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

  After walking down the gangway ladder of the airplane and setting foot on the concrete runway of the Pudong International Airport, Tim still felt that his legs were feeble.

  Lauren supported him with her hands. There was a glimmer of a smile on her face. Her giant husband had been nervously drawing crosses on his chest when they were up in the air and whispered, “It’s flying too high, please don’t fall…” She had never known that he was so afraid of flying.

  “Darling, take it easy. We’ve arrived in China!” She consoled him, “Look how beautiful and huge this airport is, and it’s really new, too.”


  Tim raised his head and glanced around at the airport. He was tall, so he could see further. He complained immediately, “So many people…”


  The airport was crowded with mostly people with black hair and yellow skin.

  “Yes, what a busy airport,” Lauren agreed with him.

  “So, we’ve arrived at our destination? This is Binhai City?” Tim took the handle of the luggage from her.

  Holding a tourist guide in her hands, Lauren smiled. “No, this is not Binhai, this is Shanghai. Though the names are similar, these are two different places. In fact, there are two options if we start from here to go to Binhai. One is to transfer to another flight, and the other is to take the high-speed train. I have booked the tickets for the transfer flight, but, honey, are you alright? If you feel uncomfortable, I can cancel our reservations and we can take the high-speed train instead.”


  “Well… no, I can still handle that.” Tim clenched his teeth and said, “Wouldn’t it be troublesome if we needed to buy tickets for a high-speed train that will depart shortly? Besides, we don’t even understand any Chinese…”


  “My dear, what you’re saying is what I’ve been worried about. I’ve been wondering whether the pet shop owner can speak English. Should we hire an interpreter?” Lauren said worryingly. “I’ve left comments to the vloggers of the two videos on YouTube, inquiring them if they knew the phone number of that pet shop. If only we had contacted the owner before we came, we could know what kind of a person he is in general and if he can speak English. Unfortunately, before we boarded the plane, the first vlogger didn’t reply to my message, and the second vlogger indicated that she was not sure…”


  They came to China to discuss cooperation with that mysterious pet shop owner, but how were they going to proceed if there was a language barrier? Before they left the US, Lauren had thought about this matter, but hiring a professional business interpreter was too expensive, for they had to cover his/her round-trip plane tickets, meals, and accommodation in China, so it was just not worth it. If the pet shop owner couldn’t speak English, they could only try to find a qualified interpreter in Binhai City.

  “Hey, honey, relax.” Tim pressed his giant palms gently on her shoulders, “On our way here, I saw a lot of Chinese people who could speak English fluently, so the pet shop owner is probably able to do that too.”


  “I hope so.” Lauren smiled and patted the backs of his hands. “Compared with that, I’m more concerned that our sudden visit will make him unpleasant and he turn a cold shoulder on us. But since we’re here, even though we are facing immense dangers and difficulties in front of us, we have to take the risks and go forward! Now, let’s go to wait in the departure hall.”


  …


  Several hours later.

  The airport of Binhai City.

  Tim walked out of the airport holding two luggages in his hands. Lauren was only carrying a small backpack on her shoulders with a tourist guide in her hands. Sometimes she lowered her head to look at the guide, and sometimes she looked up at the signs on the entrance/exit areas of the airport.

  “Dear, are you cold? It’s so cold here.” Tim was so cold that he shivered. Still wearing the clothes he wore when he boarded in California, he felt freezing when arriving at Binhai City, where the temperature was over a dozen degrees lower than that in Los Angeles.

  It was unlucky for them that it was a cloudy day in Binhai City, and according to the weather broadcast, today would probably witness the first light snow of this year. As soon as they left the waiting hall in the Binhai Airport, Tim felt that the air was damp and cold, which was completely different from the dry, comfortable and sunny weather in Los Angeles. As the wind blew, he felt so cold, as if he was naked.

  Wearing thicker clothes and a scarf, Lauren was more cold-resistant than her husband was. She consoled him, “Just hang on for a couple of minutes — you’ll be fine when we get in the taxi.”


  Just then, a taxi stopped in front of them. Tim and Lauren stuffed their luggages into the trunk and got into the taxi. Lauren handed a small piece of paper that was written with the address of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, that she had prepared in advance, to the driver.

  They had discussed on the plane that when they arrived, should they head to take a rest in the hotel to deal with jet lag fatigue, or go to the pet shop directly? In the end, they decided to visit the pet shop first, otherwise, they wouldn’t feel truly relieved even if they were taking a rest.

  The taxi driver was stunned after glancing at the paper.

  “Pet shop?” he turned around and asked them.

  Previously, when he drove a passenger called Song Bai home, Song Bai had told him that, before long, there would be foreign passengers heading to the Amazing Fate Pet Shop. He didn’t expect that this would happen so soon. Fortunately, he didn’t ignore Song Bai’s advice. When he got home after work, he asked his daughter in junior high to teach him some English words. Since then, he had been learning English every day with his daughter. Though the outcomes were not obvious because of the short period, at least he had remembered how to speak “pet shop” in English.

  Tim and Lauren nodded in surprise, and answered in English, “Yes, yes, can you speak English? Do you know where the Amazing Fate Pet Shop is?”


  They were speaking very fast, but the driver had heard “Amazing Fate Pet Shop” clearly. He nodded with smile and said in English, “I know this. Let’s go.”


  Tim and Lauren looked at each other and held their hands together. They didn’t know how to feel about this.

  Lauren asked tentatively, “This pet shop, is it very famous in Binhai City?”


  Hearing the word “famous”, the driver didn’t think too much, he just repeated what he practiced with his daughter last night, “Very famous! Everybody knows that!”


  The couple grew more astonished. They thought it was just an unheard-of pet shop, as it turned out, it was known to all!

  If it was such a famous pet shop, perhaps the owner had already gotten Ragdoll kittens that happened to not to be appearing in the videos. If that was the case, their trip to China was completely futile.

  Besides, they were thinking of using their well-conditioned Ragdoll kittens to gain them a more competitive edge, but right now, it seemed that things were not going their way…


  The taxi was driving through the street and allies of Binhai City. Regardless of their unsettled minds, Tim and Lauren kept taking pictures through the windows with their cell phones to commemorate this trip. Since they had come a long way to come to China, they should make it a worthwhile journey. Even if they failed in establishing cooperation, they should at least have fun and enjoy themselves by tasting the authentic and famous Chinese food and visiting the historical cultural relics before going back to the US.

  Soon, the taxi slowly parked on the curb.

  “Here we are!” the taxi driver turned around and said.

  “Thank you.” Lauren paid the fare with the RMB she had exchanged her USD for at the airport.

  “Hope you can buy pets that you like.” The driver said this sentence in English. He asked his daughter to teach him this and had borne that in mind.

  Bitterness was rising insides their hearts. Tim and Lauren were not buying pets, they were here to promote their own pets.

  After getting out of the taxi, Lauren held up her phone, comparing the two-story building in front of her with the screenshot from the videos stored in her cell phone. This was the place.

  “Darling, let’s go inside.” Lauren held her husband by his arm. Fingers intertwined, they passed warmth and confidence to each other.

  Dragging their two luggages and holding hands, they walked through the door of the Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

  At this moment, the first light snow of winter started to fall from the sky.