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

  Zhang Zian didn’t want to act like a snob, so he observed the students closely. Across the road stood some students from a photography club. Though they had single-lens reflex cameras, they didn’t look like professional photographers. Zhang Zian could see that they were just shooting photos for fun.

  “Are you sure cosplay photos can win awards in the photographic exhibition at your school?” Zhang Zian doubted.

  “Why not?” asked the tall guy.

  “From my experience, the judges on a school-level photographic exhibition would be teachers or administrative staff, and I don’t think they will give awards to cosplay photos. Even if they agree to do so, there’s no way the principal will agree.” Zhang Zian advised them as if he was a wise senior.

  “What you said might be true, but we will try our best,” said the tall guy firmly.

  Zhang Zian shrugged his shoulders, “All right, good luck to you then. But leave my cats alone — they are out of your league.”


  Zhang Zian was about to turn around and leave when the tall guy became panicked. He made his move and stopped Zhang Zian once again.

  “You can leave, but let your cats stay.”


  Zhang Zian was surprised. Was this guy going to rob him of his cats in broad daylight? But he was so slim and weak like a bamboo pole that even Little Celery could have beaten him down, not to mention Zhang Zian, who had been practicing Kung Fu with Old Time Tea. Zhang Zian laughed, “You got a problem?”


  “No…” The tall schoolboy stepped back and looked at his companions nervously. He begged Zhang Zian with bitter smile,”Help me out please, I will be very embarrassed if I go back with nothing.”


  “Sorry, but I will never lend my wife nor my cats to anybody,” said Zhang Zian solemnly, like he was going to die as a martyr.

  Guo Dongyue was speechless upon hearing this, and he complained about Zhang Zian inside his heart, “You sound very decisive and dominating, but listen to what you just said. You need to actually have a wife before you can talk about the issue of lending.”


  The tall schoolboy didn’t expect that Zhang Zian would turn him down so decisively.

  “Now, excuse me.” Zhang Zian walked past the schoolboy, and continued walking towards the alley.

  Just then, someone pulled at the leg of his pants with great strength. Thanks to his improving reaction speed after commencing Kung Fu training with Old Time Tea, he stopped walking in time. Otherwise, his pants might have been torn off.

  “Hey, if you have something to say, say it to my face; there’s no need to pull my pants!” said Zhang Zian. He turned around only to find that the tall schoolboy was three or four steps away from him. The schoolboy didn’t follow him, and even if the boy was tall and had long arms, he could never have reached Zhang Zian to pull at his pants from that distance.

  Zhang Zian looked down, and his eyes met a pair of big blue eyes—it was Snowy Lionet who had pulled his pants.

  “Meow! Meow! I would like to play with them,” said Snowy Lionet excitedly. It licked its lips, and kept staring at the bare thighs of the schoolgirls in costumes.

  Of course, in the eyes of Guo Dongyue and the tall schoolboy, Snowy Lionet was just using its claws to hook Zhang Zian’s pants, and made some “meowing” sound.

  Zhang Zian found Snowy Lionet both funny and annoying. He said to himself, “What a lecherous cat! Can’t behave itself when seeing women!”


  “What’s wrong with this cat?” The tall schoolboy squatted down and gazed at Snowy Lionet curiously, trying to reach out his hand to touch its head.

  “Meow!” Snowy Lionet used its claws to scratch him.

  The tall schoolboy was scared and withdrew his hand. “What a fierce cat.”


  “It only appears fierce in front of men.” Zhang Zian said something that the tall schoolboy couldn’t understand.

  “Mr. Zhang, we’d better get going.” Guo Dongyue, who usually was calm, seemed a little bit impatient. After getting out of the taxi, he had been covering the bird cage with his jacket, and he only wore a woolen sweater. Luckily, it was in the middle of the day, and the sun was quite strong, so he didn’t feel cold. But the red-headed lovebirds were tropical birds, so he was afraid that they might catch a cold.

