Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
For the moment, the female hamster and its pups no longer required any human assistance; what they needed most was some peace and quiet.
Zhang Zian directed the children to pack things up, as they should not just leave a mess for the students who were on duty the next day.
Several girls surrounded him to ask when the baby hamsters would start to grow out their fur because they found the current appearance of the newborn hamsters to be a little gross.
He gave a general introduction to the development of hamsters and told them that hamsters developed very quickly. About a week after birth, they would grow out some obvious fluff, and then they would be able to open their eyes in about ten days. If they hadn’t opened their eyes after two weeks, they could use cotton swabs to gently wipe their eyelids with wet water to help them open their eyes. In three weeks time, the baby hamsters could be weaned and had to be separated from their mother, so when that time comes, they needed to prepare a few more hamster cages. As the weather warmed up, a hamster wire cage would be sufficient, as it was great for ventilation.
At the same time, the female hamster that had already gone through a cycle of childbirth should not give birth again. Although there was much to learn from the childbirth process, rodents bred too quickly; there would easily be a nest of them. Each adult hamster had to occupy an individual cage separately, anyway. As for the other students who were interested in the birthing process, they could watch the video.
The children quickly packed everything up, and after they prepared clean water and food for the hamsters, they headed home. It was the weekend, and their parents had been working throughout the week, so they would definitely want to spend their weekends with their children. They probably prepared a hearty lunch and were waiting for them.
Everyone left the breeding room and locked the door. Wang Yaning gathered everyone around her, summed up their work for the day, and arranged people to be on duty the next day.
Zhang Zian, who had nothing else to do, noticed that Vladimir had quietly returned. It sat in a dark corner by the wall and yawned lazily. Parts of its body were dirty and it had gotten some dirt on its face as well. It looked like it had just squeezed itself out of a dirt hole.
That was another difference between Vladimir and Fina. Fina was actually quite obsessed with cleanliness, and if the ground wasn’t clean, it would rather stand and not sit. However, Vladimir clearly seemed to not be bothered with cleanliness at all.
Wang Yaning, who had fully enjoyed playing the part of a leader, waved her hand and let those who had nothing to do head home first. She noticed Vladimir and muttered, “It really did come back. I thought that it would’ve been a stray cat…”
Although it was just a casual remark to her, Zhang Zian sharply caught what she said and asked, “What? Are there many stray cats here?”
Wang Yaning glanced at him with vigilance and asked, “Why are you asking about this?”
“I was just asking… I didn’t mean anything by it.” Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders.
“No?” Wang Yaning looked at him doubtfully from head to toe. “Are you the kind that treats cats well on the surface, but is actually a pervert who likes to torture cats?”
That wasn’t the first time she had accused him of being a pervert. That day, however, she had discovered new suspicious information.
Aiya? Zhang Zian noticed that the little girl seemed to hold a hidden meaning in her words. Did she know something?
He exchanged glances with Vladimir before he quickly clarified his innocence, “Don’t misunderstand me. I’m definitely not a pervert!”
Little Celery helped him out. “The shop manager is definitely not that kind of person!”
Words with no proof couldn’t completely dispel Wang Yaning’s suspicions. Her mobile phone was still tightly gripped in her hands as she stared at Zian with vigilance. She looked as if she would dial 110 at any time…
There was nothing Zhang Zian could do with her. People always sided with and sympathized with the weaker, disadvantaged group. Compared to Wang Yaning, people would definitely think that Zhang Zian was the bad guy. In fact, it should have been the opposite: Zian was at the mercy of Wang Yaning. A true pervert would not have been afraid of her notifying the police, but any law-abiding citizen would definitely have been because they wouldn’t want to leave any stains on their reputation or records.
Zian laughed and tried to change the subject. “Right, so what you mean is that there are those type of people who are nice to cats in front of people but they are actually a pervert that likes to torture cats?”
Her eyes stared at him as if she was saying, “Aren’t you one of them?”
That look of hers was really hurtful. If she were a cat, she could probably pull off cosplaying as Fina.
After a moment, she snorted and said, “A few days ago, someone in the bamboo forest behind Shimen Street Primary School used cruel means to torture stray cats. I heard that it was done by a child. On the weekend before the holiday, the teacher had organized a meeting with the key members of the class committee to have us pay more attention to prevent similar incidents from happening to students of our school. She wants to protect the image of our school. It seems like all the other classes have also held similar meetings.”
When she talked about the “children,” she had a dismissive expression on her face; it was as if she completely forgot that she was also just a child.
“Hm? Why don’t I know anything about this?” Little Celery asked.
“Because you’re not a key member of the class committee.” Wang Yaning’s emphasized the word “key” and was smug about it.
Little Celery wasn’t really bothered about that and she just replied with an “Oh.”
Zhang Zian was listening. He had heard about the incident from [Collapse the World] and was aware that towards the matter, the teachers and parents of the students were divided. The teachers of Shimen Street Primary School had brought up the incident in the parents WeChat group and had asked for parents to strictly discipline their children to prevent similar incidents from happening again, but some parents felt that “it was just a stray cat” and didn’t really care about it.
Despite such parents, there certainly were parents who were upright and kind as well. But because [Collapse the World] was aware of what had taken place in the parent group, it showed that the relevant dialogue screenshots had already been circulated so the school and parents would most likely face some pressure.
As the saying went, “Good news doesn’t go far, but bad news spreads far and wide.” As a neighbor, Zhonghua Road Primary School must have heard about the incident and as a precautionary measure, the teachers called a meeting with the class committee members to have them monitor the other students.
Zian was in his thoughts when he felt his trousers being tugged. He looked down and saw Vladimir. Vladimir looked up and asked, “Where’s Shimen Street Primary School?”
If he was only in front of Little Celery, he would have answered Vladimir directly. In front of Wang Yaning, however, he had to be careful and didn’t dare to answer immediately. He responded with a look, meaning that he would answer the question later.
“What are you planning? You’re making such weird faces.” Wang Yaning had been staring at his face and found that he was been making weird expressions. That only served to deepen her suspicions.
Zhang Zian coughed and said, “It’s nothing… I myself like cats a lot, so after listening to your words, I was filled with indignation. It’s just unimaginable for a child to do such a thing, so I plan to make a visit at Shimen Street Primary School later and take a look. If I encounter any stray cat that has been tortured, I’ll try my best to save it and do whatever I can…”
He thought his words were very passionate, but judging from the expression on Wang Yaning’s face, she did not believe a single word.
