Pet King

After attending the shoe store renovation meeting all morning, Zhang Zian came back to the pet shop around lunch time.

"Meow! I want to eat baked balls!"

As soon as he walked through the door, Snowy Lionet clung onto his pants.

"Wow! Mr. Store Manager, that white cat likes you so much!" Lu Yiyun was eating her take-out. When she looked up, she happened to witness the scene and have a huge misunderstanding.

It was inconvenient for Zhang Zian to say anything to Snowy Lionet in front of her. He only glared at it and lowered his hands to protect his crotch.

Though he was able to teach dogs not to pounce on people, there was nothing he could do to stop Snowy Lionet, who liked to attack people's crotches.

Lu Yiyun handed him his take-out. "Wang Qian and Li Kun left earlier. They said that their relatives were coming to visit them today."

Zhang Zian nodded to indicate that he knew about this. Since there were fewer customers around the time of the Spring Festival, they could leave earlier than usual.

He took his food into the inner area of the pet shop and saw that other elves had already finished eating. They were napping and digesting their food. Even Galaxy was yawning.

After taking a look at the stomachs of the female Abyssinian cats, he estimated that the the kittens' due date would probably be after the Lantern Festival. At that time, the renovation of the shoe store would be almost finished, and the cats could move to their new home.

Zhan Tian and Xiao La, the two dogs who had been playing outside, were quietly lying down on the ground. Judging from their round stomachs, they seemed to be very full.

As he looked around the room, he was satisfied that everything seemed normal. Just as he was about to sit on the recliner and slowly eat his food, he suddenly remembered that he hadn't seen Pi that day. He took his food and went to the second floor.

Huh?

He was stunned as soon as he walked into the living room because the laptop wasn't turned on, and Pi wasn't there typing in front of the desk.

Had his vision blurred again?

He used all his strength to blink. Even after that, his sight was the same.

Maybe Pi was washing its face?

"Pi, you..."

Zhang Zian strolled to the edge of the desk and was about to call Pi, but it wasn't in the bathroom. Instead, it was still curled up in the hammock chair, just as it was when he got up that morning.

Pi struggled to open its eyes, managed a small smile, lifted its arm, and waved. It said weakly, "Eeek."

"Pi, what's wrong with you? Are you sick? Did you catch a cold?"

Zhang Zian was shocked to see Pi like this. He put the food down on the desk and reached out to touch its forehead.

Since Richard got sick, he'd been paying close attention to the room temperature. The room temperature now wasn't cold, and with the electric heater on at its maximum capacity, Pi shouldn't have been able to catch a cold in such normal circumstances.

Pi's forehead wasn't hot, it was just a little warmer than his own forehead, which was normal, because the rhesus monkey's body temperature was two or three degrees higher than humans.

"Eeek."

Pi shook its head and turned to look at the desk.

There was his food, a laptop, Pi's untitled book, and its clip-on glasses on the desk.

Although it was unlikely, Zhang Zian asked tentatively, "Pi, are you hungry? Would you like something to eat?"

Pi still shook its head no.

It was an imaginative elfin who lived on the Strength of Faith and didn't need to eat.

"You want your book?" Zhang Zian tried guessing again.

Pi's untitled book was almost inseparable from it. Before, it had always held its book like a treasure when it wasn't typing. Since it had recently let its guard down around Zhang Zian and the other elves, Pi and its book were not as inseparable as before.

Placing its hands on the chair, Pi struggled to sit up and jumped out of the chair. Its knees became weak and it almost fell onto the ground.

Zhang Zian quickly helped it up.

"Pi, if you're uncomfortable, you should lie down and rest," he advised.

"Eeek."

Pi shook its head gently and firmly. Placing its hands on the chair in front of the desk, it wanted to sit down. But since its arms were weak as well, it tried and failed several times.

Zhang Zian knew that it wanted to type and communicate with him. He had to hold Pi onto the chair. He fetched a pillow and placed it behind Pi's back to support its body.

Beep.

With a slight buzz, Pi pressed the on/off button on the computer.

As the computer turned on, Pi opened a Word document and typed slowly, I haven't written any chapters today.

Zhang Zian couldn't stand to see Pi like this and once again advised it. "Pi, you're uncomfortable, you can take a day off. Since you started writing your book, you've been uploading chapters endlessly for 30 days. It is okay to take a day off sometimes, right? Even office workers can take it easy on weekends."

Pi knew that he was being sincere. It hesitated a bit, minimized the Word document, opened the browser, and went to the author platform on the Qidian website.

Add to Library: 60

Zhang Zian also saw this number. He wanted to comfort Pi, but didn't know what to say. He had already told it all the advice he knew, and he couldn't come up with any more words of wisdom.

Pi bit its lip, clicked the mouse, and entered the comment section of its book.

"Eeek!"

"What the hell!" Both of them exclaimed at the same time.

Pi, who was depressed before, widened its glowing eyes.

The comment section had always been empty before. However, there were three comments there today.

[Future Online Games]: I'm reading it. Keep up the good work!

[Jinhua Qiying]: This book is well-written, and I enjoy reading it very much. I've been reading it all the time!

[Hemu Xuanlin]: I'm reading it.

Not only had these three readers whom Zhang Zian and Pi had never met before posted comments, they also patronaged Pi from one to five Yuan and its book had been recommended with several more votes.

"What's going on? What...is this... what happened?"

Zhang Zian, who was usually eloquent when speaking to any kind of customer, was so shocked that his words were coming out incoherent.

"Eeek!"

Pi joyfully opened the last chapter it had uploaded yesterday and pointed at the message from the author it had published.

"I don't know if anyone is reading this novel. Can anyone who has read this message please say something in the comment section?" Zhang Zian read this sentence twice and finally realized what was going on. "So, these three people saw the message you left at the end of the chapter, and they specifically responded to you?"

"Eeek!" Pi nodded excitedly.

"Great! I told you that someone has been reading your novel!"

Zhang Zian was also very excited, and he waved his fist in the air.

He paced back and forth. Leaving everything else behind in his mind, these three comments were completely occupying his thoughts.

"Pi, I think you should thank these three readers," he said as he stopped pacing.

"Eeek?"

The delighted Pi scratched its head and responded to Zhang Zian with a questioning gesture, which meant, How do I thank them?

Zhang Zian thought for a moment and suggested, "You're writing about Snowy's live broadcast, aren't you? How about making these three IDs appear during Snowy's program? It wouldn't affect the plot, but it could express your gratitude to them."

"Eeek!"

Pi nodded heavily and patted its chest to indicate that it would have no problem doing this.

It suddenly became motivated, as if it now had infinite energy in its body. It switched back to the Word document and started writing today's chapters. From its rapid typing speed, Zhang Zian could feel its excitement.

Zhang Zian moved a chair to sit next to Pi. He picked up his lunchbox and ate his lunch while watching it type.