The sole principle of selection was to select cats with a higher market share and sale price.
A cat’s high market share lay in its suitability for most families.
A license was needed to raise a dog, but there was no required license for raising a cat. A license usually meant extra expense.
It was not suitable for elders to raise dogs, especially large dogs. When walking dogs on the street, if a dog was startled or went into heat, the elder would definitely not able to control it. If they did not let the furious dog loose, they would be dragged away, tumbling and getting hurt. However, if they did let the dog loose, it might bite pedestrians and babies, so the old masters would not only have to be responsible for the miserable casualties but also compensate the people who got injured. It was a common practice in the public.
Raising dogs was not suitable for those who lived on the 6th or 7th floor without elevators or for those who were too busy to walk their dogs.
"What are you doing? Are you going to call a fairy dragon[1] by collecting so many cats?" Sun Xiaomeng mocked. Anyway, she was still pleased to see Zhang Zian buying a number of cats.
Zhang Zian thought he would be at a disadvantage if he answered back, so he left her alone and turned to ask Sun Yinian, "Do you provide free delivery?"
"I’ll send them to your home immediately if you buy ten at a time," Sun Yinian answered professionally.
"Ten… Not now." Zhang Zian thought it over and said, "To avoid great failure, I’d better try to proceed step by step."
It cost him almost 3,000 yuan, of which the noble Persian cat made a great contribution. As a gift, Sun Yinian also gave him a lop-eared rabbit.
After getting some gas, they drove directly back to the pet shop. Zhang Zian moved the pet cages to the shop after the car stopped in front. Sun Xiaomeng didn’t get out but drove back to her clinic for an appointment.
After separating the pets into the display cases prepared ahead of time, all Zhang Zian had to do next was wait for customers.
However, the Persian cat’s hair urgently needed to be cleaned. Due to its young age—as kittens should not have baths within three months of their birth—its hair was glued together, its whiskers were glued to the hair on its neck, and its dirty face was as streaky as facial makeup in a Beijing opera. Even worse, some of its feces was stuck to the hair on its bottom. It looked so much like a stray cat that, if left on the street, nobody would take it home, not to mention buying it.
"So, it’s best to keep short hair," Zhang Zian said with a deep feeling, and he put a hand on his short hair.
The previous master of the Persian cat must have be an angel with broken wings in his previous life.
Thanks to its hair not having grown too long yet, after half an hour’s tough work, the Persian cat finally had a new look, having gone from an ugly duckling to a white swan.
Seemingly knowing of its nobility which deserved special treatment, the cat instantly became naughty. All the other cubs huddled up in this strange new environment except the Persian cat, which was actively looking all around.
With no guests in the shop, Zhang Zian released Galaxy from the pet bar. Galaxy was somewhat confused, as if it had just awoken from a dream, turning its head and looking around. Its face did not light up until it found itself in the safe home.
"Meow, hello, Zian!" It squatted on the ground, happily raising a front claw to say hello.
"Hello, Galaxy." Zhang Zian carefully found his words and said, "Hum… Would you feel… happy if some pals lived with you?"
"Meow! I like living with many pals, the more the better!" Galaxy jumped happily, circling around.
Zhang Zian beamed too. "Yeah, Galaxy doesn’t like loneliness."
Galaxy stopped and nodded earnestly. "Meow! Galaxy would like to make lots of new friends, friends like you!"
"You are so smart that everyone must want to make friends with you," he said in a gentle voice.
Now he was sort of worried about the arrogant Maneki-Neko. Would it get along with Galaxy?
Dogs were domesticated wolves that were born to be social animals while almost all cats, including wild cats, were lone rangers with strong senses of territory.
He made up his mind. "Anyway, try it first, if they can’t get along well, I can just lock the cat back in the case."
Pointing to the empty ground before him, he pressed the "release" button, and the golden noble cat abruptly appeared at that exact place as soon as Zhang Zian laid his phone down.
Totally different from Galaxy, who was too scared and hid himself behind the little flower pot the first day he came, the Maneki-Neko just squatted there in a serious manner, resembling a supercilious kitten with green eyes shining intrepidly.
Unlike the strong dazzling light in the jewelry shop, the light in the pet shop was soft, under which each hair of the cat was glittering.
Zhang Zian stared at the cat, and the cat stared back until he felt ill at ease. It was just a cat, but the expression in its eyes was much more than that.
"Hi, I’m Zhang Zian. May I have your name?" He tried to say hello gently.
Here it began, in a cold and noble voice, "Your majesty, my name is Fina Paris XIII, guardian of the Kingdom of Eternity! Shining things are my favorite!"
Zhang Zian frowned. The name might belong to it, but that didn’t sound like its true name. Based on his experience, it was not that easy to get its true name, which should usually be in the form of XX’s XXX, the former XX representing its former master.
It shook its head with pride, taking it for granted and asking, "Where are my servants? Why are you the only person here? Go summon them quickly if they still want to live on."
Zhang Zian was puzzled. "…"
Trying to hold his caustic comments back, he coughed and responded, "First of all, I’m not your servant…"
In a rage, the Maneki-Neko cat goggled its enchanting gingko-like eyes. "How dare you! All people and cats under the sun are my servants, so you are as well! How could you, a mundane human, be so rude!"
Zhang Zian, found himself dumbfounded, pointing outside and saying, "I can’t figure out your mysterious background, but just look outside and you can see the world is no longer the one you once lived in. Now, people are the masters of their own country, and the so-called servants are already gone with history…"
The cat tilted its head, looking like it was digging into the meaning behind the man’s words.
After a while, it turned back and saw Galaxy.
"Meow! I’m Galaxy! Nice to meet you!"
The cat carefully measured Galaxy with its eyes.
[1] call a fairy dragon: comes from anime Dragonball: Evolution, saying that there are 7 dragon balls scattered in the world, and anyone who collected all of the 7 could realize any dream.
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