The man glanced at the jewelry store shopping bag in Zhang Zian’s hand, looked at his face, and spoke peacefully, "I want to buy that golden cat. I will pay ten thousand."
Straightforward.
Zhang Zian liked dealing with frank and open people like that. He responded without hesitation, "Sorry, but no."
That was funny! Fina was not a normal pet, okay? She could not be sold; otherwise he, Fina and his cell phone would all to be sent to a lab, opened up and studied by scientists.
Furthermore, cats never consider humans as their masters. As arrogant as Fina was, she would not take Zhang Zian as her master, nor would she think of herself as his pet. Honestly, it might be the opposite in her mind – that Zhang Zian was her pet.
However, when the man said he would pay ten thousand for Fina, Zhang Zian was a bit convinced. Although he had to reject, he still felt like he was missing out on a huge deal!
The man’s lips moved and said, "The best and purest-bred cat in the highest-end pet store is only worth 5 thousand. I am offering you double."
Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders, "Then you should buy a cat somewhere else, if you could get it."
"It looks like you already know her breed," the man paused for a second and said.
"I wasn’t absolutely sure, but upon looking at your offer, I am pretty sure what she is," Zhang Zian responded. It sounded like the man wanted to play mysterious: Zhang Zian had to go along with him.
It was a slap on the man’s face. He pressed his lips together even tighter.
Looking at the man’s upset face, Zhang Zian felt an unspoken pleasure.
"Twenty thousand," the man said.
"Sorry, but still no," Zhang Zian refused with a terrible anguish.
"I could help you win the competition against Stars pet chain supermarket in East Town," the man changed the subject all of a sudden. He thought this was an offer Zhang Zian could not reject.
Zhang Zian was surprised, "What does Stars pet chain supermarket have to do with me?"
The man was even more shocked when he heard Zhang Zian’s words. "You didn’t know? You didn’t know why people came to your store in a group?"
Zhang Zian recalled the cat thief and the camgirl using a cell phone for a live show. They came as a group! No wonder there were suddenly five customers in the store. Although he wasn’t expecting the information, he still pretended to know everything. "So?"
He went to college and worked in a different city. He had never heard of an online BBS called Wang Haige in Binha, nor did he find out what happened in the BBS recently. Li Qi, Wang Qian and Li Kun all didn’t mention anything to him.
The man understood and asked, "Have you heard about Wang Haige?"
This was the first time Zhang Zian heard this name. He responded immediately, "Well, do you know about Amway?"
Upon the questioning, the man paused again. There was a hint of anger in his peaceful voice. "Wang Haige is the biggest BBS in this city. What the hell is Amway?"
Zhang Zian waived his hand, "No matter what, I am not selling her. Please excuse yourself! I have to open up my store."
The man didn’t give up but continued to offer. "I could stick your store in the pet section of Wang Haige for a year as long as you sell me that cat. Do you understand how many hits that would bring and how many orders would be generated from the hits? The manager of Wang Haige is an old friend of mine. I am sure I could get this done."
That was an alluring offer that Zhang Zian could not accept! He then teased the man on purpose, "Unless you can stick my store in 1024 BBS for a year, I might consider your offer. Also, don’t forget to get me a general manager’s invitation code."
The man was astonished. He took a deep breath, "It looks like you don’t really know what real power is!"
What the hell? It was only a BBS. Why would he position himself as a big boss? He was scaring Zhang Zian.
The man pulled his cap down a bit, "According to my observation these days, your store has been taking away some business from Stars pet chain. Although this is not your fault, they are going to blame you for it. Without my help, you will be a lone warrior in future battles."
What? Took away Stars pet chain supermarket’s business? I wasn’t interfering with them. This guy was trying to spread a rumor in order to get Fina…
Zhang Zian thought the man was exaggerating. The total volume of pet market in the whole country was around 10 thousand pets. The annual increase had been over 12%. China would surpass the USA and become the biggest market in the world. The Stars pet chain supermarket is a shark in this pool; why would they care about the existence of a small fish like his store?
There is a saying: do others a favor in a current tangle; make oneself a waiver for a future trouble. They didn’t have to burn the bridge.
He chose not to believe the man’s words and said indifferently, "Hehe, being a single warrior doesn’t scare me. I will show you. If they dare to challenge me, it isn’t a good decision."
The man raised his head astonished. He stared at Zhang Zian for a second and spoke, "Okay, I will look forward to it. I hope you will not regret what you just said."
"Excuse me." The man whipped his coat to the side as he walked away putting his hands in his pocket as he left.
"Please."
The guy left finally. Zhang Zian opened the store, pulled down the note and threw it in the trash can.
The remaining British shorthair cat and Siamese cat were well-behaved without Fina. They neither peed or pooped in the store, nor did they step on the water bowl. When they saw Zhang Zian return, they meowed as they came up to him. They looked more relaxed than Fina: they looked like students in a self-study class without a teacher’s supervision.
The Samoya in the display cabinet lazily gazed at him and then closed his eyes. Zhang Zian recommended the Schnauzer to the customer, which offended the Samoya.
The hamster and the Miniature Lop might not be as smart as other pets. They ate, drank, peed and pooped as they wished. They didn’t really care about staying in the store forever because everything they ever needed was provided.
"I want to live a life like you guys. I wish there was a wealthy lady that provided me with anything I’d ever need," Zhang Zian sighed.
He released Xinghai and Fina to the empty space in the store.
Xinghai tilted her head, wiggled her ears and found that she was in a familiar environment. She stretched comfortably and said happily, "Meow, Zian. Let’s play hide-and-seek."
Proudly, Fina raised her head and stared straight at Zhang Zian with her almond shaped eyes, "Where have you been?"
Zhang Zian brought out the shopping bag from the jewelry store and sat it right in front of her, "I went to get you this."
Fina’s eyes instantly shined. Her ears pricked with excitement and her little lips licked her mouth. She could not take her eyes off the diamond commercial printed on that shopping bag! Again, Zhang Zian complained in his head, what a gold-digging cat!
"Well, it is yours. Open it. Xinghai, let’s play hide-and-seek," he said to Xinghai, closed the store and stroked the cat bell.
The crisp, sweet sound of the cat bell was chiming in the store.
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