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

  After lunch, Zhang Zian closed the shutter doors. The SUV he borrowed from Sun Xiaomeng was parked right outside the store, so he sat inside the car to check the gas tank and the condition it was in. Once he ensured that everything was okay, he opened up the trunk and placed all the fireworks in it before he called the elfins to get in the car.

  Earlier, Fina seemed very unwilling, but now it leaped into the car before the others to sit in the front seat.

  “Hmph, is this the queen’s royal transportation?” Fina being both picky and curious swept its eyes across the dashboard, waving its paws in front of the air conditioner outlet and pulling on the seatbelt. “What is this? The reins?”


  Zhang Zian was too lazy to explain, so he said, “That’s right, that’s the reins.”


  “Oh, so why aren’t you putting it on?” Fina cast a side glance at him.

  Zhang Zian stared at it. “Did you misunderstand something? I’m the person driving the car, not the horse pulling the carriage.”


  “Is there a difference?” Fina haughtily stuck out its chest. “The queen is heartless, all creatures are treated like stray dogs.”


  It wasn’t clear where Fina heard the statement from, but it was really infuriating.

  “Meow! Your Majesty, wait for me!” Snowy Lionet ran up from behind with its short legs. After leaping twice, it finally succeeded in making its way into the car. Inside the car, it had difficulties climbing up the seats and only made its way to the front by sinking its claws into the seats, before squeezing in beside Fina.

  “Hey, claws off the seats!” Zhang Zian’s heart dropped. This was Sun Xiaomeng’s car, if Snowy Lionet damaged the leather seats, it’d be it’s wallet that suffered.

  Snowy Lionet glared at him before turning towards Fina, giving her a bewitching smile. “Your Majesty, if you’re tired, you can sit on me!”


  Old Time Tea slowly strolled out of the store and leapt into the backseat of the car.

  The exhausted Famous followed behind, it looked at the height of the seats, comparing it to the trunk, and decided to sit in the spacious trunk instead.

  Galaxy and Pi chose to sit in the backseat with Old Time Tea. Even with the three of them sitting side by side, there was still plenty of space.

  Zhang Zian brought along a bottle and started the car. “Okay, everyone’s here, right? Let’s go!”


  “Hold up!” Richard’s voice came from the store. “Did you forget about me?”


  There was a thin rope tied to its legs that hung it upside down from the roof. “Get me down! I want to go on the trip, too.”


  Zhang Zian went back into the store, and with his hands on hips, said, “Are you going to misbehave? Or are you going to recite obscene poems all day?”


  Richard knew when it needed to yield and when not to, so it immediately said, “I repent my actions!”


  Zhang Zian didn’t trust Richard at all, but Fina was already getting impatient. It was too cold to leave the car door open, so he let this bird off the hook for now.

  Zhang Zian untied the rope and Richard immediately flew into the car. The car’s interior was already small, and getting hung for so long made its wings weak, so it crashed into everything, getting its feathers all over the car before perching itself on the driver’s headrest.

  Zhang Zian closed the shop’s doors, and locked it up.

  Usually, whenever he left the store, he’d leave a note to inform any customer where he was headed and when he’d be back. Today, he left printing paper, on the paper was a picture of a brown Abyssinian Cat, with a poem at the bottom that read:

  “Small head, big ears, wagging its tail. Fur covered its entire body, except its nail.

  “Pedestrians passing through here, gifting red packets, who wouldn’t adhere?”


  The poem was from Legends of Ji Gong, and described a tiger, but Zhang Zian slightly modified it.

  “Okay, let’s get going!” Zhang Zian sat back in the car and closed the door. He knew he had to drive safely today, if he were stopped by police, seen with so many animals in the car, he’d be in tomorrow’s headlines.

  Zhang Zian hadn’t driven much after getting his driver’s license. So today, he was thankful that the roads weren’t packed with cars. Most cars were stuck in traffic on the expressway, going to the train station or airport.

  There were no signs guiding the way to the Nursing Home for Police Dogs, but Zhang Zian remembered how to get there.

  The closer he got to the suburbs, the stronger the smell of sulfur in the air became. Roads were hard to travel through because they were very bumpy.

  “Do you know how to drive?” Fina swayed back and forth every time the car bounced, laid her furious gaze on Zhang Zian. “The queen shouldn’t have a coachman like you!”


  “I’m not a coachman!” Zhang Zian defended himself.

  He felt his pants being tugged, so he lowered his head to see Snowy Lionet with a sneaky look on its face.

  Somehow, because of the bumpy road, Fina ended up on top of Snowy Lionet. Looking at Zhang Zian, Snowy Lionet licked its paws and made a gesture that silently told him to stay on the bumpy road, the bumpier the better.

  Richard was also bumped around, as its head hit the roof, it muttered, “One up, one down, my eyes are blurred!”


  It immediately shut its mouth once it saw Zhang Zian raise his hand.

  This was Pi’s first time in a car, so it nervously held onto the headrest behind him. Old Time Tea tied its seat belt around one of its front paws to keep its balance. On the other hand, Galaxy had a great balance, so it wasn’t affected by the bumps as it leaned against the window to look outside.

  Famous, who was alone in the trunk, had wanted to take a nap, but after all the bumps, he was no longer sleepy.

  Even though Snowy Lionet wanted it, Zhang Zian didn’t dare go on roads that were too bumpy because he didn’t want to damage the car.

  He drove through the village near the Nursing Home for Police Dogs, and the celebratory atmosphere was abundant compared to the city. The ground was covered in red paper, and the delicious aroma of meat wafted out from various houses. Kids playing outside saw the car passing and the animals inside, so they thought it was from a circus.

  Zhang Zian didn’t stop in the village, he drove straight down the mountain, carefully maneuvering through the roads covered with snow before finally reaching his destination.

  There wasn’t much of a difference in the nursing home compared to the last time he was here. The big metal door was closed and barking could be heard from inside.

  Zhang Zian had the elfins stay in the car while he went to knock on the door, praying that the owner, Fu Tao, wasn’t out, or else this would’ve been a wasted trip.

  “Who is that?” a melodious female’s voice asked from inside.