing that he had basically finished introducing the issues of cat food, he suggested to Snowy, “Let’s go.”
“Okay.” Snowy agreed.
“Xiao Yun, while we are gone, take care of the shop, all right?” Zhang Zian confirmed with Lu Yiyun.
Lu Yiyun hesitated for a moment, and nodded in the end.
“Well, if you have any questions, you can call me at any time.” Zhang Zian was worried and then instructed her with a few extra words. Then, he sent a message to Wang Qian and Li Kun, asking them to come over to the shop to help if they were free. After all, it was Lu Yiyun’s first day at the shop, so she must feel nervous.
Deng Jie had taken the initiative to go outside to call a taxi. Zhang Zian and Snowy decided to visit the dog market for her, so she couldn’t let them pay the fare!
Since the dog market was crowded, Galaxy certainly wouldn’t follow Zhang Zian. Fina and Snowy Lionet would be disgusted by such a messy and filthy place, so both had decided to stay in the shop. Old Time Tea didn’t mind going with him, but Zhang Zian thought that even if it went to the dog market in the invisible state, it wouldn’t be good to show itself if they were engaged in fighting, so it was better for it to stay in the warm shop, drink tea, and watch TV.
Richard had always liked to watch the fun, so without waiting for him to ask, it had jumped into his hood.
Famous had decided to accompany him from the beginning.
After they got in the taxi and drove away from the pet shop, a muscular male who was standing by the side of the road, seemingly waiting for someone, promptly stopped another taxi and told the driver to follow the one in front of them.
After getting in the car, he sent a message: I have kept up with the target. I ensure that I will complete the mission and will not let the target get hurt.
