Pet King

Huang seemed to know a lot of the spectators. There were a few that had brought little kids along and were happily running around barefoot on the beach.

This beach was different from the beach Zhang Zian constantly went to. There was more sand and fewer reef rocks, and more people came there in the summer to swim or suntan.

Huang continuously explained Zhang Zian’s identity to the spectators and was describing the happenings of the last time they had met the stranded whale and Zhang Zian saved it. There were parts that he exaggerated, but in general, his overall meaning was that Zhang Zian was there, so the whale would be saved.

Zhang Zian did not have much confidence. Based on his observations, the whale was not moving at all… It looked dead; the scavenger seabirds that were flying over it could prove that to be true.

The assault boat got close to shore, and in the end was rushed onto the shore by a wave. Vladimir jumped onto the sand first, its body a bit off balance; it had yet to fully adjust from the feeling of floating on the sea. It felt like it was stepping on clouds.

A few mischievous, naughty kids saw it, and it was like they saw a new toy. They were happily calling out and circling around it, wanting to pull on its tail.

“Catch it! Catch this cat!”

Vladimir was not easy to bully. Its motto was, “If people don’t offend me, I won’t offend them. If people offend me, I must offend them back!”

It laughed loudly and said, “Haha, if you have the ability to, come and catch me!” It very nimbly made its way through the crowd, making the naughty children go around in circles. When they were almost out of patience, it purposely made itself seem weaker and reduced its speed, pretending to be out of energy.

The naughty children saw that and were extremely happy. They chased after it with all their might.

Vladimir used its side vision to observe their actions, and when the naughty kid that was leading the pack was close, it made his way behind a young girl who was dressed fashionably. It quickly made its way under the girl’s long skirt.

The naughty kid that was leading the way only cared about running; he could not stop in time. He did not manage to capture Vladimir, but instead, he hugged the lady’s upper thigh. His face bumped into her butt, and it was possible that he managed to touch her butt as well.

“Little hooligan! Little communist! Little tramp!” The young girl was so embarrassed that she was angry. She turned around to push him away, then raised her hand to give the kid a loud slap.

The naughty kid covered his face and cried loudly. He laid on the floor and rolled around as he threw a tantrum and called for his mother. The rest of the naughty kids did not know what to do, so they just stood at the side and watched the drama.

The mothers of the naughty kids were chatting about daily happenings while their kids chased the cat. When the mother of the kid throwing a tantrum saw that the woman hit her child, she did not take it lying down. She pulled on the young woman like crazy, not letting her go. “What right do you have to hit my child? What right do you have to hit my child!”

“You didn’t watch over your own child! Didn’t you see that he touched my thigh?”

“If he touched it then so what? What do children know?”

“I’m helping you educate your child––to prevent him from going to prison once he grows up!”

“You hit my child to the point that he’s like this! Don’t think you can just walk away like this!”

“Everyone saw it. Your child deserves to be hit! He deserves it! If he was hit until he was dead it would be even better!”

The two of them had people backing them up. The mothers of the naughty kids were all good friends and would stand up for each other. The young woman had a very sharp mouth––she was not at all weak––and she did not come to the seaside by herself. Her boyfriend, her close friends, and her close friends’ boyfriends were all present, and all came up one by one to help support her.

The fighting sounds from that group of people and the cries of the naughty kids made a very loud commotion––so much so that it even distracted the spectators’ from the whale. There were people who went to try to mediate, but the fight was not easy to mediate. It was not good to provoke either side, and they both seemed to have logical arguments.

While they were arguing, Vladimir jumped onto the top of an SUV. It was calm as it enjoyed the resulting farce. Its face was full of contempt, like a superior’s contempt for the inferior.

“A small, small earth… There are a few flies dashing out and hitting the wall. Buzzing, a few sad and shrill sounds, a few sobs…” it muttered to itself.

Luckily Xiao Zhi did not take part in the mess with the naughty kids. Compared to catching the cat’s tail, it was more worried about the fate of the whale. While the naughty kids were chasing Vladimir, he had put down his kite and helped Zhang Zian pull the assault boat to the shore with Huang to prevent it from being washed away when the tide rose.

“Young Man Zhang, your cat…” Huang worriedly pointed at out that Vladimir was being chased.

“Don’t worry about it. It can take care of itself.” Zhang Zian glanced over at the scene and knew that Vladimir was trying to play with the naughty kids. It was not Galaxy or Old Time Tea. With its personality, it would definitely not let itself be at a disadvantage to give way to others.

“Oh, then that’s good… Right, this is my wife,” Huang pointed at the woman next to him and introduced them to each other.

“Nice to meet you. Huang and Xiao Zhi keep talking about you and saying how brilliant you are. Now it just happens that I managed to meet you today!” Huang’s wife seemed quite easy going. She was not like she was the last time when Zian heard her on the phone with Huang. She was yelling and scolding him then, but perhaps she wanted to give face to her husband while they were in the outside world.

“Uncle Zhang, quickly come and help this whale. Is it about to die?” Xiao Zhi could not stand the polite conversation between the adults. He anxiously pulled on Zhang Zian’s arm, wanting to pull him next the whale so he could save it whale.

Huang added, “Right, Young Man Zhang, just now, I was wondering about whether I should give you a call to ask you to come over to save this whale, but I thought that you would definitely be very busy opening your shop. I was a bit embarrassed to bother you… This child refused to listen and insisted on calling you over. I was feeling troubled when I happened to see you rowing a boat and coming in from the sea. Isn’t that very coincidental?”

He pointed to a few people next to him and said, “These are all my colleagues and their families. They are a group of friends who play well with each other normally, not regarding each other as outsiders. Today is not a holiday, right, so we agreed to take our families to the beach to play, and found another whale stranded here… Young Man Zhang, this whale is too big. If you need any help from us, just give us a command. We can certainly help as much as possible. We don’t know anything about whales, but it’s okay. We all drove here. If you need a car to tow it, just tell us.”

Huang’s colleagues were around the same age as Huang, or were slightly younger, and hence they were more mature and steady. They had their family members next to them. They smiled and greeted Zhang Zian, but obviously, they did not have as much confidence in Zhang Zian as Huang did. Despite that, they promised they would do their best to help.

Zhang Zian nodded, telling them, “I’m very grateful for everyone’s good intentions, so I’ll have all of you to help me with something.”

Everyone became quiet, waiting for his orders.

He used his hand to point in the distance. “Please keep a distance away.”