Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Regardless of what Zhang Zian had thought, the school of Minke Whales was going to be a major vanity project of the municipal government. Besides, they had swam over a thousand miles to take refuge in China, so it was not good to just chase them away.
The key now was that, other than the school of whales, there were definitely more marine creatures that had arrived in the vicinity of Binhai City… What could they do with them? They couldn’t always say that it was the initial result of pollution control, right?
“Right, Sihwa, a great number of aquatic creatures have followed you to the vicinity of Binhai City. Do you have any way to make them leave? Or telling them to not come close to the beach is fine, too,” Zian said.
“Most creatures, aside from whales, are not able to listen that far…” She pouted her lips. “It will work for those near me, but I can’t do anything about those that are further away.”
She meant that most aquatic creatures were unable to hear low-frequency sound waves, and high-frequency sound waves were not able to travel as far.
Zhang Zian gave it some thought before he took out his phone and said, “It’s okay. I’ll record your voice, then let me think of a way.”
“What way?” Sihwa asked with curiosity.
“I bought an underwater speaker a few days ago. So, I’ll record your voice and play it in the water near the sea,” Zian said.
The higher the density of the medium, the further the sound traveled in it. For example, the sound traveled further through metal than it did in water, and traveled further in water than it did in air.
Zian had bought an underwater speaker so that playing Sihwa’s song in the water could cover a relatively wide range. Everything would be fine as long as the aquatic creatures stayed away from the beach––especially the large-sized marine creatures that could easily be discovered by humans.
Sihwa stared at his phone. “Is this… a mobile phone?”
“Yes it is. You’ve seen it before, right?” Zhang Zian felt that, since she had watched so many Korean dramas, it couldn’t be possible that she hadn’t seen one before.
“So that noisy girl from a few days ago was talking non-stop to a phone?” she asked.
Noisy girl?
Zhang Zian lagged for a moment before he reacted. Sihwa must have been referring to Snowy.
“Yes, she’s a network anchor, so her job is to interact and communicate with other netizens over her phone,” Zian explained before he suddenly realized something. “Are there no network anchors in Korea dramas?”
“What’s a network anchor?” The innocence on her face could not have been faked.
It seemed plausible after thinking about it. After all, the lead characters in a Korean drama were mostly prosecutors, judges, big business heirs, lawyers, doctors, and all kinds of upper-class characters––none of them came close to a network anchor.
Aside from that, network anchors were not as popular in other countries like they were in China.
What is a network anchor? It seems pretty hard to define it.
Zhang Zian pondered for a moment before he tried to explain. “A network anchor does a live broadcast about what they’re currently doing and, if people are interested, they will continue watching and turn into the network anchor’s fan.”
“A live broadcast on what they’re doing?” She was still a little blur. “Doing anything is fine?”
“Of course not––it has to be something that other people would be interested in!” Zhang Zian laughed and said, “For example, if you play games well, you can do a live broadcast of you playing games; if you have any special talents, you can do a live broadcast on you singing or dancing; if you’re more courageous, you can do a live broadcast on extreme sports or exploring a haunted house…”
Sihwa looked down at her pale blue fishtail and her translucent dorsal fin. She protested, “What does that girl do a live broadcast on? She doesn’t seem to be good at anything, only jibber-jabbering in front of her phone.”
“She’s an outdoor network anchor, so she introduces specialty spots and shops of Binhai City to her audience,” Zian answered.
Sihwa pouted and said disdainfully, “Che! What’s so special about that? It’s fine as long as you have two legs and you’re a human, right?”
“That’s not for sure… It isn’t so simple.” Zhang Zian shook his head. He used to feel that it was very easy to do a live broadcast––it was just lying down and counting your money––but facts have proven that successful network anchors all have their own success element.
“You think it’s so simple to be an outdoor network anchor? That all they have to do is walk around, eating and drinking whatever they want? That’s not the case. According to what I know, Snowy usually has to observe and do some research before selecting a shop, and only when she feels that a shop is good, will she choose to do a live broadcast there. Usually, out of ten shops, maybe not even one meets her standards—it is precisely because of how strict her selection criteria is that her live broadcast is trusted by others.
Even before her live broadcast, she still planned her broadcast content carefully, collecting opinions and feedback from her audience, creating topics, setting up the atmosphere and occasionally acting cute… And aside from all that, a network anchor needs to have their own unique trait and label. For example, Snowy had been labeled as a network anchor who ignores the tuhaos in her broadcast channel. Many curious people have heard of her label then decided to visit her broadcast room only to become her fan in the end.”
Zhang Zian told Sihwa everything that he had observed about Snowy since the day that he had met her.
“Ah, sounds so troublesome!”
Sihwa was suddenly at a loss for words. Suddenly feeling dispirited, she rested her head on the edge of the bathtub while her arms were hanging down, swaying back and forth like a pendulum.
“Which is why they are not known for nothing––there must be a reason for their success.” Zhang Zian ended the topic. He raised his phone and hurriedly spoke, “Come, can you speak or sing to the phone and tell those aquatic creatures to head back to where they came from?”
