Chapter 245: Red-headed Lovebirds
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Guo Dongyue was hiding his anxious feelings under his calm look because he was not sure whether he could find the peach-faced lovebirds that looked like the ones in his memory. He had gone to a few pet shops before. He had searched the Stars Pet Chain Supermarket in Xicheng District. He had also been to the biggest assembling center for pet trading in Binhai City—the Dog Market. But neither pet shops nor the pet supermarket sold parrots. Although there were lots of parrots in Dog Market, he couldn't find the ones that he wanted.
He had also searched on e-commerce websites. But only the commonly seen parrots were sold on the e-commerce websites, and seldom could rare parrots be found on them.
Seeing that pair of parrots on the branch, he finally felt relieved, and his anxiety had disappeared right away.
Hearing that Guo Dongyue had found his targets, Zhang Zian was also relieved. He stopped paying attention to the black-collared lovebird, and looked up at the pair of parrots pointed out by Guo Dongyue. One of them turned around as if it felt shy being in the spotlight among people, so Zhang Zian got the chance to look at its whole body from front to back.
The parrots had yellow and green feathers on their chests and stomachs, while the colors on their backs were darker. Most of their feathers on their backs were emerald, but there was an area above their tails where the feathers were a sky blue color. The most obvious difference between them lie in their faces and necks. One of them had a red face and neck, while the other one had an orange face and neck, both with beautiful silver-gray claws. They stayed close to each other; the red-faced parrot put its beak into the neck of its partner and helped comb its partner’s feathers, while the orange-face parrot was using its beak to clean off the food residue left on its partner’s beak. They were such an affectionate couple.
Damn! Zhang Zian’s first reaction was not even curious about their breed. Instead, he sighed emotionally that, nowadays, even parrots were giving a hard time to single people.
Wei Kang looked up at the birds and said, "No wonder you came to our place to look for them! These parrots are not as rare as the black-collared lovebird, but still, few people keep them as pets."
"Are they also picky eaters?" Zhang Zian asked subconsciously.
"No, it's because a couple of red-headed lovebirds must be kept together, or else it’s hard to keep them alive," Wei Kang explained. "These red-headed lovebirds are the most affectionate among lovebirds." He pointed to one of them. "The red-faced one is a male, while the orange-faced one is a female. Red-headed lovebirds are very particular about choosing their spouses. Basically, the courtship can only occur naturally by themselves, and it's hard to interfere with their mating behaviors artificially."
Guo Dongyue did not care about these details. He asked hastily, "How much for this pair of parrots? I want to buy them."
Wei Kang hesitated for a moment and did not answer.
Guo Dongyue became heavy-hearted immediately. Were they too expensive? Or were they not for sale?
"It's not about the money—as Director Lϋ said, if you really want them, we can give them to you for free," Wei Kang said slowly. "I just don't understand why you have to have this kind of parrot. Let me remind you, it's really hard to raise them, and few people keep them as pets. Besides..."
Guo Dongyue didn't think that they would be hard to support. They were just parrots. Providing sufficient food and water on time should be enough, right?
"Besides what?"
"As you can see, they are so close to each other, it’s like nothing in this world can separate them." Wei Kang asked Guo Dongyue to observe more closely.
"So?" Guo Dongyue didn't understand what Wei Kang meant by this.
"So, unlike other kinds of parrots, they will not attach deep feelings towards their owner. Do you understand? They only care about each other, and their owner will always rank third. No matter how long you have raised them, they will only play with each other," explained Wei Kang.
Guo Dongyue still didn't think it would make much difference on his decision. He just wanted this pair of red-headed lovebirds to keep his mother company. No matter how long, he hoped his mother could feel happy with the red-headed lovebirds by her side. As for what would happen to the birds in the future... He didn't want to think too much about that right now.
Zhang Zian raised his doubt, "I remember you told me that, your mother named her parrots ‘Little Purple’ and ‘Yellow Pea Cake’. In my opinion, the female parrot looks quite like a Yellow Pea Cake, but the male parrot, I don’t think it looks like anything purple." He brought up that question because he worried that Guo Dongyue might buy the wrong parrots.
Guo Dongyue simply answered, "My mother has color weakness, so in her eyes, the blue feathers on its back become purple."
"Oh." Zhang Zian felt a little bit awkward, since his concern was unnecessary.
Wei Kang went over to an empty bird cage and twisted open the cap of his bottle of spring water. He drank a few sips to cool his throat, put the rest of the water into the water bowl in the bird cage, then turned around and walked some distance away.
Soon after he left, the two red-headed lovebirds flew away from the branch at the same time. They fluttered their wings and flew into the birdcage one after the other, and started to drink the water in the water bowl.
Wei Kang walked over and closed the gate of the bird cage. He picked up the cage and handed it over to Guo Dongyue.
"Here, take them. You can also have the cage."
Guo Dongyue was so happy and excited to take over the cage, gazing at the red-headed lovebirds as if they were treasures.
"Be careful, it's really hard to keep them alive," Wei Kang reminded him again.
Guo Dongyue was so excited that he didn't pay much attention to Wei Kang's warning. He just wanted to take them away with him right away, as if he was scared that Wei Kang and Director Lϋ would regret suddenly.
"Is it because they are not suitable to be kept in a cage?" As a third party, Zhang Zian could remain calm and objective, so he didn't ignore Wei Kang's reminder.
"It's hard to tell." Wei Kang shook his head. "But that might be part of the reason. No animal evolves to live in cages, especially not birds born with wings to fly in the sky. Anyways, the survival rate of red-headed lovebirds raised by individuals is very low. Even in the superior cage-free environment provided by Phoenix House, with veterinarians specialized in birds, the survival rate for red-headed lovebirds is less than 50%. I wouldn't recommend other people to raise these parrots ... But you must have your reasons for your insistence on keeping them. So, I will say no more."
Wei Kang was very serious. Zhang Zian believed that he was not exaggerating, and that red-headed lovebirds were indeed hard to support. He lost his confidence, because these parrots would be kept in his own pet shop, and Richard would try to teach them how to talk. If they died when residing in his pet shop, how was he going to face Guo Dongyue in the future?
"One more thing," Wei Kang added. "For red-headed lovebirds, if one passes away, the other one will be immersed in tremendous sorrow, and it won’t last long either. So usually, a pair of red-headed lovebirds will die together."
Zhang Zian held profound respect to the red-headed lovebirds. Even humans, who redeemed themselves as the most intelligent of all creatures, were dwarfed by red-headed lovebirds in terms of the faithfulness and loyalty to love. They were indeed the most affectionate lovebirds.
Seeing that Guo Dongyue was in a hurry to leave, Wei Kang did not persuade them to stay. He just tried to remind them of the matters that needed to be paid attention to in the red-headed lovebirds’ dietary habits. Zhang Zian remembered the do’s and don’ts in his mind. Wei Kang was a specialist of animals, and he kept telling them to be careful. So, it should be true that red-headed lovebirds were very hard to raise.
After making clear some other very important details, Wei Kang said goodbye to them at the gate.