  “You’re right.” Zhang Zian nodded and said to Snowy Lionet, “If you want to play, we can come back after we finish our business.”


  “Pfft.” Snowy Lionet pursed its lips and took back its claws. It seemed that it had agreed.

  “How long you will be shooting here?” Zhang Zian asked the tall guy.

  “Well…” The tall guy looked at him and Snowy Lionet. “We are going to have lunch now, but we might spend the whole afternoon here, and then after we finish shooting, we will go to the KTV tonight.”


  “Okay. We need to get along and run some errands. After we finish our business, if you’re still here, I can cooperate with you to take some photos.” Zhang Zian pointed to Snowy Lionet and said, “But this cat only.” Then he pointed to Fina and said, “Not that one.”


  “Why?” The tall guy was not satisfied with Zhang Zian’s arrangement. “But we’d prefer that one. That cat seems more obedient, unlike this white cat, who looks so fierce…”


  “Are you blind?” Zhang Zian couldn’t help but complain. “You think that cat is obedient?”


  “Isn’t it?” The tall guy was confused.

  In the schoolboy’s eyes, the golden cat was much more obedient than the fierce-looking white cat.

  After Fina got out from the taxi, it didn’t pay attention to the conversation between Zhang Zian and the tall guy. It just wandered leisurely above the gold, fallen leaves on the ground, and enjoyed the autumn wind when it blew through Its golden fur. Fina raised Its claw, and caught the leaf of a phoenix tree that had flown in front of Its face. It did what Zhang Zian did before: It raised the leaf above Its head, and narrowed Its eyes to observe the leaf against the sun. It was Fina’s very elegant and dignified temperament that had attracted the attention of the members of the photography club and the cosplayers.

  Zhang Zian understood that Fina’s performance could create confusion to people who saw It for the first time. But, undoubtedly, that perfect image would collapse if they intended to get closer to Fina. From a distance, people would feel that Fina was just so perfect, with Its color, size, temperament, and manners… Even Its lazy movements and habit of narrowing Its eyes to observe people were fascinating. However, if people wanted to approach It, play with It, or comb Its fur like combing the fur of an ordinary cat…that would be a mission impossible.

  Counting on Fina to stoop to cooperate with their photoshoot was just like hoping the sun would rise from the west.

  Xiao Yan once commented that Fina was an arrogant and fragile cat. Nonsense! Fina was pure arrogance, never a fragile cat.

  Zhang Zian was complaining inside his heart, but he didn’t dare to say these things in front of Fina’s face.

  “Yes, yes, it is kind of an obedient cat,” Zhang Zian consented with the tall guy reluctantly, “but it doesn’t like being on intimate terms with humans. If you really want to shoot photos, I can let you take photos of this white cat… final offer.”


  The tall guy felt Zhang Zian’s pity, but he didn’t want to give up. “Can you let me try taking photos with the golden cat?”


  “No way; don’t even think about it.” Zhang Zian declined him for the sake of the boy’s safety.

  “Okay, I guess it would be nice to shoot photos with this white cat. I think it would look quite pretty.” The tall guy had to accept what he got. “Add me on WeChat, and we will contact you after we finish lunch and come back… Don’t slip away and not come back!”


  “I won’t,” said Zhang Zian seriously. He took out his phone, and showed his QR code to the tall guy.

  The tall schoolboy thought that Zhang Zian was going to add him as a friend, but after scanning the code, he found that it was a QR code for making payment.

  “What is that supposed to mean?” he said in dismay.

  Zhang Zian answered righteously, “Aren’t you going to rent my cat? You pay RMB 200 for the rental fee of one afternoon, plus a fee for the right to portrait. It’s a great deal.”


  “What?” complained the tall schoolboy. “I have to pay a fee for the right to portrait? I’m shooting photos for your cat, not you.”


  “Take it or leave it.” Zhang Zian pretended like he was leaving.

  “… 100 Yuan,” bargained the schoolboy.

  “150.”


  “Deal.”


  They both got what they wanted. It was a win-win!