Pet King

Chapter 403: Reunion

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Last night, Zhang Zian looked at the stars and recalled from an old almanac that these stars determined that today would be an auspicious day.

Wang Qian and Li Kun came earlier than usual to help Zhang Zian prepare for the official reopening of the pet shop. Lu Yiyun also helped wipe down the cash register and glass doors until they were spotless.

Previously, Zhang Zian had always thought that this was his parents’ shop, but this subconscious thought began to changze as the shop was refurbished—it would become his shop from today on, and he must be dedicated to running the business, for better or for worse.

As he stood proudly in front of the shop, he heard Fina said something coldly that cut his heart —”Don’t be stupid. This is my sacred palace, and you’re just a s**t cleaner.”

Zhang Zian was in tears!

Turns out this was still not his shop!

Generally, shop owners would want to make their opening ceremonies a boisterous occasion by inviting performers to play drums or lighting a string of firecrackers. Zhang Zian was no exception, but he felt these traditional methods to be a bit vulgar. Another reason was that Binhai City forbade firecrackers, and he did not want to be fined. Electronic firecrackers were viable, but they were just so boring.

Several people had shown up. They were members of the regular audience of Snowy’s live broadcast, and were very interested in the Abyssinian cats. Today was Saturday — they didn’t need to go to work or school and the weather was not bad — so they decided to visit the shop early.

The first few guests were very extroverted, and they approached Zhang Zian to say hello. Zhang Zian had never actually met these people before — only through introducing their online ID names did he realize that they were the spectators of Snowy’s live broadcast. They often ridiculed him, but now, they were more polite in person.

“Yeah! Good morning, Mr. Store Manager! Here I am for the fun!”

Snowy came out from the taxi and greeted Zhang Zian.

“Oh yeah, it’s Snowy!”

“Little Sister Snowy is here!”

The audience members abandoned Zhang Zian and rushed towards Snowy, competing to converse and take photos with Snowy.

“Snowy, I am a die-hard fan of yours. When I became your fan, there were less than a hundred people in your live broadcast channel!”

“What?! I am Snowy’s biggest fan. When I became her fan, there were less than five people in her live broadcast channel!”

“F**k off, you two. I am the ultimate fan because when I became her fan, she hadn’t even started live broadcasting yet…”

The fans were excited because they hadn’t expected that today they would meet Snowy in person. Although they had never missed a single one of Snowy’s programs, it was the first time they had ever seen Snowy in real life, and they all encircled her and expressed their love and admiration to her, saying that they would continue supporting her forever. Some of them also took off their jackets, asking Snowy to sign them…

Snowy smiled and tried her best to grant her fans’ requests. She autographed the jackets, made poses to take photos with her fans, and didn’t have the haughty attitude of a celebrity at all. Whenever someone introduced his or her own ID name, she could always quickly remember that ID name’s deeds, such as the things it had said that were especially funny, or the advice provided by it was good, and so on.

The fans were even more surprised because they thought Snowy was cold and detached. After all, she always turned down generous tippers during her live broadcast. But she had remembered the IDs of her ordinary fans…

As young people of the information age in the spirit of sharing, they started to spread the news that Snowy was in the Amazing Fate Pet Shop to Weibo and WeChat. Although Snowy had been to this shop several times before, for fear of interfering with her live broadcast, the fans had never visited the shop while she was here. Since Snowy hadn’t issued a live broadcast notice in advance today, she probably was just visiting the pet shop as an ordinary customer.

The fans had built a separate WeChat group chat as a support group for Snowy. As soon as this news came out, the group exploded. Everyone said that they would change their clothes and come immediately, asking the fans in the shop to stall her and not to let her leave too soon.

Zhang Zian was standing alone on the side. This was so embarrassing for him!

But what could he do? Snowy was an internet celebrity and he was just a pet shop owner…

Even Lu Yiyun had put aside her work and ran outside to Snowy, asking her for an autograph.

Only Wang Qian and Li Kun continued working diligently as two old oxen… these nerds were bound to die alone!

Most of Snowy’s fans were polite. After getting their photos and autographs, they would keep their distance and would not badger Snowy incessantly.

She finally got through the crowd and came to greet Zhang Zian. “Mr. Store Manager, you don’t seem very happy. Why?”

Zhang Zian said with a straight face, “Because you have stolen my spotlight.”

“Ah ha! Mr. Store Manager, you are so funny. You are not blaming me for my unannounced visit, right?” Snowy smiled.

Zhang Zian also smiled, “Of course not, just a bit surprised.”

“In fact, I am also very interested in Abyssinian cats. Mr. Store Manager, you have done an excellent job keeping this information confidential. I only learned about it through your shop’s public account…” said Snowy. And then as if remembering something important, she handed a high-end snack box to Zhang Zian. “Here, a gift from my mother that she brought back from abroad.”

Zhang Zian would never want to refuse gifts. He gladly took the snack box, and also reminded Snowy, “I accept the gift, but the Abyssinian cats are not for sale for the time being.”

“It does not matter, I just want to check them out… I heard that Abyssinian cats are lively? I think I prefer quiet cats like Snowball,” Snowy smiled.

While Zhang Zian was greeting Snowy, he felt some pat his shoulder.

“Hey, Mr. Store Manager! Talking with a cute girl, are you?”

He looked back and saw that the person that had patted him on the shoulder was Zhao Qi, followed by her neighbor Liu Wenying. Liu Wenying was holding her month-old daughter in her arms, smiling and nodding at him.

“Yo, it’s you! How unusual.” Zhang Zian shouted in towards the shop, “Wang Qian, bring a chair out!”

“Yes! Coming!” Wang Qian answered at the top of his lungs.

Zhang Zian apologized to Liu Wenying, “I’m sorry, the shop is being cleaned and dust is everywhere — why don’t you sit outside for a while?”

Liu Wenying quickly refuted, “I’m fine, I’m not tired.”

Zhao Qi snapped, “Hey, where’s my chair?”

Zhang Zian rolled his eyes at her, “Are you sick, pregnant, or holding a child? What do you need a chair for?”

Zhao Qi was still the same stingy person.

Wang Qian brought a chair out, and asked Liu Wenying to sit down. Although Liu Wenying declined, she was really tired, and the muscles on her arms were getting sore. There was a lot of ice and snow on the street, and for fear that her daughter Yue Yue might fall over, she had been holding her since they left the bus station. If not for Zhao Qi who had helped hold her daughter for a while, she might have collapsed by now.

“Mr. Store Manager, I heard that there will be huge discounts today, right? For what? Will there be discounts on the imported cat food?” Zhao Qi impatiently brought up this issue. This was the reason she gave up the opportunity to stay in bed this Saturday morning.

Zhao Qi’s cat, Lan Lan, was about to finish the rest of the cat food that she had bought from overseas. She happened to learn from Zhang Zian’s WeChat Moments update that he had gotten genuine, imported cat food and that there were discounted prices on today’s opening ceremony. So, she asked her neighbor Liu Wenying to visit the shop with her.

As for Liu Wenying, she had been handmaking cat food for the Siamese cat in her family, so she didn’t need to buy any cat food, but her friend was interested. Since it was Saturday and she had nothing to do, she had intended to take her daughter to a zoo. A pet shop was much like a zoo, and coming here not only had helped a friend, but also had saved her ticket money…

So, she and Zhao Qi hit it off, arriving here on the early morning on Saturday.