Pet King

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

“Ya!”

Snowy woke up from her nightmare in horror. Her sweat drenched the hair in front of her forehead and her sideburns, leaving them stuck to her skin.

She opened her eyes and pulled the curtains in the room open; it was very dim.

Instinctively, she wanted to sit up and leave the nightmare behind; however, her body felt very heavy and it was difficult to breathe. It felt like someone was sitting on her chest––she couldn’t get up at all.

Could it be… the infamous sleep paralysis?

She started sweating even more at the thought.

She tried her best to suppress the fear in her heart and looked down…

“Meow.” Snowball was lying on her chest and staring at her innocently.

Snowy was speechless.

“Go, go! Get down from the bed! You’re about to squash me!” She waved her hands to chase Snowball off the bed, literally feeling the weight lift off of her chest.

It was not strange that it was so heavy, since Snowball was completely an adult now. One would, of course, have difficulty breathing and a nightmare if there was about five kilograms of weight pressed against their chest.

She was still a little sleepy and wanted to sleep in a little longer, but she couldn’t. It was the official opening day of the Amazing Fate Aquarium, and she had already issued a live broadcast notice that she’d be going to the pet store to broadcast live… If she continued to stay in bed, her mother would definitely make some noise.

Snowy got up from the bed, washed her face, and changed into dry pajamas. She sat in front of the desk and stared blankly for a while until the nightmare was completely forgotten, then she switched on her computer.

She accessed Weibo, where there were a number of private messages waiting in the platform. She responded to them one by one.

Most of the private messages were sent by her friendly fans, but occasionally there would also be absurd insults and accusations. For example, some people mentioned that her live broadcast was not objective and was unfair; others said that the food that she introduced was not even delicious and that people even suffered from diarrhea after eating––they asked her how much the shop paid her. Was it possible to be a network anchor just by topping up money?

There were also a number of private messages from various marketing accounts that belonged to the local shops in Binhai City, inquiring if she was willing to take up advertisement offers. They were willing to spend money and invite her to broadcast an episode in their shop so she could share more good things about them.

For the latter, she would still have the patience to send a polite reply back to indicate that she was not interested and that she chose stores based on her own preferences. As for the former, she used to apologize to them out of fear, but gradually it only had a negative effect. She found out that even after the apology, the other party would not necessarily understand. They would even post her reply on Weibo and ask her for compensation.

In some of the private messages, there were some people who claimed to have seen the Holy Cat statue, and similar private messages could be seen almost every day. When Snowy saw such similar private messages, she always copied the contents of the message into a separate document.

However, with only a little analysis, one would start to suspect the credibility of the information in the private messages. Often, there would be two or three people who claimed to have seen the Holy Cat statue in two or three different places on the same day… unless the Holy Cat statue was able to fly, some people were deliberately causing mischief, or they were lying for the rewards. If they were doing it for the rewards, then they were both brave and swindlers.

There might even be other intentions that were much worse than the aforementioned, but she didn’t want to think too much about it. Some of the locations reported were inaccessible––the likes of unfinished buildings that had been abandoned for many years in the suburbs.

She did a little filtering through the private messages received, then removed those with ridiculous and contradictory information. She then put all the other received information into a document file and printed it. She was planning to hand it over to Zhang Zian later that day.

Snowy was very curious about the disappearance of the Holy Cat statue. The statue had been a gift from her, and then it just disappeared. She was very eager to help, and it was better than being bored from staying at home.

Zhii—

The printer started spitting out A4 carbon paper.

After she was nearly done, Snowball pawed the edge of her trousers, calling out to Snowy as if she wanted to climb up her leg.

“Aiya, Snowball! You’re so heavy! I’m almost unable to carry you anymore!”

Snowy tried to hold it up and her arms immediately felt the heavy weight. Thinking back to when she had just brought it home from the pet store, Snowball was just like a hairball––it had grown so big in a blink of an eye.

“Let’s go. Let’s head downstairs for our meal.” She carried Snowball and headed downstairs.

Breakfast was already laid out in the dining room. Her mother gave her a side glance. “Yo, is the sun rising up from the west today? You’re already down without anyone calling you?”

Although she knew that it was mockery, Snowy still happily swayed her head. If she got angry, she would be reacting how her mother had intended for her to.

She placed Snowball on the floor where its breakfast had been laid out. The bowl was raised––which was suitable for flat-faced cats like the Persian cats––to prevent food residue from getting to their face.

Snowy also sat in the dining room. She casually dusted her clothes and reached out her hands to grab the bread.

Pa!

Her mother accurately slapped the back of her hand. “Go wash your hands!”

There was nothing Snowy could do, so she ran to the bathroom downstairs, washed her hands, and returned.

“Look at your clothes, all covered in cat hair––in your room, too. If anyone didn’t know better, they would think that I’m keeping two cats!” her mother scolded.

Snowy looked down. She had just changed her pajamas, and just by holding Snowball for a few minutes, there was a lot of long and white cat hair hanging on her chest.

“This isn’t my fault. It’s Snowball shedding its hair.” She defended herself and grabbed the bread at the same time.

“Snowball shedding its hair has nothing to do with you? If you comb it every day, would it still shed this much hair? …Forget it. You’re heading to the pet shop today, right? While you’re there, cut Snowball’s hair shorter!” her mother ordered.

“No,” Snowy immediately refused. “It’s a long-haired cat. Cutting it short would make it look ugly.”

