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

  When Zhang Zian left the pet store, he glanced over to the other side of the road and noticed that Aunt Li and her husband hadn’t started their day yet. Looking up, the sky was blue, although there were some clouds in the way. The weather forecast said that there was no rain today.

  Are they okay? he thought to himself.

  It was okay that they took a day off, but he had to think of other ways to prepare breakfast for Fina, Old Time Tea and Snowy Lionet.

  He had gotten used to a much more relaxed lifestyle where he didn’t have to cook for the pets. It was too easy to turn lazy. Honestly, he didn’t even have food in his fridge. The supermarket wasn’t open at this time either.

  Well, the pets had to wait then.

  He looked at his watch again and then headed north along the road. He was paying attention to the pedestrians walking towards him. When he was about to reach the intersection, he noticed a little girl coming towards him.

  “Little Celery!” He waved at her.

  “Oh! Mr. Manager!”


  They hadn’t seen each other for almost two weeks. Little Celery had put on more clothes and a pair of cute winter earmuffs. The two little ponytails were still there, so he recognized her from far away.

  “Watch out for cars,” he reminded her.

  Little Celery looked left and right, waited until the car drove by and then ran over. Her cheeks were as pink as a rose. She was trying to catch her breath as she ran.

  “I haven’t seen you for a while. You are still so energetic!” Zhang Zian sighed and noticed that her ponytails were pointing in the 10 o’clock and 2 o’clock directions. They were symmetrical.

  “Mr. Manager, are you going out?” Little Celery stopped in front of him, put her hands on her knees to rest and then stood back up straight.

  “Yeah. I just got back,” Zhang Zian looked at her. “How are you? Are you being good?”


  “Yeah! I am good!” She nodded heavily. Her ponytails also moved with her head.

  “How about at school? Are you doing good in school? Are your classmates bullying you? Do you bully your classmates?” He acted like an adult and started preaching.

  “Yup. My teachers and classmates all like me.” Little Celery answered his questions but couldn’t stop glancing at the pet store.

  “That’s great, Little Celery! You have to keep up the good work. One day, your mom will know you are a good kid and that you can take care of yourself. Maybe she will agree to get you a pet then,” Zhang Zian encouraged.

  “Sure! I will keep working hard!” she said.

  Zhang Zian nodded, “I know you will. I am always here for you!”


  “Mr. Manager, now that you are back, may I go pet the little hamster and Mini Lop?” She asked eagerly.

  “Of course! I am coming to tell you,” Zhang Zian smiled.

  “That’s great! That’s great!” She was so happy that she started jumping up and down. The pedestrians all looked at them questioningly.

  Her happiness didn’t last long. She seemed to remember something and looked sad.

  “Mr. Manager, are you going to travel again?” she asked with concern.

  Zhang Zian smiled. He knew exactly what she was worried about. “Not for a while. Even If I do have to travel, I will need someone to take care of the pets, so you can still come see them.”


  “Oh?! How about the angry man? Is he gone?” she asked.

  “Yeah! He is gone!” Zhang Zian assured her. Chen Taitong’s face came to his mind. “He will not come back again. Last time, I had him here because I couldn’t find anyone else. Don’t worry. I will hire a nice person next time.”


  She patted her chest and said, “That’s great! Mr. Manager, I have been worried about that person being mean to the little hamster and Mini Lop. I was too scared to go check on them…”


  Little Celery put down her backpack, searched, and found a few bags of mixed dried fruit.

  “Look, I saved these from those days. My backpack can’t hold any more.” She showed them to Zhang Zian.

  The dried fruits were not in their original bags. There were various kinds of nuts and dried fruits in zip-lock bags. They looked like snacks she got from relatives’ houses when she visited.

  “Okay. Let’s go back to the store. I know you can’t wait!” Zhang Zian helped her carry the zip-lock bags so she could put her backpack back on.

  “Great! I even dreamed about feeding them!” Little Celery said as she stuck her tongue out looking shy.

  They walked back to the pet store together. Zhang Zian kept asking her stuff about school. Little Celery kept answering his questions and telling him about the good-behaving girls and naughty boys in class.

  When they walked by the fruit store, he noticed the fruit store was open, so he looked inside.

  “Good morning, Master Zhang!” Aunt Li’s husband walked out from the back with a foam lunch box in his hands. He said hi happily as soon as he saw Zhang Zian.

  Little Celery didn’t know this person, so she hid behind Zhang Zian, scared, leaving only half her face to observe what was going on.

  “Good morning! This is…” Zhang Zian stared at the white foam lunch box, confused.

  Aunt Li’s husband walked closer and opened the lunch box to show him.

  There was a large bunch of BBQ skewers laying neatly inside the lunch box.

  “I was about to send these to you. Now it is getting cold out and we are not running the street cart right across from your store anymore. Our restaurant is quite far from your store. The food gets cold easily. So, we thought we could put the food inside a lunchbox to keep it warm. I guarantee it will taste as good as before!” He laughed and closed the lid tightly.

  Zhang Zian was appreciative. He didn’t even think of this problem himself, “You guys are so considerate! It is too much trouble to deliver food to me. I will come get it.”


  “Don’t worry about it. I will deliver it to you.”


  “No, no, no. I will come get it,” Zhang Zian insisted.

  At the time, Aunt Li’s husband noticed Little Celery hiding behind Zhang Zian. He asked curiously, “Who is this little girl? So pretty! Is she your kid?”


  “No way! I don’t have a kid this old,” Zhang Zian was embarrassed.

  Aunt Li’s husband thought about their age difference and said, “That’s true. She doesn’t look like you anyways… Is she your relative?”


  Zhang Zian dragged Little Celery out from behind, “No! She was the first customer who walked in my store.”