Chapter 457: Association of the Pet Exchange Promotion
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Turning part of their attention from the Ashera cat to Snowy Lionet, the crowd looked back and forth at the two cats.
While quietly listening to the man’s eloquent way of speaking, Zhang Zian was also wondering who this person could be and what his purpose was.
Finishing up, the guy said, “If you want to raise a cat, you don’t have to adopt purebred species only. The characteristics and appearances of purebred cats are more consistent, but the life of each cat carries their own meaning. But all right everybody, old habits die hard and it seems that I’ve been talking too much in front of the real expert. Please don’t mind me and feel free to purchase whatever pets you want.”
Although the crowd wanted more information, the man had already stopped talking, and they were too embarrassed to ask him to continue. Led by Wang Qian and Li Kun, they either came into the store to choose pets or waited for the dancing kitten performance. Only a few people were still watching the Ashera cat and Snowy Lionet by the entrance.
Smiling apologetically, the man walked up towards Zhang Zian and introduced himself. “Hey, you’re the owner of this shop, right? I’m Wu Mingzhen, President of the Association of Pet Exchange Promotion in Changqiao City.” He handed over his business card while speaking.
Zhang Zian took the business card and glanced at it. Changqiao City was the provincial capital of the neighboring province and its economy was more developed than Binhai City. Changqiao Port was also a famous deepwater port on the east coast of China with a very prosperous import and export trade. However, Zhang Zian had never heard of anything about the Association of Pet Exchange Promotion from there.
As if reading his mind, Wu Mingzhen explained, “It’s normal that you’ve never heard of us before, our association is just a local non-profit group started by some pet lovers to encourage a network of communication. Normally, we organize some free exhibitions and fun science activities to teach pet related information to students and adults. We also have projects that we collaborated on with some non-governmental organizations abroad.”
Zhang Zian simply introduced himself, “My name is Zhang Zian, and I’m the owner of this store.”
“I know. Mr. Zhang, you’re a celebrity within our association, and we’ve heard a lot about you.” Wu Mingzhen smiled. “To be honest, at the beginning, we were skeptical of the rumors and waited to see proof for ourselves. After some videos spread on the internet, other groups sent us inquiries, wanting to know whether it was true that the kittens in your shop could dance and if you could host exhibitions abroad.”
“Host exhibitions abroad?” Zhang Zian was surprised. He had never considered this before.
“Yes,” Wu Mingzhen said with certainty. “There are already many groups from the United States, Canada, France, Denmark, South Korea, Japan and other countries that have shown great interest in your cats, which also brings huge economic benefits. For example, cat lovers are everywhere within the younger generation in Japan. According to the research from the Japan Pet Food Association, from 2012 to 2016 the number of pet dogs in Japan has decreased from 11.53 million to 9.87 million, while the number of pet cats has increased from 9.53 million to 9.84 million, and pet cats have already outnumbered pet dogs in 2017. As you know, Japan has been in a long term economic downturn, but even so the wholesale prices of kittens have being getting higher, rising from 124,000 yen per kitten in 2013 to 210,000 yen per kitten in 2017. The price of a cat that is rare breed can easily reach over one million yen! And this is just the wholesale price that I’m talking about.”
Zhang Zian would be lying if he said he was completely uninterested in this huge potential market.
He also knew that the younger generation in Japan believed in the concept that “cuteness is everything”, which may be one of the main reasons for the decrease in the number of pet dogs and the increase in the number of pet cats. After all, dogs were still inferior to cats when it came to levels of affection and adorableness. But he still knew to be doubtful in the face of a miraculous good fortune. As the saying goes, someone who is unexplainably generous must be hiding evil intentions.
Seeing a flicker of suspicion on Zhang Zian’s face, Wu Mingzheng stressed that, “We are a non-profit organization whose main goal is to encourage communication and give society a better understanding of pets. As for the main members of the association, they have day jobs and other financial resources. They don’t expect to make money from this. We created the association simply because we like pets, nothing more.”
Because of Wu Mingzheng’s honesty, Zhang Zian temporarily got rid of his doubts, but still carefully rejected him. “Thank you, President Wu, for your kindness, but my shop is just getting back on track, and I have so many things to take care of already. I don’t think I have the energy to spare for planning cat or dog shows abroad. But if you keep receiving inquiries from other countries, you can tell them my address. And if they come to China, they’re always welcome to visit my shop.”
Wu Mingzhen glanced around and saw that there was only one cashier, Lu Yiyun, and two helpers, Wang Qian and Li Kun, in the shop. Compared to the number of customers, the staff size seemed really small. As the owner of the store, it must be difficult for Zhang Zian to have time to leave his shop at all.
He nodded regretfully. “Well, it’s no problem. Soon, there will be many tourists coming from other countries to visit your store and buy pets.”
Zhang Zian was very happy at this news. Did that mean he’d finally able to meet a bunch of cute foreign girls?
