If speaking of giving a cat a bath, Zhang Zian had heard many horror stories.
When Zhang Zian was still in high school, one night he was doing his homework in his bedroom on the second floor. Suddenly, he heard some terrible screams from downstairs. The screams were as harsh as a ghost’s night cry. It scared him so much that he dropped his pen and almost had diarrhea in his pants!
At that time, some neighbors who slept earlier had to get up, turn on the lights, open the windows, go out the door, and look around with flashlights in hand. Some people were even carrying tennis rackets and crutches in their hands.
What was happening?
"Horrifying sounds!"
"I think a night owl was howling."
"Was there a homicide...?"
"Everyone, please be careful. I will call the police!" a neighbor said while holding a cell phone.
The door of the closed shop opened, and Zhang Zian's father walked out wearing a waterproof apron. He was wearing rubber gloves, and his hair was soaked and tightly clinging to his head. Right away, he apologized to the neighbors, "I'm so sorry! Sorry for disturbing everyone! Please don’t panic. We were just giving a bath to our cat..."
Many people certainly did not believe him. "Giving the cat a bath, Mr. Zhang... So that scream was from a cat?"
"It didn’t seem like that. I heard a young woman's scream..."
"Huh? I felt like it was a child’s voice..."
Zhang Zian’s father hadn’t yet had a chance to explain when another tragic wail came from the first floor. Everyone heard it very clearly this time, as the glass door was open, and it made people’s faces change color.
"Mr. Zhang, is that really a cat?"
Zhang Zian’s father wiped his face, which was drenched in hot water and sweat, and responded, "If that was not a cat, what could it be?"
Most neighbors were decent people, but some were not afraid to make things worse when they saw some excitement. "That is impossible! I think it is certainly a homicide!"
"Let’s go inside and check it out!"
"Let’s all go together so we will not be scared!"
Some conservative neighbors also tried to follow the crowd and said to Zhang Zian’s father, "Mr. Zhang, let us go and take a look. It will put everyone at ease."
It seemed that Zhang Zian’s father couldn’t win over the crowd. He had to make a decision. "Well, if you do not believe me, please come inside and check for yourselves."
Everyone followed as his father walked into the store while a young Zhang Zian walked down the stairs from the second floor.
Following the screams, everyone walked toward the pet’s bathroom. Before his father could remind them not to open the door, someone had quickly done so.
An adult Dragon Li cat, whose whole body was drenched in water, slipped out the door and rushed into the crowd, frantically waving its claws like Li Yuanba[1] and attacking anyone in its way!
"Be careful! This cat is crazy!"
"Run fast! You can’t deal with this cat logically!"
In the crowd, there were a few arrogant men that had never backed down before, but this time they were screaming like little girls after being scratched by the cat. The people standing behind them did not know what had happened, but they tried to run as well, following those men. Some people were almost pushed down to the ground and injured, as they were a little bit slower in their actions.
At that time, Zhang Zian’s mother walked out from the pet’s bathroom soaked, wearing a waterproof apron and rubber gloves and feeling helpless looking at such a chaotic scene.
As was routine after receiving a call, a police car with flashing lights stopped in front of the shop. The police were shocked to see a big crowd running out of the shop like crazy and sensed there might be some big crimes happening, so they picked up their phones. "Here is 034! Please send more help to Zhonghua Road South Exit! Please send more police to Zhonghua Road South Exit!"
Eventually, seven police cars came one after another and the pet shop was surrounded. Finally, the Dragon Li cat was caught.
The police gave some warnings to those who had made the police calls. Zhang Zian’s parents apologized to everyone and agreed to pay the medical expenses for those who were injured and the costs for those whose clothes were torn.
This incident was posted on the local news that day.
At that time, because of people’s genuine characters and his parents’ popularity, they didn’t pay too much attention to this incident, but it was not a pleasant event. Young Zhang Zian was very angry, as he thought it should be those people’s faults for getting injured or scratched, since they had insisted on coming into the store and opening the door.
That was the first time his parents had tried to provide bathing services for the pets, but it was also the last time. From that point on, they only gave baths to pets sold from their stores, not pets from other stores.
It sounded a little bit exaggerated, but it did in fact take a lot of effort and energy to give a cat a bath.
Zhang Zian finished telling the story, not knowing whether the Maneki-Neko, Fina, understood it or not. Its beard moved, and it seemed to be laughing a little.
The Maneki-Neko jumped from the chair, getting closer to those pet cats, and made a few meow sounds in front of them.
The British Shorthair, American Shorthair, Persian cat, and Siamese cat seemed to understand its order, circling a few rounds in place in the display cases.
Zhang Zian had just wiped the Persian cat’s body, while the other cats looked dirtier and smellier and seemed like they had just left the breeding grounds.
"I see." Fina sighed softly. "It was my fault for not disciplining the cats enough for thousands of years, which made the humans laugh at us."
Zhang Ziyan kept silent, but he couldn’t believe what the cat was saying.
"As you said, giving our cats baths can not only keep our dignity, but can also help you make money, right?" it asked.
"Yes."
"Earned money can be used to buy shining stones?"
"Yes."
"Well, please go out of the palace and post that you are going to provide this service."
"You are joking, right?"
Fina stood tall and proudly said, "I am not joking!"
"What does 'out of the palace' mean? In addition, where is this palace?" Zhang Zian only knew "into the palace"... "Does it want me to change to a servant’s name?"
"Wherever I stay, there is a palace." It melancholy glanced around the pet shop. "Although this palace is a little bit out of date."
"It should be good enough that you have a place to stay. You are still picky about it!" Zhang Zian tried hard not to complain, in order to avoid lowering his favorability.
"In addition, these cats do not need to be locked in these glass prisons. Since I am here, they dare not go out of control."
Zhang Zian thought for a while. It seemed to be asking him to let all the cats out of the display cages.
He looked at the open door, worrying about whether or not they would escape. That would leave him empty handed.
"What? How dare you doubt me?" Its voice became colder.
"No, no, I dare not... I was thinking about when to put up a sign offering pet bathing services..." He took a deep breath. It seemed that it was easy to lose his favorability.
He took the cubs out of the display cases and placed them on the ground.
[1] Li Yuanba, one of 18 legendary fictional heroes living in Sui Dynasty and early Tang Dynasty.
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