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

  Even with the most current medical treatment, the damage to the brain caused by Alzheimer’s disease was irreversible. Guo Dongyue knew that there was not much time left for his mother, and that she could not suffer any emotional blows. Even for just a moment, he wished his mother could enjoy happiness.

  While Guo Dongyue was silent and lost in thought, Zhang Zian stared at Richard and made all kinds of gestures, as if to say, “You interrupt conversations when you shouldn’t, but now that you should say something, you suddenly become silent?”


  Richard was bored jumping on the desk, so it pecked at the residue of the snacks that it missed before. Richard pretended that it did not see Zhang Zian’s gestures. Instead, it kept looking at Sun Xiaomeng.

  “Quack! Quack! Hey, beauty! Are you trying to seduce me with your uniform?” It began to speak dirty jokes again. Sun Xiaomeng looked at her own white gown, and stared at Zhang Zian angrily, “What the hell have you taught this bird? Stop infecting this bird with your repulsive addiction!”


  Zhang Zian was absolutely innocent, but he couldn’t defend himself, so he could only stare at Richard wrathfully.

  “Right, I haven’t introduced myself. My name is Sun Xiaomeng, and I’m a veterinarian at a pet clinic nearby.” Sun Xiaomeng didn’t expect that Zhang Zian would introduce her anymore, so she decided to introduce herself to Guo Dongyue.

  “Guo Dongyue, designer.” Guo Dongyue used the simplest way to introduce himself with his poker face.

  “I can see that.” Sun Xiaomeng had noticed his ponytail hairstyle and typical artistic temperament.

  Zhang Zian remembered the first time he met Guo Dongyue when Xiao Yan brought him to his pet shop. He knew that Guo Dongyue always had that poker face on when he met a stranger, as if that person owed him 200 Yuan.

  “Quack! Quack! Nice to meet you! My name is Richard!” Richard fluttered its wings and flew to land on Zhang Zian’s shoulder. Richard would never miss any fun, “And this is my little brother, Jeff Zhang.”


  “Stop the nonsense!” Zhang Zian turned around and cursed at it, “And stop changing my name.”


  Sun Xiaomeng was really surprised by this parrot’s ability to speak just like a real human, “You haven’t told me where this parrot came from? And when did you teach it how to talk?”


  “I can’t tell you that. Business secrets.” Zhang Zian thickened his skin and said, “Actually, I bought this parrot long time ago, and I’ve been teaching it how to talk secretly somewhere else, so that I could surprise you when it was ready.”


  Sun Xiaomeng was speechless, but she understood that a person like Zhang Zian was capable of doing such boring things.

  “When did you arrive? I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to eavesdrop on our conversation.” Zhang Zian caught the timing to change the subject so that Sun Xiaomeng couldn’t keep asking him questions. He also signaled to Guo Dongyue with his eyes, hoping Guo Dongyue could be on his side.

  It was easier to lie to anyone but Sun Xiaomeng. Her family had a pet breeding farm, and she was a veterinarian herself, so she was well-informed about professional pet-keeping knowledge. Zhang Zian must be very careful not to reveal too much information, otherwise she would know immediately he was lying.

  Sun Xiaomeng was distracted by him,”I’m not eavesdropping on anybody! I just happened to walk by, okay?”


  “Stop explaining. To explain is to disguise. Anyways, why are you here today?” Zhang Zian continued distracting her by bringing up a new topic.

  “I… I came to play with Xinghai!” Sun Xiaomeng finally remembered why she came over to the pet shop. She was exhausted after performing two procedures consecutively, so she wanted to play with Xinghai to heal a bit. While outside the pet shop, she heard them talking about a topic involving her profession, so she stood there and listened to them for a while. Though she was not a doctor that treated human patients, she knew about the common diseases that humans and animals might have.

  She turned around and was so happy to find that Xinghai did not disappear as it had before; it was squatting on the floor at a distance, gazing at her with curiosity.

  “Xinghai, do you still remember me?” She tried not to look too excited, and squatted down to pat on the floor, trying to attract Xinghai’s attention.

  Xinghai looked fearful, as if it was going to turn around and run away.

  “Don’t be scared, I won’t come over, please don’t run away.” She stepped back quickly and tried to look natural and relaxed.

  Guo Dongyue was not interested in cats, and didn’t know anything about the breeds of cats, so he just casually glanced at Xinghai and turned away his head.

  “Mr. Zhang, you have trained this grey parrot so well that it can talk just like a real human. Could you please agree to my request?” Guo Dongyue stared at Richard who was standing on Zhang Zian’s shoulder.

  Zhang Zian was moved by Guo Dongyue, and he was willing to give it a try. Besides, just like Sun Xiaomeng had said, he was not busy, so why not lend a hand? But he was not sure whether he could keep his promise to help him, so he said, “Well…”


  “Well, no problem. You have my word, but you must fully cooperate.”


  What?

  Zhang Zian was stupefied. He turned his head slowly and looked at Richard on his shoulder.

  Richard had perfectly imitated Zhang Zian’s tone when saying that sentence, including his intonation, volume, and even his accent in speaking Mandarin. To Zhang Zian, it was exactly his voice.

  Richard stood on his shoulder, looking very serious.

  “Wow, you agreed so quickly?” Sun Xiaomeng was surprised. She was squatting on the floor and she looked up to him, “I thought you would be very difficult to deal with. At least I thought you would talk about what obstacles you will encounter and specify responsibilities.”


  Zhang Zian wanted to tell Sun Xiaomeng that she had read his mind. He was going to say those things, but that wicked Apprehensive Bird always gave him a hard time.

  Guo Dongyue was surprised, but was content to hear that “Zhang Zian” agreed to help him so quickly. He knew how difficult it was to get this done. It took the grey parrot of that rich lady three years or so to master over a hundred sentences, but it could only mechanically repeat what it had learned before. In contrast, this grey parrot of Zhang Zian could improvise what to say according to different scenarios.

  “Sure, I will fully cooperate with you!” Guo Dongyue gave his promise solemnly,”And don’t you worry, you will have your compensation.”


  Zhang Zian could not take back what he had said, otherwise he would be looked down upon by them. Besides, it was Richard who had promised Guo Dongyue. If it was just joking, he would punish it severely when they were gone!

  “All right, I will try my best.” He bit the bullet and said, “First…”


  “First, you need to find a pair of parrots that look the same,” said Richard in Zhang Zian’s voice.

  Guo Dongyue agreed with him. “That makes sense. Actually, I’ve tried to search at the dog market, but I haven’t found those kinds of parrots.”


  “Dog market?” Zhang Zian was confused. Why did he go to a dog market if he wanted to buy birds?

  “You don’t know what dog market is?” Sun Xiaomeng looked at him doubtfully, “Are you not a native of Binhai city?”


  “I am.” Said Zhang Zian.

  She didn’t believe him, “If you are a native, how come you don’t know about it? Though it’s called the dog market, you can buy all kinds of pets there.”


  “Oh, I see… Actually, I was a good kid, and I seldom went anywhere besides home and school. Later, I went to a university in another city. So, it’s normal that I don’t know about that.” Zhang Zian explained.

  But Sun Xiaomeng had an expression on her face that said, “You are lying!”