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

  After cleaning up the shop, Zhang Zian rested on the recliner for a while. Zhan Tian came and licked his leg, because he would usually take it to play at the green field at this time. Zhang Zian waved his hand and pointed to the thick fog outside. “The air quality is poor. Wait and see if the fog will dissipate later.”


  Although Zhan Tian could not talk like the elves did, after staying at the pet shop for a while, it could understand that Zhang Zian had no intention to bring it out for the time being. Therefore, it squatted down and quietly waited.

  Having passed their make-up exams, Wang Qian and Li Kun did not need to return to school. They were leisurely sitting together, playing games on their phones and mocking each other from time to time. Lu Yiyun was concentrated on painting at the checkout counter, while Jasmine was squatting on her lap.

  “Eeek.”


  Pi cautiously exposed half of its body from the stairwell and waved at Zhang Zian.

  Zhang Zian quietly stood up from the chair and gestured at Wang Qian and Li Kun to look after the store. But these two dorks, who were immersing themselves in the game world, replied absentmindedly. Luckily, there were no customers at the shop. People were reluctant to go out on a foggy day.

  He went upstairs and asked, “What happened, Pi?”


  Pi excitedly pulled his hand and led him to the computer. The display screen showed that Pi’s writer account had just received a short message from the website: “The editor has followed your work. Please keep up on the good work.”


  Zhang Zian read this message several times and said tentatively, “Does this mean that the editor has already seen your novel and thought that it’s not bad? And the editor hopes that you do not give up but keep up the good work?”


  “Eeek!” Pi nodded excitedly, indicating that it felt so too.

  “Great! Pi, I know you can do it!” Zhang Zian was sincerely happy for it. If he wasn’t a bad cook, and Pi did not eat, he really would like to prepare a nice meal to celebrate.

  Pi was not frustrated anymore. It became full of energy and continued to write new chapters in the Word document. Since the elves had already gotten up, it did not need to type lightly on the keyboard. Its joy could be heard from its loud typing sounds.

  Zhang Zian stood behind Pi. He took out his mobile phone and opened the Wang Haige Forum to search for the answer to one question. Someone had raised a similar question in the Forum previously: “When a novel is followed by an editor, will the website offer to sign a contract with the writer?” From their own experiences, the people who replied in that discussion thread basically agreed that the answer was yes. Some people said that an invitation to sign the contract was sent to them after the editor started to follow their novels after only a few minutes, while others received the invitation a few days later. But almost all of them had signed the contracts successfully. When he read these comments, Zhang Zian felt so relieved that even his breathing eased up.

  “Manager, customers are here!” Just as Zhang Zian was about to read other posts, to see if there was an instance where an editor followed a novel but did not offer them a contract, he heard Li Kun shout downstairs.

  In those days, when he needed to leave the shop to shoot a film, Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Lu Yiyun could deal with the ordinary customers. They wouldn’t specifically call him unless they had encountered some difficulty.

  “Pi, go on writing. I’ll go downstairs and see what’s the matter.” He quickly walked downstairs.

  “Good morning, Mr. Store Manager. Here I am!” With a mask hanging on her ear, Snowy was standing at the outer area of the pet shop and chatting with Lu Yiyun.

  Standing next to Snowy was a taller girl. Since she had not removed the anti-smog mask from her face, Zhang Zian could not see this girl’s appearance clearly. She was looking at the layout of the shop and there seemed to be fear in her eyes.

  Zhang Zian was perplexed. My shop is not a dangerous place that will devour her. Why is she so scared? It seems like she is trembling and will try to escape at any moment.

  Lu Yiyun, who was usually very quiet, was so excited to see Snowy that she had become talkative. As an enthusiastic fangirl, Lu Yiyun expressed her thanks to Snowy and told Snowy that she thought Snowy’s several recent programs were awesome, and that she liked them a lot.

  “Good morning, Snowy,” Zhang Zian said hello.

  “So sorry to bother you without making an appointment!” Snowy apologized first and then asked him for his opinion, “This is Vivi, she is my relative. She has never played in a pet store before, so I would like to show her your pet shop and host a live broadcast at the same time. Are you okay with this?”


  “Yes, do as you please.”


  Snowy had hosted live broadcasts in Zhang Zian’s pet shop several times, and they were familiar with each other. Besides, her programs could also promote Zhang Zian’s business. Why would Zhang Zian reject her request?

  “Okay.” With the permission of Zhang Zian, Snowy removed her mask, put it into her pocket, and then checked her appearance with the front camera of her cell phone.

  Vivi did not take off her mask. She stared blankly at the kittens in the store, and each of them was very adorable. She would’ve liked to take all of them home. However, she knew that it was impossible. Even if she did buy the kittens impulsively, she would have to send them away due to her serious allergies within a few days.

  “Hello everyone, I’m Snowy. Welcome to my live broadcast! Our slogan is: Eat, Drink, and Be Merry at Binhai City!”


  Snowy adjusted her attitude and entered the live broadcast app. She started the new live broadcast with enthusiasm and vitality. Snowy’s hardcore fans, who had received the notification of her new live broadcast a long time ago, immediately went to her channel. The number of audience members increased rapidly. Snowy’s cell phone screen had almost been completely blocked by a variety of virtual gifts and comments from the audience.

