Pet King

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

The weather was good––the sun was shining, the sea breeze was blowing, and the visibility was great. The weather was not too hot nor too cold––it was all around a great day for a spring outing.

On the way to the beach, Zhang Zian saw many parents and grandparents taking their kids out to fly kites. The kites of various different colors fluttered high in the air, and one could not help but think, Ah! It’s spring!

There was also a few elderly men who flew kites that were abnormally large, stretching over ten meters long. The kites were made up of connecting sections––a dragon head and a centipede body. It was just like the overlord of the skies, and all the other small kites were incomparable.

Wu!

A flock of white pigeons flew across the sky above their heads. The pigeon whistles tied to their claws sounded out, making a melodious sound. Zian only hoped that the owner did not raise them in the downtown area.

Zhang Zian drove along the seawall, all the way to the rugged, desolated beach.

Zian’s phone had rung on the way, but because he was driving, he did not check his phone. After he stopped the car and switched off the engine, he took his phone out to look.

It was a message from Professor Wei Kang.

Wei Kang: “Xiao Zhang, the academy just had a meeting, and the academy’s dean has approved our expedition application. That also includes you joining us to Egypt as the special consultant, but they have specifically instructed that, as a non-staff personnel, you are responsible for your own safety and actions. If you have an accident during the expedition, the expedition team and academy will not be held responsible. Do you have any issues with that?”

Zhang Zian thought about it. The academy’s terms were not unreasonable, since he was originally not part of the hired staff. The dean was already being very nice in allowing him to join the expedition team. If he were to cause some trouble or be injured over in Egypt, the school would definitely not be willing to take the responsibility for all of that… Wei Kang must’ve put in a lot of effort to have the dean agree.

With that, Zian was also able to go around freely. There were more advantages than disadvantages. After all, it was better than him going alone.

So he replied, “Professor Wei, I’m okay with that.”

Soon enough, Wei Kang sent another message over: “That’s great then. The budget will be available soon, so we’ll be entering the itinerary planning and equipment preparation stage. I’ll be sending you a form, so please fill it out with the correct data of your height, weight, chest measurement, arm length, and shoe size before sending it back to me. We need to custom order the clothes required for the expedition.”

Zhang Zian received the form, but he was in no hurry to fill it out. He asked, “Professor Wei, I have a request… Can you hear me out?”

Wei Kang: “What request? As long as it’s not against the rules of the expedition team, the dean is not an unreasonable person.”

Zhang Zian: “I’d like to bring a few pets along with me. Of course, I’ll be responsible for their expenses on travel and meals––there’s also no need to custom order any clothes for them. They won’t add any trouble to the expedition team.”

Wei Kang: “Reason is?”

Zhang Zian: “To further ensure that we’re able to accomplish the expedition team’s goal: to locate traces of the Egyptian Mau. The pets in my shop have undergone my special training, so they’re able to play an important part of the expedition team. I’m sure that they’ll be able to provide great help to the team.”

There was no need to explain any further. Zian used to be known for his capabilities in training cats, and ever since Famous won the Berlin Film Festival’s best actor award, many people were willing to pay him a high price to train their dog. Although he seemed unaffected when he turned them all of down, he was bleeding inside his heart. His dog training abilities were really just average, however––there was nothing special about them––and he was going to destroy his own reputation if he took the job. It was just better all around if he turned them all down and remained a mystery.

Of course, Wei Kang had also heard stories. In fact, even the dean himself was aware of them.

For the Egypt expedition, the team would be spending most of their time on outdoor expeditions, and the dangers of the hot, Sahara desert need not be explained in detail. Every member of the expedition team was on a major insurance plan, and the dean had not planned to approve Zhang Zian’s application of joining the team. If a supernumerary person on the expedition got involved in an accident, then the academy will have to face a lot of pressure.

What made the dean change his mind were two things: One, Wei Kang brought out all of Zhang Zian’s past achievements, and two, they were surprised to see the news of Zhang Zian and the Police Bureau Chief Chen on TV for their interview where Bureau Chief Chen had expressed his recognition of Zhang Zian.

With that, in the meeting that had just ended that afternoon, the application for the expedition and Zhang Zian’s company was approved by the academy’s management with a small margin of winning votes.

Wei Kang replied: “Okay then, I trust you. If you’re saying so, that must mean that you have some guarantee. Bring along your pets then, and I’ll settle it on the academy’s side.”

Zhang Zian replied, “Okay, thanks, Professor Wei. I’ll send the form back soon.”

Even if Wei Kang had not agreed to his request, Zian was going to secretly bring the elfins along. If he did things that way, however, the elfins would not be able to show themselves in front of the expedition. Wei Kang agreeing to his request had saved Zian a lot of trouble.

After Zian ended the conversation with Wei Kang, he got out of the car with the underwater speaker and got busy.

A shadow swept across his face. Is that a bird?

Zian used his hand to block the sunlight, then looked up, to his surprise, to see a kite above his head.

It was a very commonly seen goldfish kite fluttering high up in the air, becoming just a small dot in the sky. If it didn’t pass by above Zian’s head and cast a shadow, it would have been hard for Zian to notice it.

Usually, not much people visited the beach he was at, and Zian had almost never met anyone there before. But today, there was actually someone flying a kite.

Zian climbed up a reef rock. He then straightened his back, stretched out his neck, and squinted his eyes, looking towards the direction of the wind—because according to simple physics principles, the person flying the kite could only be in that direction.

At the furthest end of his sight, Zian vaguely saw two figures, one big and one small. They were happily running along the beach, like father and son, or maybe grandfather and grandson. It was too far for Zian to see clearly.

The beach was actually not the best place to be flying kites because of the inconsistent airflow. They might have chosen that place because it was quiet. The other kiting hotspots were filled with people, and often, the kite strings would get tangled with one another. There was also the danger of crashing into someone when running.

Zhang Zian remembered the days when his parents brought him out to fly a kite. Staring at the two figures, Zhang Zian was lost in his thoughts. In the two figures, Zhang Zian saw himself from the past.

It was not until a particularly large wave crashed into the reef rock and splashed thousands of crystal clear water droplets that he was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts. A few drops of salty sea water splashed onto his face.

He laughed at himself before jumping off the reef rock. Putting the past memories away, he rolled up his pants and walked towards the water. He placed the underwater speaker into the water and let Sihwa’s singing play across the sea.

Of course, during that period, he did not just wait. He looked down and strolled along the beach, using his prepared stick to stir the water. He moved away the smaller reef rocks to look for rare marine creatures in the waters and under the reef rocks.

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