Pet King

The tall, bald, African American man asked the question in English––which surely stood out among the Chinese speakers. Besides, he was as tall as a walking utility pole, almost a head taller than the others. Immediately, he stood at the center of everybody’s attention.

The female reporter was so excited. She had sharply sensed it was her lucky moment. Maybe she had come across a real scoop. She hinted the cameraman behind her, asking him to film the African American man carefully, and to find out what was he doing with Zhang Zian.

Zhang Zian also glanced over the bald, African American man. After reexamining him a few times, he confirmed that he didn’t know him, and had never met him. He had some striking physical features; if he had met him in the past, he would have certainly remembered.

The bald, African American man wore a well-ironed suit, a light blue shirt, and black leather shoes. The suit was not made of expensive material, but it was very clean and tidy.

Zhang Zian nodded and answered in English, “That’s right. I am Zhang Zian.”

The bald, African American man was so relieved. He took a name card out of a box and handed it to him. “Hello, it’s great to meet you! I am Eddy Lewis, Chief of the Donation Office at Matthew Davis Cancer Research Foundation. I finally found you!”

After hearing the title of the Matthew Davis Foundation, Zhang Zian was astonished.

The foundation was the organization to which Kathy had donated her heritage. Later, Zhang Zian had also donated the money he made from the Abyssinian cats to the foundation, except that he had made the donation under Kathy’s name.

He had never expected the foundation to find him one day. How did they find out where he was?

“Hello, nice to meet you!” He took the name card, glanced at it quickly, then shook hands with him.

Eddy had a big smile on his face, exposing a mouth full of white teeth. He glanced at the female reporter and the camera next to him. “I’m sorry. Am I interrupting you?”

“No!” Zhang Zian and the reporter answered in one voice.

The former didn’t want anything to do with the latter, while the latter wanted to watch what was about to happen. As for her business with Zhang Zian, she could discuss that at a later time.

Eddy was even more confused. They were having a big argument, but then they suddenly talked in one voice.

Since neither of them minded his interruption, he made no further delay and stated his intentions directly. “I’m sorry for visiting without an appointment. On behalf of the Matthew Davis Cancer Research Foundation, I express our sincere gratitude. Thank you for your generous donation! Because of you and the other donors, we realize that we are not alone on the journey of conquering cancer for mankind!”

Each person who understood English was astonished.

Those who didn’t know English started asking others what the bald, African American man had said. Why was everyone behaving as if they had seen a ghost?

Zhao Qi had worked in the foreign trade department of her company. She often traveled abroad and was good at English. She translated Eddy’s words briefly to the others without hesitation.

Nobody knew that Zhang Zian had once secretly donated to a foreign, cancer research foundation––not even Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Lu Yiyun. Everybody had their mouths wide open in surprise. The others knew even less.

But there was one thing that everybody had figured out: If Zhang Zian had secretly donated money to a cancer research foundation, then he had no reason to not fulfill his pledge of donating to the UN World Food Programme.

If anyone had suspected Zhang Zian of donation fraud, they should have no doubts anymore.

As soon as they thought of it, everybody started looking at the female reporter with contempt. Clearly, she was measuring Zhang Zian with her own yard-stick. It was good to question fraudulent donors, but if by doing so an authentic donor’s feelings were hurt, then that was not okay!

The most embarrassed one was the reporter herself. Had it been someone else, they surely would have run away in shame. She was so brazen, however, that she took advantage of the moment asked Eddy in English, “Hello, Mr. Lewis. I’m a reporter for Global Entertainment. May I ask you a few questions regarding Mr. Zhang Zian’s donation to your foundation?”

The crowd started swearing. How could someone be so shameless?

Unfortunately, Eddy didn’t understand Chinese. The name “Global Entertainment” sounded very legitimate. He thought that she was a reporter from a top Chinese medium. Therefore, he didn’t want to treat her lightly. He nodded like a gentleman and said, “Yes. Please go ahead.”

Zhang Zian wanted to stop her, but since Eddy had said yes, there was nothing more he could do.

The female reporter handed over the microphone. “Could you please tell us the details of Mr. Zhang Zian’s donation to your foundation? We are very curious, as it’s the first time that we are hearing about this.”

“Of course. I’d be glad to help.” Eddy recollected with a smile, “I remember it so clearly that I won’t forget it for the rest of my life. It was a day during the Chinese Lunar New Year. It was raining in San Francisco and I was on duty in the donation office that day. Suddenly, I received a strange phone call.”

He glanced at Zhang Zian. “The caller claimed to be Katherine Donna Ryan, and wanted to make a donation to our foundation––you may not know this, but Ms. Ryan had made large donations to our foundation in the past, so I remember her voice. Strangely, after doing a search, I found out that Ms. Ryan had already passed away. Her last donation came from Mr. Adams, the lawyer and executioner of her will.”

Eddy’s story drew everybody’s attention. They held their breath and listened quietly.

“This phone call came from Binhai City, China. Ms. Ryan claimed that she was not dead, that the doctor had issued a death certificate by mistake, and she was traveling in China at that time. I believed her at that moment, and processed her donation. But after hanging up, I found it suspicious. After a series of not so complicated investigations, and after talking to her lawyer, Mr. Adams, I had figured out the truth: It was Mr. Zhang Zian who made a generous donation to our foundation under the name of Ms. Ryan.

There was more than one donation like this. The volunteers at the foundation were very moved, but we acted as if we didn’t know about it. Apart from volunteering at the foundation, I have another official job. Now, as I’m attending a work conference in China, I decided to visit Binhai City along the way. On behalf of my colleagues at the foundation, we express our sincere gratitude to Mr. Zhang Zian and Ms. Ryan!

And…” As he spoke, he took out a bouquet of yellow daisies behind his back like a magic trick. “Please allow me to dedicate these flowers to Ms. Ryan.”

Bright yellow daisies were not as gorgeous as golden tulips; yet, they had their own spirit of elegance and tranquility, like an old lady who had been through the hills and valleys of life.

After a moment of silence, Zhang Zian lifted his hands to hint to the employees inside. “Please come in. Ms. Kathy is inside.”

Without being told to do so, the crowd split on its own, making a path that led into the shop.