Pet King

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

Zhang Zian thought New Year’s would be more relaxing, but the kittens kept him busy. He spent most of his time around the kittens and the two mothers.

The Crucian Carp that Snowy brought over was very helpful. After eating the Crucian Carp stew, the mothers had been lactating a lot more, almost enough for all the kittens.

Out of her fondness for the kittens, she did her best to come over to help every day. Even if she couldn’t make it, she would still send the Crucian Carps over. She said that they were all caught by an older friend.

With her help, Zhang Zian’s burden was relieved a little. Now that the holidays were over, he expected Wang Qian and Li Kun, to come back to work.

Feng Xuan was satisfied with the report and photos he had sent. He told him that the demo film of Dog Warrior had been officially submitted to the committee of Berlin Film Festival, and it had been approved by the screening committee to be a candidate for the competition. It was hard to tell whether the statement at the end of the film was useful or not. However, as Feng Xuan had said the committee greatly appreciated how they treated the animals in the crew.

Zhang Zian had seen some reports on the Dog Warrior movie in the entertainment news. However, since there weren’t any superstars in the movie, it didn’t gain much attention. There were more reports on another Chinese detective film, which was also participating in the competition. The director of that film was well-known, and it had famous actors.

Famous was more concerned with the film’s progress, and asking Zhang Zian about it a few times a day.

Zhang Zian always told it any updates as soon as he found out, but he also reminded it to lower its expectations. After all, the Berlin Film Festival was the first major film festival of the new year, and there were strong candidates.

Pi’s novel was progressing well and rising rapidly. It was second place on the Monthly Power Ranking List for the New Arrivals, which was the same as getting a free recommendation. The author in first place was huge and had been famous for a long time ago.

In the morning, after Zhang Zian had tended to the mothers and the kittens, he sat next to Pi with a cup of hot tea, watching it write.

After the second upgrade, Pi was typing faster and more accurately. Sometimes it still typed the string of numbers, but it no longer felt puzzled or ashamed. It just simply the deleted it with a grin on its face.

Zhang Zian wasn’t good at writing. Even so, he still noticed that after the upgrade, Pi wasn’t just writing faster, it was getting better.

As Pi had said in the past, its novel wasn’t entirely based on Zhang Zian and the elfins, it was 70% real and 30% fiction. The real part was easy. The imaginary parts gave Pi a headache.

After the upgrade, Pi got better at writing the fiction plots. It no longer needed to wrack its brain all day. Now, it had free time to play and interact with the its fans.

Pi typed the last few words, then it scratched its head in satisfaction. It had been writing ever since it woke up and it had just finished one chapter.

“Eek?” It looked at Zhang Zian expectantly, meaning, “Shall we play hide-and-seek with Galaxy and the others?”

Pi was gradually blending in with the other elfins. Sometimes, when it finished writing early, it would voluntarily ask to join the other elfins’ games.

Zhang Zian smiled, about to say yes,when his phone rang. He unlocked his phone and saw a message from the biggest reading list owner on Qidian, Feather of the Chief Specter.

He raised his tea cup and said, “Pi, Galaxy and I are fine. However, hide-and-seek is less fun when there is less people. You can go downstairs and wake Famous up. Try to get it to join the game. I’ll come down to look for you after my cup of tea.”

“Eek!” Pi nodded. It removed its glasses and placed it on its book, then ran downstairs.

There were no customers right now, so it didn’t need to worry about being seen.

After sending it away, Zhang Zian opened the message.

[Feather of the Chief Specter]: Congratulations. You’re high on the Monthly Power Ranking.

Zhang Zian: Thank you, it’s all because of your support and the support of other reading list owners.

He knew that this Internet celebrity was busy and had actual work to do. He must be busy contacting other reading list owners as well, he never would’ve sent such a personal message. He waited to hear back.

[Feather of the Chief Specter]: Have you thought about setting a higher goal?

Zhang Zian paused. What higher goal?

Zhang Zian: You mean trying to reach the top of the Monthly Power Ranking List for the New Arrivals?

[Feather of the Chief Specter]: No, I mean the New King of the Year, or The Best New Author of the Year.

It was the first time that Zhang Zian had heard about this.

Zhang Zian: What is that?

[Feather of the Chief Specter]: It’s a title for the author with the highest cumulative monthly ranking among new arrivals and new authors. There isn’t a materialistic reward, but it’s a great honor. The competition is fierce each year.

Pi woke up Famous and tried to persuade it into joining hide-and-seek. Galaxy was at its side, helping. However, Famous wouldn’t agree.

Zhang Zian was speechless, and imagined if Pi was selected. New King? Monkey King? The Best New Monkey of the Year?

Zhang Zian: I’ll pass. Leave a more qualified author win. It’s just an empty title.”

As a novel-writing elfin, Pi should stay low and avoid too much publicity.

[Feather of the Chief Specter]: Is that so? Fine. It may be an empty title, but it’s helpful in promoting the novel.

It was obvious that he was trying to persuade Zhang Zian, or Pi.

He was thinking of what was best for Pi’s novel, but Zhang Zian knew how hard Pi worked to write the novel. If it fought for more awards, it would have to work even harder, and lose its free time. Between honor and health, he’d rather Pi have the latter. After all, Pi still had a long time to write the novel, it wasn’t necessary to sacrifice the future for some temporary gain.

Zhang Zian: Thank you for telling me, but I don’t plan on competing for the award.

[Feather of the Chief Specter]: I get it. I still want to let you know that even if you aren’t interested, other people are. Many people want that honor. Those people will see you and your novel as their enemy.

Zhang Zian frowned. He remembered the attacks in the comment section. The competition for the title would be greater than last time. It was hard to imagine that the others would stay calm.

Zhang Zian: What should I do?

[Feather of the Chief Specter]: I don’t have many good suggestions. I’ll quote Mao Zedong, try to “dig deep, gather your grain, and do not claim to be the king.” Try to get as much support from your fans as possible.

Zhang Zian thought about it.

Famous and Pi were both about to be involved in fierce competition. The difference was, one was active and the other was passive.

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