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

  “What are you two up to?” Zhang Zian asked.

  Lin Qi was standing in the outer room, playing with all sorts of pet bowls on the shelf while talking with his friend. After seeing Zhang Zian, before doing anything else, he pulled him to the side and said with a bitter expression, “Manager Zhang, the Ashera cat that you sold me last time is such an a**hole!”


  “What happened?” asked Zhang Zian in confusion.

  “The cat makes such creepy sounds at night, and it looks mean. Nobody dares to spend the night with it. Now, it’s staying in the villa by itself. It used to be a vacation villa for our family, but now it belongs to that cat,” complained Lin Qi. “Oh, right. Snowy told me that you have a way to keep dogs quiet. Do you know how to keep cats quiet as well?”


  Zhang Zian shook his head. “I can’t really help you. Dogs are trainable, but cats are very difficult to train.”


  “But aren’t you a cat trainer?” Lin Qi didn’t give up asking for help.

  “That cat is an artificial created species with too much wild nature in it. It doesn’t really count as a regular domestic cat. In fact, it’s more closely related to wild cats,” explained Zhang Zian seriously. The actual reason was that the Ashera cat’s species was too distant from the domestic cat, and thus Fina couldn’t control it.

  Lin Qi was speechless.

  He looked around and didn’t see anyone else. He lowered his voice even more and said, “Manager Zhang. . . if I secretly release the cat, will it be better off?”


  Zhang Zian replied, “You better not. That isn’t releasing, but killing. That cat was raised since it was a kitten, and I’m afraid it’s lost its hunting instincts a long time ago. If you release it, it’ll starve to death. Don’t be scared. That cat looks mean and sounds creepy, but it’s actually quite cute.”


  “Where exactly is its cuteness?” Lin Qi was almost in tears.

  Zhang Zian added, “Besides, if you release it and other people see it, they might call the police.”


  “Call the police?” Lin Qi was stunned.

  Zhang Zian recalled the story. “Don’t you remember the news? In 2016, a serval was released in the Suhang area. Someone saw it searching for food in a residential area, and the witness thought it was a cheetah that ran away from the zoo, so they called the police in fear. It made the local residents nervous. After hunting it down, the serval from the African prairies was finally captured by the invincible urban management team. If you release the Ashera cat, would you want to make the same issue in Binhai City? If they find out that you released it, don’t rat me out and tell them that I sold it to you.”


  Lin Qi’s face was frozen, as if something was stuck in his throat. He said worriedly, “Manager Zhang, let’s talk in private.”


  He waved at his friend, who was about the same age as him. He was wearing famous brands and looked quite fashionable. He looked just as worried as Lin Qi. After hearing Zhang Zian’s advice, he looked even more concerned.

  Zhang Zian wondered what Lin Qi was up to, being so shady. He followed him to a corner of the shop to avoid the other customers picking pets in the store.

  “Manager Zhang, this is a good friend of mine, Gao Zhuo.” Lin Qi introduced his friend.

  “Hi, Manager Zhang, I’ve heard about you for a while!” Gao Zhuo appeared to be very polite. He took out a pack of premium cigarettes out of his pocket, and handed one to Zhang Zian.

  “No, thanks. I don’t smoke.” Zhang Zian politely declined. “Let’s get straight to business and cut the back-and-forth. You don’t have to say that you’ve heard about me already. I’m not that famous at all!”


  “No, no, no! Manager Zhang, you’re too modest! We’ve been to a few pet shops and cat kennels, and they all recommended your place. Then I talked to my friend, and it turns out that he strongly recommended your place as well. If this isn’t considered being famous, then I don’t know what famous is.” Gao Zhuo didn’t seem to be faking his admiration and curiosity.

  This was weird.

  Zhang Zian knew well that everyone in the same line of business were competitors, and everyone hoped they could be the only pet store owner in Binhai City, or even the entire world. Why would the other pet shops and cat kennels recommend his place to Gao Zhuo unanimously? Could this be the so-called “winning by virtue”?

  Lin Qi also spoke for his friend. “Yes, Manager Zhang, don’t be so modest. Your quality service is well known throughout Binhai City. Who doesn’t know the famous cat trainer? The only shame is that this shop is a bit small.”


  Zhang Zian interrupted him. “Cut the crap. What do you want?”


  Lin Qi and Gao Zhuo looked at each other and exchanged a few signals with their eyes. They both wanted the other to go first.

  Gao Zhuo’s gaze was firmer. Lin Qi had met Zhang Zian a few times already, and had bought a cat from him. He should start first.

  Lin Qi couldn’t fight back anymore, and finally said, “Manager Zhang, we first met each other in the dog market, didn’t we?”


  Zhang Zian nodded. “Correct.”


