Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The nice, sunny weather that had been there since the spring had started finally ended.
It had been cloudy since the day had started. The temperature dropped again. It seemed that the first spring shower would be arriving soon.
Zhang Zian and the elfins got up at their usual time, then headed downstairs after washing up. Like all of the same old mornings, the shop was buzzing with noise after a long night’s silence.
He pulled open the shutter door to start the new day’s business.
Old Time Tea turned on the television. The same old morning news started at the same old time.
Zhang Zian took the vacuum to clean up the pet hair in the shop. He could vacuum enough hair to knit a pair of gloves a day.
Fina stared at him. Normally, he would use the vacuum right before the store closed at night. Vacuuming in the early morning was too noisy, which made Fina unable to go back to sleep.
But he couldn’t do anything about it. A customer stayed late last night, so he had to close up quickly, which left him with no time to vacuum the shop.
“A whale was stranded in the shallow water near Yanshui Village beach. After getting the villagers’ telephone, Fishery Administration officers sent the employees on duty near to the scene immediately for rescue. Construction teams working nearby also sent their crane to offer help for free. Under the help of the Fishery Administration, diving coach, and warm-hearted citizens, this whale finally got rescued. However, due to its severe injury, it died a few hours after the rescue. Here is a detailed report.”
There came the familiar voice of a news reporter on the television once again.
Zhang Zian stopped to watch. He turned off the vacuum temporarily so that the noise would not cover up the television’s sound.
The news was recorded with a drone.
In the lens overlooking from above, a large-sized adult whale was stranded in water around two meters deep. As the tide was high during the filming, it was not possible to tell what kind of whale it was; only the rough size was visible.
About a dozen men were busy working around it. Some wore navy police uniforms, some were in police border patrol uniforms, while some divers were emerging out of the water in full diving gear and oxygen tanks. They were attaching floatation devices to the whale. As the news had reported, a crane was waiting on the beach. Unfortunately, it was too far to reach it with the arm. Even the experienced operators could not do anything to help.
A few boats floated on the water, including fishing boats and Fishery Administration’s boats.
On the beach further away, a few dozen villagers were watching.
As it was not an important news, the reporter ended the story by interviewing a few villagers and some Fishery Administration officers, asking them to briefly describe the story.
It was all very unfortunate, but not surprising.
As many whale pods were gathering near Binhai City and the outer sea, there would surely be more and more events of whale stranding for all sorts of reasons. It was unavoidable.
The news report was not detailed enough. He didn’t know if the whale was injured before or after the stranding, nor did he know the severity of the injury. It didn’t specify if the whale had died of injuries or because of the stranding. After all, the reporter was not very professional. It was an intern reporter. Maybe they decided to send him for practice, as they figured the report was not that important.
The rescue team did everything they could, yet they were unable to save its life.
In fact, the reason Zhang Zian and Huang were able to save the minke whale was because of its small size and their timely discovery. Had they met the fully grown whale in the news report, all they would be able to do was watch it die.
The camera switched back to the news host.
“Let us mourn this unfortunate whale. Our next story is also about the sea. Recently, a fishing boat hit the reef in the outer sea. Under a full-effort, collaborated rescue, all the crew members on the boat are safe. Here is a detailed report…”
Zhang Zian was not particularly interested in the news. He turned the vacuum back on, then vacuumed the dust at the television’s top.
Soon, Wang Qian and Li Kun came in with dark circles around their eyes. They came across Lu Yiyun at the entrance, then walked inside together.
“I told you earlier that it was going to rain today, yet you didn’t bring your umbrella?” Zhang Zian asked the two morons. “Only Xiao Yun came with un umbrella.”
Lu Yiyun had a plain black umbrella hanging on her arm. Wang Qian and Li Kun had their phones in hand as usual, and they walked while they exchanged thoughts on games.
Wang Qian and Li Kun looked up at the sky and said with a smirk, “It may not rain. Even if it does, Master, will you just watch us go back in the rain?”
“Of course I will! For the record, you can never borrow my umbrella or my girlfriend!” Zhang Zian emphasized with great self-righteousness. “Even if you catch a cold in the rain, you can’t take tomorrow off.”
“Hehe, Master… How can you compare these two things? We believe you do have an umbrella.” They seem to be hinting at something.
Before Zhang Zian became angry, Lu Yiyun interrupted them, “It’s okay. If it rains, you can go back with my umbrella. I’m close by, so I can run back quickly.”
She put the black umbrella next to the cashier counter, and then took Jasmin out of her backpack to let it play in the shop on its own. She picked up a cloth, wet it, and started wiping down the table.
Zhang Zian didn’t agree. “Don’t. Just let them walk in the rain. They are silly dudes––they’re young and energetic enough to sleep on a cold bed. They can use the rain to freshen up their brains.”
Spring rain was cold; he could not let her pay for their silly mistake.
“This umbrella isn’t mine anyway. The previous tenant left it here when he moved out.” She paused her hands mid-wipe and added, “So is Jasmin.”
No wonder she owned a big and ugly black umbrella that few girls would buy. Even if Lu Yiyun was a hardcore Otaku, she was still a girl. All girls liked pretty things.
A few minutes later, Jiang Feifei arrived. She brought in a foldable umbrella. After a brief chat in the pet shop, she went to the aquarium next door to do the cleaning.
Compared to the pet shop, it was easier to clean the aquarium, but the daily chores were heavier.
Zhang Zian pointed at a few cages, then asked Wang Qian and Li Kun to send them over to the Li couple’s snack bar. There were new cats in the cages. Some were abandoned at the pet clinic, while some were stray cats in the green field behind the pet shop. After a few days of observation, he picked some gentle and friendly ones to be candidate cats for adption.
Solving the expanding stray cat problem in the green field by that method was not efficient. To be responsible for the adopters, he could not keep the nasty stray cats, in case they got abandoned again after their owners realized they could not get along with them.
Everybody was busy doing their own tasks in order, while they occasionally stopped to chit chat. Soon, it was eight in the morning.
