Pet King

icit your signature in order to get the attention of the relevant departments and enact legislation on the matter.
Look, can you sign your name for me? If you have any helpful comments on the content of the proposal, I will try to revise it, as long as they are reasonable.”

The young girl stared at him like she was looking at an alien, then showed an expression of disbelief.
Zhang Zian felt that his smile was very stiff.

Everyone had been forced, at one time or another, to accept flyers on the street.
She had been chatted up several times by strangers for micro-signals and cell phone numbers, but for the first time, she has been asked to sign a proposal by a stranger.

She began to wonder if it was some kind of new scam… She was afraid Zhang Zian would scam her into signing, then use her signature to access her credit card.

There was nothing wrong with wanting to protect oneself by being wary of people.

“This… nevermind.
I’m sorry, please go and find someone else.” After two to three seconds, she returned to her senses and lowered her head, then hurriedly left.

Zhang Zian stood in the same spot for a while, and Vladimir could not see his expression from behind.
It could only see his shoulders fall, as if he had no more energy.

After a short moment, he turned his head back, forced himself to smile, and said, “It’s an improvement from last time, right?”

Vladimir was quiet, and did not respond.

It was a day in the Golden Week holiday––although, it did not matter to Zhang Zian whether it was a holiday or not.
For him, if he wanted it to be, any day was a holiday.

There were quite a few of pedestrians on the road.
They were taking advantage of the weather before it got too hot to go out and play.

Zhang Zian chose his targets carefully.
He could not choose someone too old or too young.
Those that were too old typically did not care about that kind of thing, and if they were too young… he would probably be treated as a pervert.

A family of three walked towards him.
It was a pair of parents that were between young and middle-aged, and their child, who was a few years old.
The dad was holding a bag and carrying a water bottle, and the mother was holding the child’s hand.
The child’s other hand was holding a balloon.

They were all smiling, and the balloon moved with the wind.
They looked warm and happy.

“Hello! Hi, little kid! Can I ask––do you all like pets and small animals?” Zhang Zian went up to them, smiling at them and waving to greet them.
He felt like his fake smile had become more and more realistic.

The man and woman looked at each other, and the mother blocked the child from Zhang Zian’s view; they were slightly suspicious of him.
The dad was in charge of speaking.
“Can I help you with anything?” the man asked.

Zhang Zian repeated his words again, and even let him see the proposal.

“Oh, I’m sorry.
We don’t keep pets at home, and we aren’t familiar with them.
We are not interested.” The man took a look at the proposal, and politely but forcefully shook his head.
He then turned to his wife and said, “Let’s go.”

“If you want to understand more, I can explain it to you…” Zhang Zian unhappily chased after them a bit.

“There’s no need.
Leave it.
Please stay where you are.” The middle-aged man blocked the road, and glared at him in warning.

Zhang Zian was smart and stopped walking.

The child noticed Vladimir and was staring at him; he even laughed happily.
Perhaps it was the child’s peculiar way of loving the new and hating the old.
His little hand unwittingly relaxed, and the balloon began to float upwards.

A human’s reaction time was not fast.
Before the people present reacted, they saw a blueish-grey shadow jump and fall.
The newly released balloon was clamped between Vladimir’s claws.
It reached out a claw and passed the balloon to the child.

The child laughed and took the balloon, trying to curry favor.
He smiled at his mother.
“Mom! This cat knows how to catch balloons!”

The man and woman had strange expressions on their faces; they were shocked at Vladimir’s reaction.
They found it strange… That was not something a normal cat could do.
The blue cat’s eyes and movements seemed a bit strange.

“Darling, let’s go.” They did not even say thank you, and they hurriedly carried the child away.

The child’s small face rested on the father’s shoulder.
He opened his bright eyes and stared at Vladimir.
His small hand loosened his grip again, and the balloon once again left his hand and flew up.

That time, however, there was no one to help him catch the balloon.

Vladimir turned to look at Zhang Zian and said, “Enough.”