Chapter 17: Look Forward to the Future

Translator: Nyoi_Bo_Studio Editor: Tennesh

“I promised my mom that I would never let the pets affect my studies, but …” The little girl grew sad and started crying.

“But think of it this way, if your studies were impacted, your family would certainly not allow you to continue to raise it. Maybe they would send it to others or give it up. Wouldn’t the pet be pathetic?” he patiently explained to the little girl.

“Woo…” The little girl looked at the hamster, imagining the scene of it getting lost on the street.

“It’s not completely impossible for you to raise a pet, but from now on you have to practice your self-control, such as getting up and going to bed on time, without being reminded, and helping your family with housework, like sweeping the floor, cleaning the dishes, and preparing food. The most important thing is to study hard. Don’t be left behind. Got it?”

The little girl saw hope in those words and nodded happily. “Yea! I got it! Thank you, Mr. Manager!”

Zhang Zian smiled. “You are welcome. However, saying is easier than doing. It is easy to do it for one day or two, but it will be difficult to keep at it long term, so you should set a small goal first, like doing it for a semester, and let your parents see your effort.”

She pumped her fist and said, “I can do it!”

“Okay, go to school and don’t be late,” Zhang Zian responded. After sending the little girl away, he fed the three cubs and the hamster until they were 80 percent full. Many people who loved pets were afraid of not feeding their pets enough food, so they fed the pets until they could no longer eat. This topic was still controversial. No matter whether they were human beings or animals, the best way was to eat was between half and 80 percent full. Many studies proved that people and animals would become more healthy and live longer this way.

To eat less and more frequently was a good habit. People would get high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and other chronic diseases if they ate too much, as would pets. Zhang Zian often saw fat cats and dogs struggling to walk down the street, which wasn’t healthy at all. Wasn’t there some news that some Siberian tigers were fat like balls?

The ancestors of pets were wild beasts, which were always threatened by famine. They wouldn’t stop eating until they couldn’t eat anymore, because they didn’t know when their next meal would be. Nowadays, home-raised pets had neither natural enemies nor fear of famine, but their habits were preserved. Pets couldn’t control themselves, so they needed breeders to control them. Never feed pets too much if you loved them.

For the pet shop, it was enough to feed the pets to seventy or eighty percent full. If a customer came, the pets would more enthusiastically wag their tails to ask for food, which enhanced the sales. A pet who was fully fed would lazily lay on the ground to digest, ignoring the customers. It would be hard to sell it and find its real owner. A pet shop was just a temporary stop for the pets, not their final home.

While the pets were eating with a good appetite, Zhang Zian sighed because of the gloomy business. How long could he run the store like this?

“Meow, Zian is unhappy?” Galaxy was sensitive to his change of expression. It squatted on the crib he had prepared for it, burying half of its body in a soft sponge pad and only exposing the upper half of its face. Its silver gray eyes stared at him, sparkling.

.

“No, who said I was unhappy? I’m so happy!” He cheered up because he could not let a kitten worry about him. “Come on, should we play hide and seek, Galaxy!”

“Meow! Hide and seek! Meow! Hide and seek!” Galaxy was extremely excited, its eyes sparkling. The crib gently shook due to its actions.

“Should I still seek and you hide?”

“Meow! Zian seek! Now Galaxy is serious! Galaxy is afraid of itself when it is serious!”

Zhang Zian felt speechless. Galaxy had copied his words from several days ago. “Well, go and hide! I’m warning you that I’m more serious than you are today! I’m sure to be the king of this game!”

“Meow! Meow!”

Zhang Zian ended up losing the game again. Did Galaxy lose on purpose on that day? After they finished the game, he was resting on the couch, eyes watching the pedestrians outside the shop. There were so many people; why didn’t anybody stop by the store? Galaxy looked at him with its sparkling eyes.

…

Ta! Ta! Ta! The sound of high heels was brisk and rhythmic like drums. Zhao Qi finished her morning work and left the office with her purse. She was trying to find a restaurant. She usually ate lunch with some close female colleagues, but today her boss had blamed her for something, which left her in bad mood, so she had rejected her friends’ invitation. She wanted to be alone for a while.

She walked down the street with her head down, biting her lip. The more she thought of it, the angrier she became. “Obviously it was not my fault, why did he blame it on me? Rumor has it that the new assistant is the manager’s relative. No wonder the manager always stands on her side! I’m so mad! I want to quit!”

She didn’t actually intend to quit her job. After all, the economy was in a downturn, and her salary was not bad. It would be risky to quit without any other offers in hand.

“Patience! I need patience! One day I will teach that b*tch a lesson!” She was breathing heavily, and the sound of her high heels became disorderly. When the sign of the pet shop entered the corner of her eye, it didn’t draw her attention…

When the sign of the pet shop entered the corner of her eye, it didn’t draw her attention. She took out her phone and checked a message…

When the sign of the pet shop passed the corner of her eye, it didn’t draw her attention. She felt an itch on her neck and scratched it…

When the sign of the pet shop crossed her eyes, it didn’t draw her attention. She saw a car with an interesting plate…

When the sign of the pet shop crossed her eyes…

“Uh? Pet shop?” She stopped. She was starving, but she was so angry she didn’t want to eat anything. She had never raised a pet or thought of doing so. “Well, let me take a look. I will leave if there’s a creepy reptile!” She decided to go for a look, since she had nothing else to do.

Galaxy put its head down and closed its eyes, as if it had been fighting hard against the sleep monster.

“What’s wrong, Galaxy? Are you not feeling well?” Zhang Zian sat down on the deck chair. He didn’t notice the professional woman coming to the door, as he was focused entirely on Galaxy’s unusual behavior.

“Meow… Galaxy is sleepy… Galaxy needs to sleep for a while…”

Zhang Zian felt relieved and said softly, “Go ahead.”