Pet King

At the end of February, it was still very cold at night in Berlin. Famous was brought into the oxygenated chamber of the flight, so the temperature was around 25 degrees Celsius––as warm as late spring.

After hearing that it was the dog that won the Best Actor award in the Berlin Film Festival, the flight attendants took very special care of it.

Famous watched the long legs of the tall Caucasian flight attendants dangling around and suddenly had a strange idea in mind: If possible, Zhang Zian would surely be willing to exchange seats with me…

After the flight took off, the noise around them grew slowly distant. The oxygenated chamber was warm and quiet, and only the low humming of the fans could be heard.

Famous was still excited. It had not yet calmed down from the thrill of winning the award.

The night was still young, so it didn’t think it could fall asleep. It had planned to lie down and rest––just lie down on its stomach…

Almost in an instant, it fell asleep.

******

“Brother Famous! Brother Famous! Wake up. The parade is about to leave.”

Famous shook its ears and opened its eyes.

The sky was cloudy and the temperature was almost identical to the oxygenated chamber. It was late spring, the best time of the year.

Old Time Tea stood in front of it with a smile. “Brother Famous, you are always alert, and the first one to wake up as soon as the parade moves. Why are you so sleepy today?”

Famous yawned. “I feel like I just fell asleep.”

Old Time Tea laughed. “Brother Famous, you were talking in your sleep again. Last night, you fell asleep as soon as you lay down. You’ve been sleeping for at least ten hours. What do you mean you just fell asleep?”

Famous looked around. Kitchen smoke was rising slowly in the village not far away. Roosters were crowing, and dogs were barking in the distance.

Silent men picked up their loads and started working in the fields with hoes on their shoulder, as they had been doing for thousands of years.

Talkative women headed towards the river in groups of three or five. Some headed upstream with wooden buckets to wash clothes, while others headed downstream with toilet buckets to empty. Their voices were loud and high-pitched as they talked about what the bride looked like. They told a few dirty jokes, which made the unmarried girls blush.

The wedding parade team for the Wu family slept in the village the night before. They were about to continue their journey today.

It was not safe outside, which was why the parade set off each day after the sun rose and looked for villages to sleep in for the night before it was completely dark. They tried to use big roads as much as they could. They crossed rivers, detoured over mountains, and avoided high hills and thick forests. The route was long and winding.

There were quite a few weak women in the parade. After a long walk each day, they complained about having sore backs and legs. Sometimes the carriages that were fully loaded with dowry sank into the mud or got stuck between the rocks and needed hauling from both the men and the horses. The parade team was very behind schedule.

Their arrival date in Binhai County was unknown. With any further delays, they might miss the best dates for the wedding. Wu Mancheng was so stressed that he got canker sores all over his mouth. Each day, before daybreak, he hurried the team to get up and prepare for their journey.

Famous could hear Wu Mancheng’s yells from a distance.

Ever since they had left Foshan, Famous and the other two cats had been following the parade team from a distance. Wu Ning wanted to invite them into the carriages, but Wu Mancheng did not agree.

He was not being ungrateful. The legend of the Righteous Cat and the Chivalrous Dog was widespread in Foshan, but the groom’s side didn’t know about it. If they believed the gossip and thought they were ghosts or bad spirits, it might bring unnecessary trouble to the wedding.

Wu Ning felt guilty, but Famous and Old Time Tea didn’t care. Galaxy was afraid of people, so even if Wu Ning had invited them, they could not accept the invitation. Besides, traveling along with the carriages and horses was quite inconvenient, so it was better to follow from a distance.

The team was ready. Wu Mancheng gave orders from a tall horse, and the bells on the horses rang. The team set off again slowly, easing back into their journey.

“Let’s get some breakfast,” Famous said after smelling the kitchen smoke. It suddenly felt hungry.

Old Time Tea agreed, naturally.

“Meow.”

Famous looked back. A black and white cat jumped out of the grass, stretched out two front paws, and jumped merrily towards a butterfly in the midst of the wildflowers.

The butterfly dodged it craftily and escaped between its paws.

“Galaxy, aren’t you tired of catching butterflies every day?” Famous shook its head. “It’s wonderful that you don’t need to eat… We need food regardless. Come follow us.”

“Meow. ” Galaxy left the butterfly behind unwillingly and followed Old Time Tea and Famous.

