Pet King

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

Electrician Wu’s son and daughter were both married and working in different cities. During the winter holidays, he and his wife took care of the grandchildren.

He had nothing to do after retirement. As an attempt to look for something fun to do, he planned to get some fish.

As a result, he quickly bought the tank and all the equipment that was required. Many equipment sets were bought in the store. The prices were okay, although they were not as low as the prices were online. Old men like him preferred to shop in real stores as long as the price difference was not dramatic.

He didn’t want to get the expensive fish to start off with––if the fish died, he would have just wasted his money. He bought a few cheap saltwater fish to practice. He chose saltwater fish instead of freshwater fish because he had heard from the buddies that he exercised with in the morning that the water for freshwater fish had to be heated under the sun for some time. Saltwater fish were more convenient, as the ocean was close by. He could get a few buckets of salt water from the sea on an electric bike to save money on water.

Electrician Wu felt that doing so made sense. His wife didn’t want him to have fish because she felt that the water and electricity bill was too high. By having saltwater fish, she might complain less. So that was it! Saltwater fish it was.

Early spring time was still cold in Binhai City, and the indoor temperature was still low. The tropical saltwater fish he bought all required a water temperature of at least 25 degrees Celsius. A heating rod was a must, regardless of how much his wife complained about the electricity bill.

At first, everything was going well, as he spent most of his days working on the tank and enjoyed it a lot. Everything was perfect, apart from his wife’s complaints that he was distracted with unimportant things and left her with all the hard work of taking care of the grandchildren.

Soon, the aquarium tank was taking shape.

Electrician Wu stood in front of the tank every day, watching the tank that he had decorated with bottom sand, eco-bio-blocks, and corals. A few colorful fish swam in it back and forth, filling his heart with contentment and accomplishment.

When his neighbors and former colleagues visited, they said a lot of nice words about the tank, and that he was really good at taking care of it.

After a while, his wife stopped complaining, and even helped him feed the fish sometimes.

The little fish grew up fast.

Electrician Wu had been thinking recently that he was very gifted with fish, and these ordinary little fish were not enough for his ambitions anymore. It was time to consider getting a few better ones, which would surely make him look even better in front of his neighbors and former colleagues.

Carrying those thoughts with him, he left home on his bike as soon as he had free time during the day. He searched in the aquarium market and the only few aquariums in town and compared prices, hoping to find some higher grade saltwater fish for the best price he could.

However, his fish seemed abnormal recently. They didn’t sleep day or night and they jumped around the tank nonstop.

Electrician Wu became worried, suspecting that the fish were getting sick.

He realized that he was not as good as he had thought, then postponed his plan of acquiring fancy, saltwater fish.

One day, he bought a book on common diseases in saltwater fish from the bookstore and returned home. He ignored his wife’s complaints and started playing with his grandson.

His grandson was very obedient and did well in school. He was a good little boy who also loved fish. He enjoyed watching Electrician Wu take care of the fish and never made trouble when he fixed the tank. He was always watching silently at his grandfather’s side and offered to take on the task of changing the water for the tank.

Electrician Wu loved his young grandson and treated him as the apple of his eye.

As his grandson played, he suddenly grabbed his arms and said mysteriously, “Grandpa, put your hand into the tank.”

Electrician Wu was peeling an apple and felt that it was not sanitary to stick his hands into the water. He laughed. “Why do I need to put my hand into the tank? Grandpa needs his hands to peel the apple for you.”

His grandson acted as if his well-planned game had been foiled. He grabbed his arm to butter him up. “Grandpa, just put it in there! Just once! It’s so much fun!”

Electrician Wu smiled and didn’t want to refuse him. He put the half-peeled apple down. He secretly wiped his hands against his pants and hoped his wife wouldn’t notice.

“Okay, okay. Let me see what my dear grandson is up to…” He stood up with a smile, then stretched his hand towards the water in the tank.

As soon as his fingertip touched the water, a numbing feeling traveled through his body instantly––an electric shock!

“Ah!” He withdrew his hand quickly, astonished.

He was all too familiar with the feeling. It was an electricity leakage! Judging from the intensity of the numbing feeling, the current was not weak!

“Haha!”

His grandson’s little scheme was successful. He clapped his hands merrily and laughed. “Grandpa! Grandpa! Is it a little bit numb?”

As he spoke, he tipped up on his toes and tried to put his hand into the water as well.

Electrician Wu grabbed his hand quickly. “Don’t touch the water!”

His tone was not very friendly, nor was his face. His grandson stared at his face, feeling a little frightened.

“You d*mn old man, why do you scare the child?” his wife asked him while standing akimbo. She was was clearly unhappy. “You spend the whole day idling outside and don’t do any work at home. After you get home, you scare the child. Are you growing more and more childish?”

Electrician Wu didn’t have time to argue with his wife. He held his grandson’s hands nervously.

His entire forehead was covered in sweat. He said in shaky voice, “My child, when did you discover that the water is numbing?”

“Grandpa, my wrist hurts…” His grandson was almost in tears.

Electrician Wu loosened up a little, but didn’t let his hand go. “Tell Grandpa––when did you find it out?”

His wife noticed his odd behavior and felt a tightness in her heart. She watched their conversation anxiously.

His grandson thought about it. “Yesterday morning, when I changed the water.”

“The water was numbing yesterday morning?” Electrician Wu tried to confirm.

“Not very numbing… Just a little… Not as numbing as today,” his grandson answered.

His words expressed the same meaning––the electricity leakage was more severe today than yesterday.

Electrician Wu’s heart was almost broken. If his grandson didn’t ask him to stick his hand into the water, or if he was preoccupied with peeling the apple and didn’t stick his hand into the water, would the leakage have been even worse tomorrow? Tomorrow, when the child changed the water, could he have…?

He was too afraid to think any further.

He wanted to punch himself hard. As a certified electrician, and after seeing the fish jumping around the tank nonstop, he didn’t even think about the possibility of a leakage. Instead, he had just suspected that the fish were sick.

Holy crap! He had lived all these years in vain!

If something had happened to his grandson, not only would his son and daughter-in-law have been devastated, but he would have been too humiliated to live any longer.

His wife almost fell on the floor once she understood what was going on. She took her grandson in her arms, then complained in tears that he should not have started raising fish. It almost killed their beloved grandson!

But Electrician Wu had a bigger heart. It was not a problem of owning the fish––something was leaking electricity inside the tank.

As an electrician, he always had a voltage tester at home.

He stuck the voltage tester straight into the tank water. The indicator jumped straight over 70 volts.

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