  Lin Qi continued. “I told you back then, that because a good friend of mine had a serval, I wanted that leopard cat in the dog market.”


  He pointed at Gao Zhuo. “He is that good friend of mine.”


  Zhang Zian paused, and glanced at Gao Zhuo once again. “You have a serval at home?”


  Gao Zhuo was a tall guy, almost as tall as Luo Qingyu from the photography club of Binhai University, except that he wasn’t as skinny as him.

  “Yeah, I pulled some strings to get one.” Gao Zhuo admitted. “I heard that a lot of rich people had them in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. So, I wanted to follow their trend and get one too.”


  “So?” Zhang Zian still couldn’t understand how this was related to himself.

  In China, it was illegal to own servals, unless you had a wildlife breeding license. A lot of rich people owned servals in secret, and they wouldn’t get caught as long as nobody ratted them out. For rich people, it wasn’t hard to get a license by pulling strings. As least, it wasn’t as hard as actually getting a serval.

  “When I bought this serval, it was tiny and adorable, just like a regular kitten, and it wasn’t mean. My families liked it. When I have guests over, we’re all willing to take it out and show it off to the guests. Many of them are amazed, and ask us if it’s a cheetah cub.”


  Zhang Zian nodded. Servals resembled cheetahs, and those unfamiliar with animals could confuse the two of them. But with some simple knowledge, servals and cheetahs were distinguishable by the ears. Serval ears were big and perky, and cheetah ears were small and round. The physical characteristics of cheetahs were suited for running fast, and big ears were disadvantageous with regards to aerodynamics. Servals were less wild and extreme than cheetahs. They needed bigger ears to better hear the sounds from their surroundings, in order to avoid predators.

  However, serval kittens had smaller ears, which made it harder to distinguish them from cheetahs.

  Lin Qi supported his claim. “It’s true. The first time I visited his place, I thought it was a cheetah too.”


  Zhang Zian listened quietly. These two guys definitely didn’t make the trip here to discuss how adorable serval kittens were.

  “But the good days didn’t last,” said Gao Zhuo sadly. “Maybe it was too well-fed. That serval grew so fast, like in the blink of an eye.”


  “Wild animals grow into maturity quickly. This is determined by their genes. The harsh environment of the wilderness doesn’t allow them to take too much time growing up,” said Zhang Zian.

  “I watched a lot of movies about animals when I was little, ones about humans and wild animals such as lions, tigers, etc. If they’re raised from cubs, they’ll still be very attached to the owners after they’ve grown up. I figured servals were the same…” Gao Zhuo said.

  Zhang Zian couldn’t help but laughing. “You misunderstood. Those are just movies, and mostly for kids. Movies don’t specifically remind you that the actors are zoologists with a deep knowledge of wildlife behavior, and kids should not imitate them. Even if lions and tigers are raised by humans from when they were cubs, they’re still wild beasts, and smart people shouldn’t annoy them when they’re hungry or in heat. For those who keep wild beasts as pets, they’d have to of been dead for a long time now.”


  Gao Zhuo sighed and said regretfully, “I know better now, but it’s too late. You just said that the serval in Suhang area was released. I actually almost released my serval. Since a while ago, it stopped being obedient and pees everywhere in the house. Sometimes it stares at people and screams, especially at night. The sound is so creepy. Now, when I have guests over, I don’t dare show it to them anymore, in case it frightens them and causes trouble.”


  Lin Qi looked at his old friend with an empathetic look. He tapped him without speaking.

  “It’s in heat.” Zhang Zian made a simple conclusion.

  Making sounds and peeing everywhere were the most obvious signs of being in heat, because they were trying to attract partners for mating.

  Gao Zhuo swallowed nervously. “It would be fine if that was all. Just let it make sounds and go pee. I have plenty of rooms and a full-time house cleaner. That’s enough to take care of a serval. But the problem is…”


  After saying this, his voice became more jerky. He looked at Lin Qi with shifty eyes.

  Lin Qi hurried him. “Since you’re here, don’t bother hiding it anymore. Just tell the whole story, and see if Manager Zhang can figure something out to help you.”


  “Fine.” After a few more rounds of hesitation, Gao Zhuo finally made up his mind and said, “I have more than one pet at home. There’s a Pomeranian besides from the serval. The Pomeranian was my mom’s, and it was kept somewhere else. It was brought here recently and then one day, the serval killed the Pomeranian.”


  Lin Qi had already heard the story earlier, but he still got a chill after hearing it again.

  Zhang Zian didn’t know how to respond after hearing this.

  He understood why Gao Zhuo was so hesitant, as if he was suffering from constipation.

  This was a big deal. Today the serval killed a Pomeranian, and tomorrow it could kill somebody else. Even if it didn’t, it was still scary to think about, as if he was staying with a ticking time bomb that could go off at any time.