Chapter 588: Pet Boarding
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhang Zian quickly walked towards the Spirit Curing Pet Clinic against the cold wind, completely unaware of the trick Richard had set up.
He was thinking about what he could do for Pi with its upcoming promotion opportunity.
As an elfin born with the Strength of Faith, it could survive with enough of the Strength of Faith, right?
On the road, he passed by the Uncle Li’s small diner and took a quick glance inside. There were no customers inside. Uncle Li and Aunt Li were sitting on opposite sides of a table, and were discussing something with dejected expressions.
A car was parked outside of the Spirit Curing Pet Clinic. He’d seen it somewhere before.
“Welcome.”
As he pushed open the glass door, he saw Long Xian standing in the nurses station, using the computer as part of her cashier duties. When she saw that it was Zhang Zian, she smiled and greeted him. “It’s you, Manager Zhang. Just a moment, Xiaomeng is doing a health examination on a dog.”
Zhang Zian looked at the time and asked, “How much longer will the examination take?”
Some exams took longer than others. He didn’t want to waste his time waiting. They weren’t far from each other anyways. He rather come back later if the wait was too long.
“It’s just a regular exam. It should be done soon.” Long Xian pointed at the chairs in the waiting area. “Would you like to take a seat?”
“No, thanks. I’ll walk around.”
Zhang Zian had enough rest in his own shop and wasn’t tired.
They were business partners. Long Xian didn’t stop him, and continued her own business.
He wandered into the treatment room. He hadn’t been there for a while, and the clinic had gotten a lot of new machines that he couldn’t name. Medical equipment was always expensive, and those machines probably had cost a lot of money. Maybe all of their profits went into this equipment. They had no other option. Without all the equipment they needed, they wouldn’t be able to perform many of the exams and operations, and their customers would opt to go to bigger vet hospitals.
Zhang Zian heard Sun Xiaomeng speaking, as she was explaining the results of the examination to a client. The client was facing the door with his back to him, and he couldn’t see his face.
A Cocker Spaniel was lying on the examination table, looking around with its iconic floppy ears.
After seeing Zhang Zian, it paused as if it recognized him, then barked.
Sun Xiaomeng stopped her speech, and turned to look at him, as did the other guy.
“There you are. Just a moment, I’ll be done very soon.” She nodded at Zhang Zian.
The other guy said in surprise, “Manager Zhang, what a coincidence.”
After seeing the Cocker Spaniel and the car parked outside, Zhang Zian had a good guess on who this person was. It was Meng Li, who he met in Binhai City Library not to long ago.
“Hi, Professor Meng. You don’t have classes today? And are you taking your dog here for exams?” he greeted.
Meng Li replied, “Yes, it’s already winter holidays. The results are good. It’s already six months old, without signs of cataract onset. I’m relieved.”
“Congratulations. If there aren’t signs within 6 months, the chances of having cataracts in the future is very low.” Zhang Zian congratulated him. “You guys should continue your conversation without me. I’ll take a seat outside.
He gave up the idea of leaving and returned to the waiting area. After sitting down, he started playing with his phone.
As the results were good, Meng Li soon came out with the Cocker Spaniel in his arms. Sun Xiaomeng followed him, wearing a lab coat and a stethoscope dangling around her neck.
Meng Li went by himself to the nurse station to pay with Long Xian. Sun Xiaomeng walked towards Zhang Zian and said, “I asked you to come over for a favor.”
“What is it?” Zhang Zian put his phone away.
Sun Xiaomeng said reluctantly, “Do you know how I have a lot of abandoned pets in my clinic?”
Zhang Zian knew about this, and had seen all of them the first time he visited this clinic.
Sometimes after their pets got sick, their owners didn’t wanted them to die, but weren’t willing to pay too much for them either. They would take them to the clinic for treatment, but never showed up again after paying for the first day’s treatment. This was de facto abandonment.
But for Sun Xiaomeng this still happened, despite the fact that an agreement was signed with the pet owner from the beginning saying that if the pet was not claimed within a month, it would be deemed abandoned by the clinic, and the clinic was free to dispose of the pets. However, in reality, they had to wait much more than a month. What if after a month or two, the owners suddenly regretted their decision and wanted their pets back?
There was only her and Long Xian, both two frail girls, in the clinic. They couldn’t even afford to hire a security guard. They’d be in big trouble if they ever encountered a bad-tempered owner.
As for the abandoned pets, most of them were not expensive breeds. They were usually ordinary mutts and mixed breed cats. They couldn’t be worth much money even if they were sold after a month, and nobody would even want to pay for them.
They were fed and taken care of in the clinic for a long time, which added to the cost of running the clinic.
Sun Xiaomeng explained her intentions. Her clinic was closing during the Spring Festival holidays, and both her and Long Xian were heading to their hometowns. Nobody would be working in the clinic to take care of these pets. She wanted to temporarily keep them in Zhang Zian’s shop, and get them back after the holidays.
This was nothing too big for him. Plus, she’d taken care of Zhang Zian’s pets in the past. He gladly agreed.
“I’ll ask Wang Qian and Li Kun to pick them up tomorrow with the tricycle,” he said.
“Okay. Thank you so much.” Sun Xiaomeng was relieved. After hectic work for almost half a year, she could finally relax in her hometown during Spring Festival holidays.
Meng Li had finished paying, and was about to leave with the Cocker Spaniel after nodding to Zhang Zian.
“Wait a moment, Professor Meng.” Zhang Zian quickly stood up to stop him. He then asked Sun Xiaomeng, “Do you have anything else?”
“No.” Sun Xiaomeng shook her head. “Go ahead with your business.”
Zhang Zian signaled to Meng Li. “Let’s head out together.”
Meng Li guessed that he wanted something from him, but he didn’t know what. Maybe it was about the Cocker Spaniel. After all, when he bought the dog, Zhang Zian reminded him that Cocker Spaniels were prone to hereditary cataract.
They left the pet clinic together.
It was getting dark earlier during the winter. It was almost dusk then. The sun was hanging around the horizon gently, and the cold wind was blowing stronger and stronger.
“Professor Meng, do you have a moment? I’d like to talk in private because I needed your expertise on something,” asked Zhang Zian.
Meng Li nodded. “I’m available. Manager Zhang, you’re flattering me. I can help you with a question, but I may not exactly have the expertise.”
“Thank you. Let’s sit down somewhere.”
It was too cold to stand outside, and Zhang Zian’s questions could take some time to discuss. He looked around, and saw that a lot of stores were already closed for the Spring Festival. The only place to sit was in the Uncle Li’s little diner.
Zhang Zian led the way, and they entered the diner.
After taking seats, he directly asked, “Professor Meng, the other day, in the library, when I mentioned the book about life, universe, and everything, how did you know that I should look for it in the reference book section?”