Huff! Huff!

Snowball made some weird groans under the table. Crouching on the carpet, it squirmed around like it was feeling discomfort.

“Snowball, what’s wrong?” Snowy threw her half-eaten bread to the side and wanted to pick it up.

Snowball opened its mouth and threw up a pool of disgusting things. There were even bunches of hair in there.

It seemed to be much more comfortable after throwing up, but it also seemed to be disgusted with the thing that it threw up. It then used its claws to pull the food bowl away and ran to a different place to have its breakfast.

Snowy suddenly realized something. “This is the so-called hairball, right? I’ve gained knowledge!”

She hurriedly jumped out of the dining chair and wanted to sneak away, but she was caught on the collar by her mother, who said coldly, “It’s the cat that you brought back, so you’re responsible for clearing this puddle of mess. You’re not allowed to push it to the cleaning auntie.”

“Such bad luck!” Snowy sullenly looked for a mask, gloves, paper towels, disinfectant, and other things from the storage room. She then started to clear the puddle of vomit with her eyes closed.

Ding dong!

When she heard the doorbell, her mother, who had been supervising her work, went to open the door.

Snowy wrinkled her nose at Snowball. She then followed her mother’s actions and said, “This is what you threw up. You’re responsible for clearing this mess!”

Unfortunately, Snowball was indifferent and continued to eat its canned cat food.

Her mother walked back in with a bunch of flowers. She stuck her nose deep into the flowers and took a deep breath. “En, that’s a nice fragrance!”

“Where did the flowers come from?” Snowy asked curiously. “What special day is today?”

“I bought it myself, and I’m learning about flower arrangements from our neighbor’s wife.” Her mother softly hummed a song and walked into the kitchen to take a vase, then sat on the coffee table and pulled out a flower from the bouquet and stuck it into the vase. She carefully adjusted the angle and, if she felt unsatisfied, she would pull it out and replace it with another one.

Snowy went closer to take a look. “What a beautiful flower. What flower is this?”

“Tulips.” Her mother glanced at her and asked without holding any expectations, “Do you want to learn together with me?”

Flower arrangement was an art for women to show off her femininity. It was basically an art exclusive to women. If you just listened to the name, it gave people a feeling of calmness and elegance. A long-term study of flower arrangement could cultivate temperament and enhance artistic accomplishment. It could also allow one to decorate their home warmly and beautifully, and to better express one’s feelings to another.

She obviously hoped for Snowy to cultivate her nature from learning how to arrange flowers––even if she couldn’t be as quiet and gentle as a real lady, at least she could be like an ordinary girl.

Unsurprisingly, Snowy shook her head with no hesitation. “Not learning! Flower arranging is not my thing!

“…If you don’t try it, how would you know if it’s not suitable for you?” her mother asked angrily.

“Aiya! Anyway, it’s really not my thing! We’re not compatible, our birth dates don’t match, everything just doesn’t match!” Snowy feared that her mother would continue to pester her, so she hurriedly looked at her watch and said, “It’s almost time. I’m leaving! Everyone is waiting for me!”

She threw the dirty paper towel into the trash can, placed the glove, mask, and disinfectant back to their original position, and ran back upstairs to change her clothes.

“It’s really… making me mad! This foolish girl is just too wild!” Her mother was really angry. She used too much force with her fingers and bent a bunch of beautiful looking tulips.

“No! This is not right! The world is so beautiful, yet I’m so irritable. This is not good! I have to calm my heart! I want to go Buddhist-style! From today onwards, I want to be a Buddhist-style mother! Be it happiness or sadness, I shall remain indifferent!”

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes slightly, and sat quietly without looking around. A smile appeared on her face and it shined with buddha’s light. One hand was supporting the vase, and she pinched her fingers with the other. She looked just like the Guanyin Bodhisattva who didn’t involve herself with the earthliness––also like the pure Virgin Mary.

“With or without, both are fine. Don’t fight or snatch; remain indifferent to wins and losses. All the troubles are but an illusion. The various unhappiness levels are but fleeting like clouds. Marriage and childbirth are like illusory dreams. However my daughter messes around, I shall remain steadfast. Buddhist-style rearing, all are cheering. Amitabha, praise and praise.”

Muttering words from her mouth, and under constant self-suggestion, her mood gradually became more cheerful. All the previous negative emotions were swept away, and her body felt light as if she was floating in the clouds. She even had a feeling that there should be buddha’s light emitting behind her, and a halo above her head…

Snowy grabbed her phone and carried the cat bag, running and jumping her way downstairs.

“Mom, I’m heading out!”

After she ran out two steps, she turned around and saw the tulip on the table that had bloomed beautifully. She thought to herself that it wouldn’t be nice to go to the opening of the aquarium empty-handed, and there should be no problem in giving a few tulips, right?

“Mom, I’ll be taking a few flowers. Anyway, there’s still so much so it shouldn’t matter,” Snowy said casually, taking a few golden colored tulips from the bouquet and running out the door.

Her mother suddenly opened her eyes and saw Snowy leave with all the golden tulips, leaving her with only the red, pink, and white ones. How was she going to arrange the flowers now?

“Come back right now! Put the flowers back! Buy some yourself if you want to give it away!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Unfortunately, Snowy had already run far away so she couldn’t hear her mother’s roar.

Sure enough, she was still unable to be a Buddhist-style mother.

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