  “Wow, Snowy, I miss you so much! The pumpkin pie you recommended last time was so delicious! I bought a pie for my boyfriend who never ate pumpkin before. He enjoyed it very much, and said that he would like to eat it again!”


  “Get out! Stop publicly showing your affections!”


  “Snowy, when will you check which massage parlors are better for these otakus? LOL!”


  Some people who found the comments distracting hid the comments and noticed that a strange girl was standing side by side with Snowy. Though that girl was wearing a mask, judging from her delicate facial outline, she seemed to be a rather beautiful girl.

  “Snowy, tell us about this girl!”


  Snowy pointed to Vivi and said, “This beauty is our special guest today. You can call her Vivi.”


  “Beauty, take off your mask!”


  “I don’t believe it! I don’t believe it! It must be a boy who looks very cute! Snowy, do you have a boyfriend now?”


  “Maybe he is a beautiful boy with a big penis!”


  Vivi was dazzled by all the comments that continuously popped up on the screen. She had no idea how to cope with these netizens. In the warm pet shop, she was so nervous that she almost began to sweat.

  At that critical moment, Snowy rescued Vivi from embarrassment. “Vivi is wearing a mask because she is allergic to cats. She can’t take off her mask in the pet shop. I tried so hard to bring her over to the pet shop!”


  Someone immediately responded to Snowy’s remark, “I have never commented in your programs, Snowy, but I am also allergic to cats. I am very uncomfortable every time you are livestreaming in the pet shop.”


  “Same as above. I’m also allergic to cats. I was going to skip your program today, but I found that this beautiful girl shares the same problem as me. Is this an act of God? Let’s shake hands!”


  “You are going to hold this girl’s hand and bring her home?”


  “If she refuses, are you going to knock her out and drag her home?”


  “Hello! You guys are digressing from the subject! I’m not allergic to cats, but I’m allergic to dogs! Every time I went out and ran into people walking dogs, I had to get far away from them. Gradually, I did not go out anymore, and I have become a glorious and fat otaku.”


  “What an unexpected ending!”


  “Don’t you know the true reason you have become a fat otaku? Don’t blame everything on dogs!”


  Vivi had never watched a live broadcast, nor had she personally appeared on a live broadcast. The comments of various netizens seemed extraordinarily novel to her, and without her knowing, the anxiety she had felt when she had stepped into the pet shop had dissipated significantly.

  Snowy focused the phone’s camera at Vivi, “Vivi, say something to everyone.”


  Vivi waved her hand. “Hi, everyone, I’m Vivi. I’m very happy to come to the pet shop with Snowy to host a live broadcast for everyone. I hope you can support Snowy. Thank you!”


  “Wow, what a nice voice! Both her looks and voice are pleasant to the eye and ear. I’m in love with this girl!”


  “F**k off! Vivi is mine!”


  “Sorry! The subscriber you dialed is already married!”


  From the interaction between the two girls and the netizens, Zhang Zian basically figured out that the new girl was allergic to cats. No wonder she had been standing in the doorway and refused to go inside…


  Fina opened her eyes on the cat tree and said unhappily, “There are people in this world who are allergic to cats? Are they the products of evolutionary failure?”


  With outsiders present at the pet shop, it was inconvenient for Zhang Zian to speak to Fina. He just stared at her speechlessly.

  Fina knew that he couldn’t talk to her for the time being, so it became increasingly arrogant. “What? Don’t underestimate me! I have heard of the evolutionary theory on television. The theory is nothing more than saying that there have been two kinds of human beings in this world since ancient times. One kind of human being was not allergic to cats, while the other kind was allergic to cats. The latter kind refused to be guarded by cats. Hence, rodents devoured all their food, and then they went extinct. The rest of the human beings in this world are not allergic to cats. This is the so-called survival of the fittest, right?”


  Snowy Lionet seized the opportunity and echoed Fina, “Meow! Your Majesty, you are brilliant and powerful! Your bright theory is enlightening and refreshing to me! Although this girl is very good-looking, as a human allergic to cats, she bears no value to the continued survival of humans!”


  Only those accustomed to the existence of cats could survive? What the hell was that? Zhang Zian tried hard to stop his facial muscles from twitching, and he glanced at Wang Qian and Li Kun who were playing games on their cell phones. He wanted to find someone to help him provide the correct interpretation of Darwin’s evolutionary theory.

  …


  In the villa of the Jiang family that was neither too close nor too far from the Amazing Fate Pet Shop.

  Jiang Tianda was sitting in the study with the unfinished documents that he had no time to deal with. Instead, he was staring at his cell phone screen very angrily.

  “What a wicked girl! She told me she was going out to buy lipstick. Then, what is she doing at the pet shop?! I must be a fool to believe that she has changed!” He was extremely furious. But his greatest disappointment was that Vivi, this quiet and gentle girl, was hosting the live broadcast with Snowy. Snowy was clearly a bad influence on Vivi!

  He picked up his cell phone and was about to call Snowy and ask her to come back home. But if he did that, Snowy would probably lose her temper, and then her mother would surely blame him for his negligence of duty. So, he changed his mind and pretended that he was not aware of his daughter’s lie. He put his legs on top of the desk and watched the live broadcast with a peaceful mind.