Pet King

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

As the conversation got further and further off topic, Wei Kang quickly drew it back. “As I mentioned earlier, it was during the New Dynasty that someone drew the scenes on the walls of ancient Egyptians taking cats to hunt in marshes and wetlands,” he said. “This wall drawing dates between 3,500 to 3,000 years ago, and the cat in the drawing is still full of mackerel markings. There seem to be no spots to the naked eye, which proves that the spots did not appear earlier than 3,000 years ago.”

Wei Kang turned to Fina again. “So, although there is no direct evidence for the pattern of mackerel markings merging with the dots, I personally think it appeared between 2,500 and 1,500 years ago.”

There was still a long time before the plane took off, and Zhang Zian was not in a hurry. He watched their quarrels and admired Wei Kang in his heart. He had narrowed the scope of speculation greatly without direct evidence.

He really wanted to tell them the answer directly. There was no need to guess anymore—it was 2,000 years ago. But he couldn’t say that. Even if he said it, they would not believe him, because he couldn’t explain how he knew. If possible, during this trip to Egypt, he intended to find a way to prove the period of time in which Fina’s two markings combined.

Du Xuetao, a nerd, pushed up his glasses and asked carefully, “Teacher, isn’t Egypt just a land full of yellow sand? Where are the swamps and wetlands coming from?”

Wei Kang shook his head. “I’m not sure about that. That concerns geography.”

Zhang Zian cut in. “I’ve heard one or two things about climate change, and with population growth, the original cultivated land couldn’t support so many people,” he said. “People cut down a lot of forests and turned grasslands into cultivated land, and eventually that led to uncontrollable desertification. Long ago, the Sahara was a grassland, not a desert, just like Lop Nor was once China’s largest saltwater lake. It is said that there were elephants in the Central Plains during the Shang Dynasty, which is unimaginable to modern people. Now elephants are in zoos, and you can only see them by buying a ticket.”

Wei Kang and the rest sighed, all speechless. This was a natural disaster, but it was also a human-caused one. Of course, they studied biology and knew how many magical species would disappear quietly in the course of climate upheaval as if they had never appeared before. It could only make people sigh.

“Well, let’s stop standing here,” Wei Kang said. “Xiao Zhang had a lot of formalities to go through, right? You go through the formalities. We’ll help you carry your luggage in. A lot of the luggage is our equipment, so be careful when you move it.”

After all, they were all men, and rough work was easy for them. Even the thinnest, Du Xuetao, carried the boxes for the pan-tilt cameras, while the strongest, Gao Jie, carried the boxes one by one.

Zhang Zian took Famous to the toilet first—the men’s toilet, of course, so that it could excrete whatever needed, and then he took it to check in. After that, he brought Fina to meet everyone in the departure lounge.

He He was sitting on the luggage, her head lowered and playing her game. She only reacted after Wei Kang called her a few times.

“Why did you guys come only now? I thought that you went on the plane yourselves and left me here alone,” she complained as soon as she opened her mouth.

“How could that be? Our luggage is still here.” Gao Ke grinned, put down the suitcase, and went up next to her to see what game she was playing.

“Ah! It’s this cat? How cute!” He He noticed Fina, switching off her phone screen and jumping down from the luggage. She reached out her hand, wanting to touch Fina’s head.

“Don’t touch it!”

Zhang Zian’s head hurt when he thought about these kinds of people who wanted to touch a strange dog or cat without saying a word. How arrogant were they? Did they really think that they had the so-called constitution that was popular with cats? Who was to blame if they were bitten or scratched?

Fina had already raised one of her forepaws. Her eyes were round, and she gave a threatening howl, gesturing to scratch.

He He was so scared, she retracted her hand quickly. “This cat is so fierce! It isn’t a wild cat, right?”

In fact, if Fina had really wanted to scratch her, she wouldn’t have even been able to retract her hand, but Fina was eager to return to Egypt and did not want any unexpected things to crop up.

“Not all cats have a good temper, especially this cat,” Zhang Zian solemnly warned. “Its favorite thing is to scratch people. If you don’t want to get hurt, you’d better not provoke it. I’m saying this first: I’m not responsible for paying money, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

He He pouted. “What a disappointment! By the way, isn’t that best actor dog coming along with us?” she asked. “Where is it? It’s said that the best actor dog has a good temper and never refuses the fans’ request for a photo.” She looked around but did not see any dog.

“Famous will be checked in by pets air travel and will stay in the aerobic cabin used to transport pets during the flight, so if you plan to accompany him…” Zhang Zian stopped talking, not wanting to offend her too much.

He He said nothing.

“I’d like to take a picture with that dog, too. I forgot until just now,” Gao Ke said with regret. Previously, all their attention had been focused on Fina. Famous was very low-key, and the attention was completely on Fina’s peculiar coat color and markings.

Wei Kang cut in just in time. “Well, it’s not too late to wait for the photo to be taken in Egypt,” he said. “There’s plenty of time. Before the plane takes off, let me talk about the itinerary for after we arrive in Egypt. Otherwise, when we get on the plane, if we talk about that again, it will affect other passengers.”

Everyone quieted down and listened to Wei Kang’s explanation, but not everyone was listening very seriously. He He was looking down and playing with her phone, and Gao Ke was watching her.

Actually, the trip itinerary had been set beforehand, but sometimes, plans could not match up to changes, so Wei Kang wanted to emphasize it again. According to the plan, when they reached Egypt, their first day would be free time, used to reverse jet lag.

The next day, Wei Kang would be visiting Cairo University with his four disciples and meeting with local biologists to discuss the evolution of domestic cats. This stage would last about three days, depending on the situation. Only when Zhang Zian and Fina were needed would he participate in the meeting. At other times, he could move freely.

On the fifth day, they would invite local scholars to introduce reliable guides and rent off-road vehicles. All of them would enter the field investigation stage, the duration of which remained to be determined. That is to say, Zhang Zian had almost four or five days to move freely, which was the envy of the other young people.

It was emphasized that this was only a pre-arranged plan, which would be flexible to change and flexible to implement.

Wei Kang urged Zhang Zian to go out as little as possible. After all, he himself was not familiar with Egyptian places and language, and the local situation was unstable. In case of trouble, things could be terrible.

Of course, Wei Kang was more worried about Fina. Because Zhang Zian did not have a leash on Fina, he was afraid that Fina would run away and be lost, and the loss would be too heavy.

Zhang Zian promised verbally, but in fact, he had already begun to plan the tourist routes.

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