Famous felt that the Galaxy with them now was slightly different from the Galaxy in reality. Not in shape, but in some subtle and indescribable ways. For example, the one with them now preferred catching butterflies instead of playing hide-and-seek, but that might be because there wasn’t anybody to play hide-and-seek with it.

Famous snorted its nose. After the parade team had left, it followed the scent and found a big blue rock in the woods next to the road with a bamboo food cover on it. The smell of beef pies and steamed fish was seeping through the bamboo cover.

Each day, after the parade team started their journey, Wu Ning always asked the handmaids to put food along the road in a hidden spot. Famous could trace it with its nose, anyway.

Famous opened the food cover with its mouth and swallowed the entire beef pie.

Old Time Tea took its time to eat the steamed fish.

Galaxy stared at the sky in a trance.

Famous chomped down the entire beef pie. This was their food for the whole day. Their next meal wouldn’t come until the next morning.

After they finished eating, they were not in a hurry to continue their journey. They wanted to let the food digest first. The carriage grooves were deep and obvious, so they would not lose track of them.

“Famous, did something good happen last night?” Old Time Tea stroked its whiskers, then stared at it in slight astonishment. “I always feel that Brother Famous is different today than it was yesterday.”

“Nothing.” Famous glanced down at itself. “Old Time Tea, did you mistake anything?”

“No. Brother Famous, your eyes are bright and clear, as if you have put down your obsession. Were you enlightened after a serious search for the truth?”

Famous said helplessly, “Old Time Tea, you are thinking too much. How can I get enlightened?”

Old Time Tea smiled, then lifted its head and recited,

“Let go the obsession without asking the scripture,

Once enlightened, the heart is clear.

Looking back at the past glories and shames,

It took a hundred years to uncover the heavenly secrets!”

Famous didn’t understand, then shook its head and said, “Old Time Tea, can you speak in modern language? I can’t understand it at all…”

Old Time Tea said thoughtfully, “Brother Famous, you told me that you came from a hundred years later. Why are you here now?”

Famous was stunned. It had never thought about that before.

“Isn’t this a coincidence?” it said. “I can get into the Imagined World of the other elfins, so here I am.”

Old Time Tea disagreed. “There is a reason and plan for everything. I, Old Time Tea, believe that you are here for a deeper reason, but it’s up to you to uncover the heavenly secrets or not.”

Famous realized something. Why did it always end up in Old Time Tea’s world every time it entered the Imagined World? Why did Galaxy always follow it? Why was this Galaxy always different from the Galaxy in reality?

It always considered itself as an observer here, meant to witness the journey to the north of Old Time Tea and Wu Ning. The journey had already taken place in history. History would not change, whether it observed it or not.

With Famous, Old Time Tea would still rescue Wu Ning in the mountain with a little more effort.

Without Famous, Old Time Tea would still follow Wu Ning to the north, it would just be a little lonelier.

What was the significance of having it and Galaxy in this Imagined World?

However… as Old Time Tea had said, could there be hidden heavenly secrets in this?

Famous was not good at thinking over these myths. Too much thinking made its head grow big.

“It’s getting late. Let’s go,” Old Time Tea said, breaking Famous’ train of thought. “I heard last night that the parade team will cross the river at noon today. I’m not good with water. Let’s head there early to take a boat with the team. Otherwise, we’ll be left behind…”

Famous came back to the present and nodded. “I can swim, but I don’t want to cross a river… Let’s follow them. Miss Wu should let us on the boat.”

“Let’s go, Galaxy,” Famous turned back and called.

Galaxy had been staring at the sky and murmured, “Meow. It’s about to rain.”

Famous and Old Time Tea looked up at the same time.

Hurl!

A gust of wind with the taste of dirt blew up the dust. Famous squinted and spat out the sand in its mouth, greatly missing that pair of windproof goggles.

Pitch-black clouds appeared rapidly from the north. The sky was getting dark in front of their eyes; a heavy storm was coming.

“Oh no!” Old Time Tea’s face suddenly turned.

“What’s wrong?” Famous didn’t take it seriously.

It felt that Old Time Tea was making a fuss. Was rain a big deal? It appeared that, tough as Old Time Tea was, it, like most other cats, still hated getting wet…

Famous was looking forward to this generous rainfall. Ever since it had appeared in this Imagined World, it had not taken a bath yet. It was probably stinky by now.