“I came here empty handed today.” Wu Mingzhen spread his hands wide. “But since I’m already in your famous shop, how can I go back with nothing? I want to keep in contact with you, but I also would like to buy a dancing kitten. What do you think, Manager Zhang?”
“Of course, we should keep more in contact.” Zhang Zian guessed that Wu Mingzhen still wanted to see whether it was true that his kittens could dance. From their conversation, he could tell that although Wu Mingzhen was not officially a professional within the pet industry, he could still be considered as some sort of pet expert. It would save Zhang Zian a lot of time by doing business with these people.
After watching the earlier events, Ting Ying carried her woven cat carrier and went to say goodbye to Zhang Zian and Lu Yiyun. The shameless Luo Qingyu chose to stay behind because he had met a few beautiful girls in the shop. Showing off his digital camera in front of them, he hoped that one of them would ask him to take pictures. He would be thrilled to have pictures with all of them.
Wu Mingzhen told Zhang Zian to deal with the other customers first, and he would keep casually walking around the store. Having travelled all the way from another city, he wanted to know everything about the shop before going back home.
Not too long after, a Bentley pulled up in front of the store, catching many of the customers’ attention. Zhang Zian also noticed it. These rich people change their cars as often as they change their clothes. The last time he saw Lin Qi, he was driving a BMW i8, and today he had already replaced it with a new Bentley.
Lin Qi hurriedly got out of his car and went into the store. The first thing he saw was the Ashera cat in the cage.
“D*mn! It’s huge!” He stood in front of the cage looking shocked.
“This type of cat is one of the largest in the world,” said Zhang Zian, looking at him sympathetically. “But don’t worry, you’re wealthy enough to support its big appetite without going broke.”
“That’s not the problem!” Lin Qi was so upset that he was stomping his feet in a fit. “The problem is that its meow is really creepy. I’ll pee my pants if I hear it crying in the middle of the night.”
Zhang Zian didn’t have an answer for this problem. He tried to comfort Lin Qi and said, “You’ll get used to it.” But what he was actually thinking was, Who told you to be so impractical and buy such a special cat? Just accept it and own up!
“Does this cat bite?” Lin Qi tentatively reached his hand towards the cage and saw that it had no desire to bite him.
“Probably not,” Zhang Zian said. “Since the company allowed me to sell this cat as a pet, they must have made sure that it would not intentionally bite. Otherwise any money spent on buying this cat would be wasted.”
Zhang Zian was pretty sure of this. Although the cat did try to confront Fina, it was only because Fina was another cat, and they were simply fighting over their territories. This was just the nature of all felines and also occured when ordinary house cats met.
“Well, that’s good.” Palms sweating, Lin Qi managed a smile, but still did not dare to open the cage.
Seeing his timid expression, Zhang Zian opened the cage himself. “Move out of the way and watch me.”
As if being pardoned, Lin Qi quickly moved to the side.
“Careful, manager!” The crowd of spectators also stepped back, out of the fear that the cat would violently start attacking when it was out of its cage.
Their cautious and fearful looks made even Zhang Zian, who was confident before, become a bit frightened, but he still bravely opened the cage. Carefully pulling its leash, he led the Ashera cat out.
Despite its lethal appearance and scary meow, the Ashera cat seemed to have a fairly docile personality. Led by Zhang Zian, it anxiously looked around.
“See, everything is okay, right? It’s a bit nervous being surrounded by so many people, but it will be fine after you take it home. Don’t be afraid, just treat it like an ordinary cat.” Zhang Zian handed the leash over to Lin Qi.
Lin Qi wasn’t completely reassured. He asked, “Can I keep this leash around its neck all the time?”
“You’d better not.” said Zhang Zian shaking his head. “Cats don’t like to wear collars all the time. And don’t act nervous, because animals can detect your emotions and you’ll only project your own anxiety onto it.”
Lin Qi smiled bitterly. Since he had already bought such a special cat, he now had to show it off in front of his friends. As for the future, he would see if anyone was willing to take the cat off his hands. He could handle everything, except for the terrifying sounds the cat made.
After Lin Qi drove away, Wu Mingzhen went to Zhang Zian and said emotionally, “I heard that only the biggest celebrities across the world raised huge animals like lions, tigers, leopards, and the like. And that only the very wealthy raised such bizarre cat breeds. From my perspective, their behaviors are very different from people’s original reasons for keeping pets. Can this Ashera cat really make this young man happy?”
Zhang Zian agreed with him. But he had no interest in trying to understand rich peoples’ world or actions. He invited Wu Mingzhen in. “President Wu, please come in. What kind of cats do you want to see?”
Wu Mingzhe smiled. “Any of them who can dance will do. But Mr. Zhang, I really want to know about your purebred Linqing Chausie. Where did you find it? I’ve always thought they were extinct.”
Zhang Zian calmly replied, “I found it on the streets. In fact, I am one of the best Beastmaster hunters.”
