Pet King

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

Forced selling was unavoidable in unregulated markets. The most classic example was the world’s IT hubs. In order to gain short-term profits, they were willing to lie, sell fake goods, pass off second-grade products as first-grade ones, and use forced selling. They had a plethora of methods to scam their consumers out of their hard-earned money. With the rise of e-commerce, IT hubs had, of course, become weaker. But even then, there were some individuals who rushed to IT hubs due to their lack of knowledge and ended up falling victim to their vicious ways.

The pet market was quite similar to the early phases of the computer parts and DIY market, but it was worse. The same despicable methods existed in order for people to scam money out of consumers. But with the flexibility and unpredictability of the pricing of animals, there was no way for them to reason their way out of it, and they only had their own bad judgment to blame.

Zhang Zian gave it a thought and was glad that he didn’t make the choice. If he had followed that person and ended up getting sold to a deserted yard, forced to face several adult and vicious dogs, he might have had no other choice but to pay up.

It wasn’t because he wasn’t alert, but because he wasn’t a regular here, and he didn’t understand what happened behind the scenes.

“But since we were strangers, why did you so kindly remind me? You’re not afraid of that person finding out?” Zhang Zian asked. There was no love without reason, and there was no blind hate. He didn’t believe that this bald wandering doctor had reminded him out of the sheer goodness of his heart.

The doctor put down his glass. “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be afraid? But I’m more afraid of you.”

“Me? What’s there to be scared of?” Zhang Zian was puzzled. Could it be that he looked as fierce as a monster?

“You’re quite a famous man in Binhai City. If a normal person was forced to buy something, they could do nothing much but take it. But if you were taken advantage of, would you ever let it go?” the doctor asked him.

“Of course not!” Zhang Zian declared. He could only take advantage of other people. How could he let others take advantage of him? He would definitely try to get them back for it.

“Youngsters nowadays don’t watch much TV, but I watch TV every day. I’ve seen reports about you, and I know you’ve been to the dog market and caused a huge ruckus here. Even the related authorities had gotten together to enforce the law, and had pretty much cleaned up this entire place… I sure don’t want you to call the authorities here if you were scammed—I would be out of a job then. I only have a stall here to earn money, so I gave it a thought. I’d rather ruin his business than ruin my own…”

The doctor honestly talked about his reasoning.

Zhang Zian said nothing.

Even Snowy was stupefied by his words. “You do make some sense…”

Blackie knew that Zhang Zian was famous, but not this famous. Even a random doctor operating his shop in the middle of the dog market knew about him. His impression of Zhang Zian became better, and he decided to forgive Jin Er just this once.

“Besides, I heard you mentioning that you want to buy a Rottweiler?” The doctor’s eyes swept over the three of them once before he asked.

“Not just Rottweilers, but any dog that’s suitable to be a guard dog.” Zhang Zian knew that this doctor had been in this dog market for some time, so he would definitely know more about the situation here. He asked, “Do you know anyone else other than that person who sells such dogs?”

The doctor replied, “I don’t know what a guard dog is, but you guys just want a fierce big dog, aye? I do know someone. She’s planning to come here for ear cropping. Why not just wait for her for a bit?”

“Ear cropping?” Snowy’s hands went to her ears subconsciously. This ear?

Zhang Zian nodded. That ear.

“Why do you crop their ears? For the same reason as tail docking? In case they cause injury to the dog while it swerves through the bushes?” Snowy asked.

“No. The controversy surrounding ear cropping is even greater than tail docking. If we say that tail docking has more cons than pros, then ear cropping has almost no ‘pros’ at all, and is purely done for aesthetics,” Zhang Zian explained. “After animal protection organizations sterilized stray dogs and cats, they would mark them by cropping off the tip of their ear. But these two cases are vastly different. Ear cropping causes a far greater wound to the ear, and you need to tie it up with bandages afterward to keep the ear straight and upright.”

Even though some people claimed that ear cropping could increase a dog’s sensitivity to sound and prevent the growth of parasites in the ear canal, these were just claims, and they didn’t have much evidence to back them up. Whether you cropped the ear or not, it had very little effect on the dog’s actual hearing, and the prevention of parasites could always be done by religious cleansing of the ear canal.

“That’s so cruel. What difference is this from women tying up their feet in the olden days?” Snowy gaped.

“That is true. Therefore, many European countries had banned ear cropping for reasons outside of medical ones, but in China… We haven’t had a single law passed to protect animals’ rights and well-being.” Zhang Zian sighed.

Blackie interrupted then. “Should we wait? Or should we take a look elsewhere first?”

“How long do we have to wait?” Zhang Zian asked the doctor.

The doctor took a look at the time on his phone. “Shouldn’t be too long. She’s usually punctual.”

Zhang Zian immediately made a decision, and said to Blackie, “Then let’s wait a while. Any dog that requires ear cropping would most likely be able to fulfill your needs.”

“You truly are knowledgeable.” The doctor gave him a thumbs-up and a sincere smile.

“What do you mean?”

Blackie and Snowy were still in the dark, and they felt as though Zhang Zian and the doctor had some insider code that they didn’t know about.

Zhang Zian put up eight fingers. “Only eight breeds of dogs need to undergo cropping, and they are all middle- to big-sized breeds. Other than the giant Schnauzer, the other seven breeds are all stronger breeds that are suitable to be guard dogs. If we take out the rarer breeds in China, then we only have two or three left to choose from.”

He already had an estimation as to which breed would be brought here for cropping.

“Haha! It’s so much better to be talking to an expert. If you want to look for a guard dog, these would be the perfect fit!” The doctor smiled.

Zhang Zian suggested to Blackie that they wait. Ear cropping required a different age than tail docking. Docking usually happened a few days right after birth, but cropping usually happened seven to twelve weeks after birth. Puppies at this age were perfect for purchase, and they could immediately start building relationships.

While their conversation was going on, a woman in her thirties rode up on an electric bike, threading through the crowd with much difficulty, and finally stopped right before the doctor’s stall.

“Look, she’s here.” The doctor gave Zhang Zian a look.

But even without the side eye, Zhang Zian had already noticed the puppies kept inside the metal cage in the basket of the electric motorbike.

These few puppies were tall and lean, alarmed as they observed what was happening around them.

He could recognize the breed on sight. It was a Doberman.

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