Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“We’re finally home.” Zhang Zian looked at the familiar city and couldn’t help but exhale a long breath of air.
Over the last few days in the capital, Zian had accompanied Famous on interviews with various media sources, and during their breaks between the interviews, he made use of the time to visit the nearby attractions. Sometimes during the tours, he would be called back through a phone call because of a sudden interview request by a heavyweight media source.
Dealing with the media was much more tiring than physical labor. One always had to be careful with their words and unambiguous because everything could be taken out of context.
In any case, with the closing of the Beijing International Film Festival, the crew had finally completed their publicity mission. After that, they all headed back to their own homes and rushed to their new job posts while the film was still in the midst of its celebrated screening.
The sky was already dark when they arrived in Binhai City, and in the taxi on their way back from the airport to the city, they occasionally passed by some cinemas. Whenever they passed by those cinemas, they would see posters of Dog Warrior standing side by side with other big hits. There was endless lines of people entering and exiting the theater, so both Zian and Famous felt confident about the future of their film.
The taxi stopped at the door of the pet shop.
“Master, how much is it?” Zhang Zian asked.
“You don’t have to pay me. This is Famous, right? Can you let me take a photo with it?” The taxi driver was doubtful when Famous got in the taxi, but when he heard that they were going to Zhonghua Road, he was pretty sure of it. When Zhang Zian told him to stop at the door of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, he knew that the dog in the car was indeed the dog that won the best actor award.
“Of course you can.” Zhang Zian was obviously happy when he heard that he didn’t need to pay, and Famous was always willing to go along with its fans.
After they took a picture together, the taxi driver said with enthusiasm, “This is my last trip for the day––someone else will be using this car for the night shift––and I’m thinking of taking my wife and children to see your movie. May I ask if the movie is exciting? Not to hide it from you––it’s really tiring after a whole day of driving. Whenever I watch a movie that’s lacking in excitement with my wife and children, I fall asleep in the cinema and start to snore. Now both my wife and children find me embarrassing and no longer want to bring me along…”
“Don’t worry, the plot is absolutely intense and exciting. I’ll assure you that you won’t fall asleep. In case you do fall asleep, you can come to my store and I’ll give you a refund,” Zhang Zian promised.
“That’s great! I’ll take your word for it!” The taxi driver waved his hands and drove away.
The pet shop was dark and all the staff had already left. The Wuling Shenguang was parked by the entrance, and there was a lot of sand stuck in the lines of the tires. It seemed like they had been to the beach a few times over the last few days, but it was not known if they were able to see the whales like they wanted to.
Zhang Zian opened the door, entered the house, turned on the light, and then pulled down the shutter door.
The house was tidy and everything cleaned up; it proved that the staffs didn’t neglect their work even when they went to play.
Wagging its tail, Zhan Tian, who had heard Zian’s unique footsteps, came out to welcome him back. Zhang Zian put down the trolley case and affectionately patted it.
Most of the puppies had already gone to sleep, and those that were still awake looked at him. The kittens that were free from Fina’s presence had been a little too crazy playing around, but when they witnessed Zian’s return, they knew that Fina was back too. They almost immediately behaved themselves.
Zhang Zian took the trolley case and went up to the second floor with Famous. It was time to release the elfins.
Zian first went into the bathroom and filled the bathtub with warm water, then released Sihwa, and at the same time, quickly hid to the side.
Splash!
Sihwa appeared out of thin air and plunged into the bathtub, a great deal of water splashing out of the tub.
She poked her head out of the water and wiped the water off her face, then she turned her head around to look. “What? Where’s my jacuzzi? How about the fragrant white towel? The floor mirror? Oh, this must be a dream! It’ll be fine once I wake up.” With that said, she closed her eyes to gain peace of mind, wanting to sink to the bottom of the water to sleep.
“No it isn’t––just give it up. The real dream was what happened before.” Zhang Zian burst Sihwa’s bubble with no hesitation.
She cupped her ears and shook her head. “Shut up! Shut up! I don’t want to listen! I don’t know you! Let me wake up! This is the most terrible dream I’ve ever had!”
Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders. It seemed like it would take some time for her to accept reality. In fact, even Zian himself was also yearning for the five-star hotel’s customer service…
He walked out of the bathroom and released Galaxy, Fina, Old Time Tea, Snowy Lionet, and Pi towards the floor, then released Richard towards the air.
Upon seeing their familiar environment, the other elfins remained where they were, while Pi eagerly jumped to the chair and hurriedly urged Zhang Zian to take out the laptop. It wanted to hurry and work on its novel before everyone went to bed so it could quickly make up for all the chapters it had missed.
Originally, Zhang Zian had wanted to let it rest for another night, but after he looked at Pi, even if he were to make it sleep, it wouldn’t be able to rest peacefully. So Zian went along with it and took out the laptop then connected it to the power supply.
Once again, the typing sound returned to the second floor.
“Meow, meow, meow! I’ve heard of the saying, ‘Da Yu walked past the house thrice without entering,’ but how dare you! You actually passed by the respectability room twice without entering?” Snowy Lionet started to find fault with Zian.
Over the past few days, Zian had visited the Forbidden City twice. The first time was because Wen Li had something going on and he wanted to catch the Warding Off Evil Cat, so he couldn’t really tour the place. Then the next day, he took the elfins to the Forbidden City again and visited the places they had missed before, but Snowy Lionet was very unhappy with the fact that Zian had refused to enter the respectability room.
For that matter, Zhang Zian would never compromise. One didn’t enter the respectability room if they were a man. Otherwise, their balls would hurt even in their dreams.
“Everyone quiet down. Pi, you need to stop first too. A new member has just joined us, so let’s get to know it first.” Zian then released the Warding Off Evil Cat, Vladimir, at the empty space.
Vladimir appeared in the empty space, then looked around with its green eyes. Its eyes swept through the other elfins before finally falling on Zhang Zian’s face.
“Hello, everyone. Is this the city of Binhai?” It lifted a front paw and greeted them in a relaxed manner. It didn’t seem to feel embarrassed that the other elfins were all focused on it.
“That’s right. Our current location is on the second floor of my pet shop. You can introduce yourself to everyone,” Zhang Zian replied.
Vladimir nodded. “My name’s Vladimir. There may be a few of you who have already seen me, but it’s my first time seeing all of you. I hope that in the days to come, everyone can learn from each other and make progress together. ”
Zhang Zian was a little surprised. Its speech was unexpectedly decent, unlike the arrogant impression it had left before.
“Hey! I wanted to ask––you said that you’re Vladimir, so are you also a fan of Putin the Great?” Richard landed on Zhang Zian’s shoulder. It stared at Vladimir with its small black eyes.
“Putin? Who’s Putin?” Vladimir was confused. “I don’t know any Putin.”
