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

  Famous had two questions that he couldn’t figure out. First, even if Love Lovely Pets didn’t value the lives of the cats and dogs, they were still their money-making tools. So why weren’t they being fed properly? Second, as breeding tools, wouldn’t it be their top priority to make sure that the adult female dogs were in good health?

  However, after listening in on the conversation between Zheng and other the young employee, Famous was able to come up with a few guesses.

  Zheng was only a cook in charge of the pets’ meals, so sale commissions had nothing to do with him. He was probably just a temporary worker without an end of the year bonus or any other work-related benefits. If that was the case, he’d be better off pocketing some of the food expenses. Even if he wasn’t able to get himself any cash, he could at least eat some of the whole chickens that were originally prepared for the dogs. He’d finish them all alone, leaving just the chicken head and its rear, throwing them into the white porridge. No one would ever find out, and even if they did, what could they do?

  The female dogs were already hanging onto their last breath due to starvation. Their teeth only allowed them to eat soft meats, but what came to them in the end was leftovers from the pot of porridge.

  Zheng knocked on the cage with a rice ladle, causing bits of porridge to fall into the cage. The motionless female dogs didn’t make a single sound and struggled to get up. They greedily licked up the cold bits of porridge that had landed inside their cage.

  “Don’t stare at me like that, this is all for your own good. The residue found at the bottom of the pot is the most nutritious part. I specially saved it all for you,” Zheng mumbled to himself.

  Famous really wanted to return to the wilderness within the imaginary world, where laws didn’t exist. To beyond reach of the regime, a world that still had a hint of superstition, and where, with Old Time Tea, they could rightfully take matters into their own hands. There, they could bring justice to the land without getting themselves into trouble.

  Suddenly, a ruffling noise came from one of the cages with the puppies in it, catching Famous’s attention.

  Five puppies were crammed into a single cage, their faces hard. The five puppies were jostling among one another and seemed to be fighting over something.

  Famous’s eyesight wasn’t as good as Old Time Tea’s in the dark, and he couldn’t see what was happening. However, everything was clear to Old Time Tea. The puppies were fighting over a few pieces of chicken bones that the young employee had tossed into the porridge. There was no meat left on the bones—they had been picked clean by those who had eaten them earlier. Maybe there were still strings of meat left hanging off the bone, as well as the bone marrow in the bones itself. The bones had an indescribable appeal to the puppies who weren’t used to eating anything besides white porridge everyday.

  However, they were still too young and some of the chicken bones were broken in half, leaving jagged, sharp ends on either side. They could easily puncture their delicate throats. Old Time Tea picked up a small pebble from the ground with its claws and flicked it towards the cage. The pebble flew through the gap between the bars and hit the chicken bone.

  The bone flew out of the cage, and the disappointed puppies swarmed at the corner of the cage. They all extended their paws outside, in an attempt to get the bone back.

  Old Time Tea’s throw hadn’t been gentle. The impact of the pebble hitting the bone let out a sharp sound.

  “Who’s over there?” Zheng opened his eyes wide, staring in the darkness where the light couldn’t reach.

  Since he couldn’t see in the dark either, his imagination went wild. He thought that maybe there was a terrifying demon or monster standing there in the dark.

  He held out the long ladle in his hand like a weapon, and braced himself as he cautiously walked towards the darkness. He heaved a sigh of relief as soon as found out it was only a false alarm. There was nothing there.

  After the successful throw, Old Time Tea signalled Famous with its eyes, and both of them stealthily crept out from under the decorative fabric. Obviously, they weren’t afraid of the chef, who only bullied the weak and feared the strong. Since they hadn’t yet reached their primary goal, it wouldn’t be smart to reveal themselves.

  Famous and Old Time Tea were unfamiliar with the compound and it was clear that Zheng was going around to feed the pets dinner. As long as they silently followed him, they’d be able to save the trouble of looking around themselves.

  Zheng pushed the empty food trolley back to the kitchen. Moments later, he pushed the trolley back out again with a loose pack of cat food on it. The food had no branding or packaging around it.

  Famous found the scent of cat food to be familiar, and it remembered the last time it went to the dog market with Zhang Zian. There had been people setting up stalls and selling unpackaged cat food. The food was ridiculously cheap, and the number of people buying some wasn’t small. This food seemed to be the same.