There were a few lighter rainfalls before, but it was spared from the rain, as it was staying in the Temple for the Righteous Cat and the Chivalrous Dog with Old Time Tea back then. It thought about getting a bath in the rain, but it was too cold then. It didn’t want to catch a cold, and hair dryers didn’t exist in this world.

Old Time Tea gazed toward the horizon in the west. There were endless mountains after mountains over there.

“Judging from the thick cloud, I, Old Time Tea, am afraid that the storm will cause a flash flood. If the water level rises, it might destroy the ferry dock… the levee might even burst…”

Flash flood?

Famous blinked. Whether in Hollywood or Binhai City, it had never seen a flash flood, nor had it even heard about one. But those words didn’t sound nice…

“Let’s follow them quickly!” It realized that the rain might wash away the scent, along with the grooves of the carriages. They might lose track if they didn’t hurry.

They stopped talking. Famous took Old Time Tea and Galaxy on its back and ran wildly towards the north.

In real history, as Old Time Tea didn’t stand around and chat with Famous, it had reached the team ahead of time. Now it had to compensate for the lost time.

Famous was fast and steady while running. Old Time Tea felt that it seemed faster than before and it could jump higher. When they encountered a short tree, it didn’t even bother to detour but instead jumped directly over the branches. They ran towards the parade team in almost a straight line.

To their surprise, the parade team appeared soon in front of them––quicker than they had expected. Maybe the team saw the dark clouds from the north earlier than they did.

Wu Mancheng had already ordered the team to stop moving. He hesitated. Should they speed up to the river and cross it before the storm fell? Or should they head back to the village and wait for the rain to pass?

The former was risky, but the latter would delay the trip by another day.

He was in a hurry but didn’t lose his mind. He knew their priorities. After hesitating for a short while, he ordered the front team to be the back, while the back to be the front. A few strong and tough servants marched forward to inquire about the situation on the ferry dock. The majority of the team was heading back to the village.

After going back and forth, some people in the parade team complained. They mumbled that the master was too cautious.

Famous came across the returning team. It stopped and stepped aside to let the parade team pass.

As Wu Ning’s carriage passed by, she opened up the curtain slightly and waved at them with a worried face. It seemed as though she was also worrying about missing the wedding date.

A prestigious family like hers usually sent out hundreds and thousands of wedding invitations. Many of the guests were big names, and the wedding date could not be changed at the last minute. If they arrived late, there would surely be gossip.

After seeing her face, Famous and Old Time Tea felt sympathetic, but could not do anything to help. No one could fight against nature. Crossing the river was not worth the risk.

The parade team was a few hundred meters in length. They headed back to the previous village slowly to settle down. The villagers welcomed them, of course. The Wu family was rich and generous. The villagers could make a lot of money in one night by feeding the people and the horses––equal to what they made in one month of hard labor.

The men and women who went outside to the fields and river all returned to the village in a hurry.

Old Time Tea estimated the situation, then took Famous and Galaxy to a small cave on higher land to wait out the rain.

Soon after the parade team had settled, the sky was as dark as charcoal. A flash of thunder ripped the sky open and lightened the ferocious cloud.

Then, one thunderclap came after another. As the wind hurled, trees as thick as an arm were bent like crossbows.

Boom!

A flash of lightning hit a crooked tree on the hill. Orange fireballs burnt the trunk into charcoal within seconds.

The unstoppable power of thunder and lightning made everybody fearful.

After the lightning and a wind gust, raindrops as big as soybeans started falling from the sky, making dents in the dust-covered road.

The heavy rain fell down straight, forming a semi-transparent curtain between the sky and the ground. Soon, the water on the ground formed a creek.

Everybody hid under roofs and fixated their eyes on the sky, wondering when the rain would stop.

The rain didn’t stop. It lasted all day and all night.

The servants scouting the river didn’t bring back good news. Wu Mancheng’s face seemed so sad; it was almost dripping water.

The complainers now secretly rejoiced that the master had made the right decision.

After nightfall, the rain continued. The raindrops sounded like a lullaby. Famous closed its eyes without realizing it. The rock underneath its belly was hard and cold. It curled up and fell asleep.