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

  The next day.

  Life carried on as usual.

  Zhang Zian felt very fulfilled. If his proposal could be realized without a problem, hundreds of stray dogs that terrorized people would disappear, and in their place would be hundreds of diligent pick-up dogs……

  Vladimir was a little envious of whatever he had witnessed. He kept asking if there was anything that the stray cats could do to improve their own situation. Doing so would allow them to worry less about food and shelter. Most of the stray cats couldn’t eat much good food. Even small dried fish had to be collected and fed to the soldiers who needed it the most. If only stray cats could also pick up bottles……but this was not realistic. After all, the cat’s mouth was small and couldn’t hold a bottle in place. In addition, the garbage dump was currently occupied by stray dogs.

  After breakfast, Zhang Zian made a few phone calls and asked about the location of and route to the nearby waste-collection station. He asked about pricing because he did not know how many bottles the stray dogs could pick up every day. Thus, he needed some form of clarity. How much could a few hundred bottles earn? How much could a few thousand bottles earn?

  Because he only had one precious Wuling Hong Guang MPV that was used for carrying cargo and aquarium creatures, it was impossible to use it to carry garbage. Thus, he hoped that the other party could send a car to the designated place to pick up the bottles. He would not mind even if the vehicle came once every few days. The other party said that it depended on how many bottles were collected. That would allow him to determine if the trip was worth making. However, Zhang Zian could not give him an exact number at the moment.

  Then, he also called up a manufacturer who provided dog food for the pet shop to discuss the price of buying dog food in large quantities.

  The staff listened to him making one phone call after another. They secretly speculated with one another as to what business he was going to carry out. It sounded like he was……picking up scraps?

  The business in the store was not so bad that he needed to do this……

  People who did big business and made calls discussed millions of dollars with every invoice. However, Zhang Zian’s was a small business. Even so, it did not make sense to bargain so hard over the price of an empty bottle, did it?

  The only possibility was that the store manager’s problem with stinginess had become more and more serious. Now, he was not even willing to give up on garbage.

  Zhang Zian offered no explanation for the time being. If things went well, they would know later, as inevitably, he would need them to help. Of course, they would also receive corresponding compensation. Although their work was not directly in contact with garbage, it was, after all, dealing with garbage. If the compensation was not high enough, everyone’s work enthusiasm would be somewhat diminished.

  As for the price of empty bottles, perhaps at a few cents for a bottle, it might not be worth bothering. However, if there were thousands or even tens of thousands of empty bottles per week, the accumulation of a few additional cents could end up being a lot more. If he could keep this in his own pocket, why must he give it to others?

  After making calls for almost an hour, his mouth was dry from all that talking. He grabbed a cup of tea and stood by the door.

  It was the afternoon—exactly four o’clock. The sun was no longer hot, though the air was still a bit stuffy. However, it did not mean much to Zhang ZIan, who’d managed to survive much worse in Egypt.

  He looked up at the sky. The weather was fine, and there was no sign of rain, though he was not sure. The weather forecast in summer was not reliable at all, and a gust of wind might cause heavy rain.

  The swallowtail larva on the glass door next to the store had moved two times in the morning, and by now, it seemed to have begun to slowly digest the caterpillar inside.

  “Ha ha ha ha!”


  There was loud and arrogant laughter coming from the end of the street.

  Zhang Zian followed the sound and turned his head. He saw Xu Zhuang Zhuang and a few boys around his age yelling and joking around. It seemed that they had just left school. They were heading for the pet store.

  Xu Zhuang Zhuang spoke to them animatedly. “Hey! When I went to school this morning, I met two dogs.”


  “Whose dogs?”


  “What happened to the dogs?”


  “Yeah, did they bite you?”


  Xu Zhuang Zhuang smiled proudly and said, “They’re my neighbor’s. However, there was no adult around at the time. I saw that the two dogs’ buttocks were glued together as they walked and shook weirdly. So I went forward to kick their butts and separated them!”


  “Great!”


  “So unfortunate that I didn’t get to see it!”


  “Now that I’ve done a good thing today, I should go back and tell my neighbor about it. Maybe he will even praise me and give me some pocket money!” Xu Zhuang Zhuang laughed.

  Zhang Zian said nothing.

  At this time, Xu Zhuang Zhuang also saw Zhang Zian. His expression turned slightly embarrassed. However, he immediately turned away, pretending not to have seen him. He continued to laugh and bicker with the other children.

  This was really a child who is overbearing and could not be controlled.

  Zhang Zian sighed and shook his head. He tilted his head back and finished his tea in one gulp. Sure, he could go ahead and seek credit from his neighbor. He’d see if the neighbor would actually beat the kid instead.

  He looked at the time. It was almost three. Any further delays and the neighborhood committee street office might have been closed. He placed the cup back in the store, said goodbye to the staff, and walked alone out to the street.

  The street office was in a residential compound on Zhonghua Road, and it was only a short distance away.

  “Excuse me, is Grandma Gu around?”


  The door of the street office was open. Although many offices had turned on the air conditioners at this time, the street office was different. It was dominated by middle-aged and elderly people. Their bodies were weak and could not take much cold air. Thus, they opened the door to let natural warmer air circulate in.

  He knocked on the door and glanced inside. He was lucky. Grandma Gu was in the office.

  As the director of the street office, Grandma Gu was always busy collecting various fees from the shops on the street. She also dealt with a lot of trivial things, and she often needed to run about outside. She was only in the office when arriving at and getting off work.

  “Hey, if it isn’t Little Zhang Zian. Have you come to pay me money?”


  Grandma Gu was counting change when he came in. She pulled down her reading glasses to look at Zhang Zian, who was standing by the door.

  “No…… I have already paid the fees for this year. I come to you today for a different reason……” He explained quickly. It was obviously not that hot, but a drop of cold sweat had already emerged on his forehead.

  “Haha! Grandma is only joking with you. I am not yet that forgetful…… Come in. It is hot outside. Come in and enjoy the fan.” Grandma Gu greeted him warmly.

  Zhang Zian heaved a sigh of relief. He saw several other people in the office, but he was not familiar with them, and so he did not say hello.

  “Grandma Gu, you are…… Are you very busy? Do you need me to help you with the counting?”


  He looked at the large amount of small change on the table. There were dollar coins or even smaller denominations. Being coins, they were difficult to account for when one had to tally them up.

  “No, no, Grandma is used to it…… Most of the businesses on this street are small businesses. I always get a lot of change. I am almost finished. You should sit down and wait.”


  “Okay, then I will make myself welcome.”


  Zhang Zian pulled out a chair and sat across from Grandma Gu. He patiently waited for her to finish her work.

  After a while, Grandma Gu finished counting the money and recorded the number in a book ledger. Then she placed all the money in a drawer.

  “Alright, Little Zhang Zian. What is the reason that you are looking for me?” She took off her reading glasses.

  Zhang Zian coughed and pointed his finger in the direction of the greenspace. He said, “Grandma Gu, do you know that there are a lot of caterpillars in the greenspace? And it’s not only the greenspace. It’s also Zhonghua Road Primary School. They are even on the trees by the roadside. They are everywhere.”