With a complete lack of interest, Sihwa gave Zian a side glance. She suddenly straightened her back and raised one hand up high, just like a primary school student asking for permission to give a speech. She said, “So boring! I want to watch television!”
“We’ve talked about this before and you have yet to meet the requirements to watch TV,” Zhang Zian said as he dodged the water she had splashed out.
“Then I won’t sing!” she said spitefully and hugged her arms around her chest. Clearly, she wanted to negotiate.
Zhang Zian was speechless.
“If you let all those weird marine creatures gather around Binhai City, it’s going to cause a lot of trouble. You do not want to alienate yourself from your kind and your people,” Zian warned.
Sihwa rolled her eyes in response to what Zian said. “It’s okay if you don’t let me watch tv, but I want a phone. I want to watch live broadcasts, too!”
Using a phone to watch live broadcasts?
Zhang Zian gave it some consideration and he felt that it could work.
Since she had to stay in the small bathroom, Sihwa was only able to see a corner of the outside world through a small window. Indeed, it was really boring and was no different from jail––but even in jail, they were still be allowed to go outside for a breather.
The more exciting the outside world was, the more helpless the inside world felt.
Most of the elfins hung out downstairs; the only elfins upstairs were Sihwa and Pi.
Pi was unable to talk, but even if it could speak, Sihwa and Pi would not have a common topic to talk about.
Although Old Time Tea would come upstairs and speak to Sihwa from time to time, it usually talked about its thoughts and ways of life and with Sihwa’s child-like mentality, it was hard for her to digest what she heard.
Thinking back, it seemed like the elfin that Sihwa interacted with the most was actually Fina…
Zhang Zian suddenly had a thought. Could it be that Fina found Sihwa to be lonely so it was coming up with ways to tease her?
Is that how it is?
He felt that he might have thought too much into it. How could the proud and arrogant Fina possibly look out for the feelings of others?
Compared to watching television, live broadcasts were more realistic. It was all about what young people liked, while the things shown on television were mostly far from what reality actually was.
Buying her a cheap mobile phone with only a well-reputed live broadcast app installed would hopefully be sufficient enough for her to understand what the real world was like––unlike the world of Korean dramas, which were filled with overbearing presidents, or local Chinese drama series with a world of supernatural abilities.
No matter what, giving it a try would be fine.
So he nodded and agreed. “Okay, then. I’ll buy you a mobile phone, but you have to sing first and tell the marine creatures to leave.”
“Really?” she asked in delightful surprise.
“Of course it’s true, a monk never lies!” Richard tapped on the bathroom door with its beak. “Are the two of you done? I need to use the bathroom! Or would you prefer if I relieve myself outside?”
“You’re the monk!” Zhang Zian scolded. “Wait a few more minutes!”
“It can’t wait! I can’t hold it in any longer!” Ricard tapped harder and faster.
It was also true that getting a bird to hold in its dropping was not easy…
There was nothing Zhang Zian could do but open the door.
Richard hurriedly descended on the side of the toilet seat, positioning his bird butt above the toilet bowl.
“Ga ga! Do you really want to see how I relieve myself? Don’t you want to take a whiff?” Richard looked slyly at Zian. “I’ve heard of a fetish called ‘Olfactophilia.’ Some people like the smell of gasoline; there are those that like the smell of Camphor; could it be that you have… a special fetish for the odor of bird droppings?”
“I don’t want to look at it or smell it!”
With a face of disgust, Zhang Zian turned on the recorder and placed his phone on the counter of the bathroom cabinet. He said to Sihwa, “I’ll head out first. Let me know once you’re done.”
Sihwa happily nodded before she pinched her nose and submerged herself underwater, lying at the bottom of the tub.
Dong!
Something seemed to have fallen into the water of the toilet bowl.
Zhang Zian hurried out of the bathroom under Richard’s laughter and he closed the door.
Fina was no longer on the second floor, nor was Snowy Lionet. They were probably downstairs asleep on the cat tree.
Pi was concentrating on his typing, so Zhang Zian asked with embarrassment, “Pi, did we disturb you with all the ruckus in the bathroom?”
“Zhi zhi.”
Pi turned around and waved its hands with a smile on its face. It typed on the Word file document, It’s good material.
Zhang Zian was suddenly awestruck. He felt that Pi now had the demeanor of a novelist, but he still reminded it, “Remember to make me more handsome.”
Dong, dong!
There was a knock on the bathroom door from the inside.
“Open the door! I’m done!” Richard shouted.
“Did you wipe your butt clean?” Zhang Zian asked through the door.
“Ga ga! It’s clean. Do you want to check?” Richard shouted.
“I’m not interested! But let me warn you, if you dare to get any droppings inside the house, I’m going to beat the droppings out of you!”
Zian opened the door and Richard flew out, flapping its wings.
“Ga ga! I have a suggestion––why not install a smart toilet cover? The one that will squirt water and blow-dry your chrysanthemum? It would save me the trouble of rubbing against the toilet paper each time!”
“You’re the only one with so many requests!” Zhang Zian glared at it.
“I’m done recording!” Sihwa shouted.
Zhang Zian walked into the bathroom and listened to the recording. He felt that Sihwa’s song had some weird stuff mixed into it… it went pu pu pu.