  Zheng, who was pushing the trolley, didn’t notice the cat and dog following closely behind him, amidst the shadows.

  He lifted the cloth curtain and pushed the trolley into another shed.

  It was similar to the previous shed, with many metal cages. The difference was that this shed was for cats. They had the more commonly seen British Shorthair, American Shorthair, and Siamese cats. There were two to three, or even three to four, squeezed into a single cage.

  Zheng was still using the long ladle to scoop up the porridge. He splashed the scoops into the cages, letting the kittens fight amongst themselves.

  Famous and Old Time Tea crawled out from beneath the curtain, to a scene more horrendous than what they’d seen earlier.

  An American Shorthair lay in one of the cages, and its lactation organs on its chest and abdomen were swollen like little buns. A few newborn kittens were curled up just below its belly, desperately sucking for cat milk that seemed close to drying up. Only repeated deliveries and continuous breastfeeding without time to rest could put a female cat in this terrible state.

  What was even more terrifying was that there was a cold, lifeless ball of organs that had fallen out from between its legs. It was its womb that was used to breed life. Its last delivery must have severely damaged its breeding system. It was most likely the last delivery it would ever have. Famous and Old Time Tea didn’t want to think about its future, of what it would have to face after losing all of its value.

  Passing by the female cat, Zheng stuck the ladle inside the cage and poked it. Noticing that it still had a small reaction, he moved around a little before continuing to push the trolley out of the shed.

  “Old Time Tea…” Famous wanted to say something but he couldn’t find the words.

  Old Time Tea shook its head. “Famous, I know what you want to say, but a lack of restraint in the smaller matters will disrupt the greater plans.”


  Famous knew that what Old Time Tea was saying was right, but it still struggled to control itself. Especially when it came to self-restraint, Famous was still many levels away from Old Time Tea.

  They continued to trail Zheng from behind, making use of the shadows and corners to hide themselves.

  “Is that you, Zheng?”


  “Yeah, what’s up?”


  A door suddenly opened and a person carrying a few black trash bags walked in.

  “Help me throw away these dead cats and dogs to the garage clearance area backyard.” The person threw the black trash bags onto the trolley that Zheng was pushing. From inside the bags, they could see messy and filthy fur. There was also a claw lifelessly hanging out, as the rancid smell filled the air.

  “Why don’t you throw them away yourself?” asked Zheng unhappily.

  “Hey, aren’t you already on the way? If I go, I have to put on my coat.” The person started massaging Zheng’s shoulders. “Zheng, help me out, I’ll treat you to a drink next time.”


  “Drink, drink! How many times have you said that? When have you ever treated me once? You’re only talk!” grumbled Zheng.

  “Tch, I had other business to take care of those times. I’ll really treat you this time, go throw it away for me!” Without waiting for Zheng to respond, he quickly went back inside the building.

  “Sh*t! This is freaking disgusting!” Zheng glanced over at the black trash bags and said, “All these lazy people, all they know how to do is to boss me around!”


  Although he was angry, he had no way to refuse. He continued grumbling, and just as he was about to push the trolley away, the person came back from within the building. “Zheng, wait!”


  “What else do you want?” Zheng snappily asked, “Can’t you get it out it all at once?”


  The person was holding a small box. He smiled and said, “I almost forgot, bring this medicine over to them—be careful not to break them, it’s full of glass bottles! They’re also really expensive!”


  The moment Zheng heard that it was another troublesome errand, he immediately shrunk back and said, “Bring the expensive items yourself, I’m not going to care!”


  “Hey, Zheng, it’s nothing serious! As long as you don’t drop it on purpose, the bottles won’t shatter that easily. There’s also some packaging inside the box to protect them.” He forcefully shoved the small box onto Zheng’s trolley. Zheng tried to refuse, but he still failed in the end.

  “Why are you like this?” asked Zheng impatiently.

  The person took out a cigarette and handed it to Zheng. “Come on, just do me a favor. I’m really too lazy to make another trip.”


  Zheng stared at the remaining cigarettes in the pack.

  “Fine, they’re all yours.”


  The person couldn’t help but give him the whole pack. A smile appeared on Zheng’s face. “Who’s it for?”


  “It’s for Zhang Wanguo and the others.” The person pointed towards the other side of the breeding base.