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

  “Gong!”


  “Gong!”


  After returning to the store, Zhang Zian found Wang Qian and Li Kun slacking at work, and firing Kamehameha at each other with mops and brooms. He reminded them, “I’m going upstairs first. Don’t forget to bring the Red Sandalwood inside.”


  “Yes, Master! Gong!”


  “Damn! Master, he sneak attacks me! Gong! Gong!”


  They were fighting like two kids who would never grow up.

  Speechless, Zhang Zian shook his head. He almost wanted to say that he didn’t know these two guys. Despite that he just had an “adolescent delusional disorder” episode just then, he did it only once a year to celebrate his single years.

  Lu Yiyun was cleaning up near the cashier, wiping down the shelves with wet clothes and wearing rubber gloves.

  Little Celery was standing next to the display cabinet, as she whispered constantly to Lop-Eared Rabbit and the hamsters.

  Zhang Zian looked around and didn’t notice anything wrong. He turned back to the bedroom on the second floor.

  “What are you doing, making such a noise at this hour in the morning?” Fina yawned in its princess bed, and stared at him with a long face.

  “Getting some exercise.” Zhang Zian lied calmly. “I’ve been practicing Qi-Gong with Old Time Tea lately. I occasionally miss the good old, broadcast gymnastics.”


  “I didn’t hear any music, just sounds of ‘gong, gong gong’.” Fina ruthlessly exposed his lies.

  “Your Majesty! In my humble opinion, if certain males are not castrated in time, they make noises like that.” Snowy Lionet extended its sharp claws and scratched the air.

  Although it made sense, Zhang Zian still felt an imaginary pain in his balls. “Gong” and “male” had the same pronunciations but they were not the same words.

  Galaxy passed by while chasing after American Short Hair. Zhang Zian suddenly understood something when he saw it: Galaxy didn’t want to see the pet shop being destroyed by Kamehameha, therefore it chose the alternate reality in which it was unable to use Kamehameha. Yes, this must have been the truth.

  He finally looked at Molecular Monkey Pi in the corner. It woke up early, but didn’t move in its corner. It was holding the crimson nameless book in its arms, looking at everybody and everything in the room, then it opened up the crimson nameless book and started reading. After it lifted his head again, its eyes seemed somehow different…


  Whether if it was an illusion or not, he always felt that when Pi first saw the other elfin, its eyes were distant and aloof. But after reading the nameless book for a while, its eyes became relaxed and the guard was off, as if it knew them well enough, that they weren’t bad and wouldn’t hurt it.

  Zhang Zian grew more curious about the nameless book. But he knew that he had not earned enough trust from Pi yet, and Pi might not let him read its most treasured nameless book. Therefore, he didn’t ask Pi. He thought about pretending to be passing by and taking a sneak peek into the book. But Pi was always hiding in a corner. He never had a chance to do so.

  Pi slept in a single chair in the bedroom last night. Zhang Zian put a blanket on the chair, but even so, it was still hard to sleep on. There were no extra beds in the bedroom, and the other room was cold, but Pi didn’t complain. It obediently slept where Zhang Zian asked it to sleep.

  Zhang Zian had noticed since yesterday that Pi seemed to be an imaginative elfin, as it didn’t eat and didn’t seem hungry. Although it was an imaginative elfin, it took the form of a monkey and kept some behaviors of a monkey. For instance, it was not used to sleeping in beds or on the floor, and loved climbing and scratching its head, etc.

  He thought about it. There were basket hammock chairs sold online, which felt like sitting in a swing. Pi should like it, because sleeping in it would feel as safe and cozy as if sleeping in a tree.

  “Pi, it’s dark in the bedroom, and bad for your eyes if read for too long. If you feel like reading, you can go to the living room.” After a while, he noticed that Pi was still reading. Then he reminded it and pointed the way to the living room.　Pi had a pair of pince-nez glasses on its nose. Maybe it had bad eyesight because of too much reading.

  “Eeek!”


  Pi nodded, scratched its neck, smiled at him, then walked towards the living room with the book under one arm. It walked like a regular monkey, supporting its body with the free arm on the floor, and lifted the tail high to keep balance.

  Zhang Zian stared at its back as it walked away and felt troubled. This elfin didn’t eat or talk. It was hard to find out what it liked.

  How could I increase its likability?

  “Quack! Shall I teach it to talk?” Richard flew off the pillow with a kick, then fluttered its wings and landed on rail. “You idiot, you don’t doubt that I am a good teacher, do you?”


  “Cut it. You can teach a parrot to talk, but not a different species!” Zhang Zian knew that Richard was referring to teaching the Red-headed lovebird to talk. It did a good job, but Red-headed love bird was the same species as Richard.

  If he was right, Pi should be an imaginative elfin, and not a real animal. If such an elfin didn’t talk when it first appeared, it was unlikely to learn to talk.

  “Geez. You look down upon me.” Richard mumbled with complaints, and preened the messy feather in its chest.

  Zhang Zian pointed at the toilet. “Go, hurry to the toilet, and don’t sh*t in the room. Otherwise, I’ll hang you again!”


  “Geez. Idiot!”


  Richard flew into the bathroom, and Zhang Zian had to follow it to close the door.

  Without Richard, the room suddenly became quiet.

  There was nothing else to do, so Zhang Zian decided to make the order now for the basket hammock chair and then he would ask the supplier to ship it earlier.

  Then he came to the living room, and took out the laptop that had not been used for a long time.

  It was easier to order on the smartphone but he had not decided on the model yet, and was not sure about the size and looks. In addition, he needed to check out the review from other customers. It was easier to do these on a computer.

  Pi was reading quietly at a desk next to the window. Zhang Zian didn’t want to disturb it. He sat on the old couch, put the laptop on the coffee table, and booted the system.

  This laptop had not been used in years, and was not fast in start-up or power off, but he didn’t intend to get a new one. He didn’t use it much anyway so it would have been an unnecessary expense.

  Zhang Zian visited the online shopping website, typed the words “basket hammock chair” in the search bar, then clicked on “search”. A variety of hammock chairs appeared on the screen.

  Which one should he choose? He was making a careful comparison.

  After hearing the keyboard sound, Pi turned its head quietly and stared at the computer screen.