Chapter 348: Qi
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After getting off the plane, Zhang Zian first went to the bathroom in the airport, and turned Richard into the invisible state—unless something unexpected arose, in the United States, Richard would always act in the invisible state.
When they left the airport, the rain had stopped, yet the chilly wind was still blowing. Face-tightened, Fina kept its distance five meters away from Zhang Zian, losing its temper because of being cheated by him.
Zhang Zian felt very helpless. He was not omnipotent; how could he predict the weather half a world away? Today just happened to be a rainy and windy day!
As soon as he left the airport, Zhang Zian stretched his neck and looked around. Lauren and Tim, who had come back to the United States, said they were to pick him up here, and he had to find a way to find them. However, Los Angeles, after all, was an international metropolis. With people coming and leaving the airport, it was still difficult to pinpoint particular people—that was not precisely the reason. In fact, it was mainly because Zhang Zian involuntarily kept staring at the blonde girls…Caucasian women indeed were slender and taller!
"Hey! Jeff!" Tim, the big guy, spotted him first and waved his arms.
Zhang Zian also waved his hand.
Since Richard had threatened him with Tim, he had always had a hard time looking at Tim directly...
Beside Tim was standing a young white man of medium height with a baseball cap and freckles all over his face. He was holding a sign listlessly upon which written with Chinese characters: Zhang Liaoan.
Liaoan?! Why not just change my whole name? Zhang Zian wondered which Chinese beginner had created this...
Zhang Zian walked towards them with his luggage. Tim warmly introduced, "Jeff, this is my employee, Allen. Allen, this is the fantastic Chinese cat trainer, Jeff..."
Before he finished his introduction, he saw that Zhang Zian had taken out a pen, and added a stroke to the middle of the character ,"Liao", on the sign, turning it into the first syllable of his name, "Zi".
"Sorry for writing your name incorrectly." Tim understood what had happened and said embarrassedly.
"It doesn’t matter. Allen, right? Hello." Zhang Zian shook hands with Tim and Allen respectively.
"Jeff, you can stay in my house while you are in the United States. If you want to tour around, you can ask Allen to keep you company," said Tim.
Allen nodded reluctantly towards Zhang Zian. Apparently, he was disgruntled by the task of being assigned to part from his regular responsibilities.
Noticing Fina, Tim asked surprisingly, "You brought your cat?"
"I hope she can have fun." Richard said the answer which they had prepared in advance for Zhang Zian, "I’m invited to attend the CFA tournament, remember? I should at least bring a cat, so no one will suspect me."
"Oh..." Tim wanted to tell him that this cat was probably a hybrid Egyptian Mau, which might not gain any rewards in the competition. In fact, it may not evenbe eligible for participation at all. But Tim held back these words.
In his opinion, professionally, Zhang Zian’s pet shop, which was best, top-notch store in the amateur community, couldn’t rival with his cattery at all. If Zhang Zian didn’t possess the mysterious and ancient cat training techniques, there would have been no way that Zhang Zian would have ever had contact with Tim’s Blue Climax at all. Anyway, it would be beneficial for Zhang Zian to attend the CFA tournament to learn from the setbacks.
"Right, this is a gift." Zhang Zian took an air box for pet from behind and handed it to Tim.
Inside the air box was a black Dragon Li kitten, which was from the same litter as the kitten bought by Song Bai, so their appearances and sizes were very similar, but this one was quieter.
"Wow! Thank you so much! You're so kind!" Tim took over the air box and looked at the kitten inside. "Right, can it..."
"Yes, it can dance," replied Richard for of him.
"Great! I’ve been struggling to choose a gift for my niece lately for Thanksgiving. Can I give it to her as a present? She would be very happy to get a dancing kitten!" Tim said excitedly.
"It's yours, you can transfer it to anyone," said Richard.
"OK, thank you! Come on, let's go, my car is over there!"
Tim's car was a minivan, the spacious American style with three rows of seats, which were enough to accommodate seven or eight individuals.
"My home is a bit far from here, so if you’re sleepy, you can nap for a while," Tim said to Zhang Zian after the three of them got in the car. Tim and Allen sat in the front row, with Zhang Zian and Fina sitting in the middle row, and the luggage and Dragon Li in the back row.
"Thank you, I'm fine." Zhang Zian had slept on the plane. And after all, he was still young, so he didn’t feel sleepy.
The minivan started up and headed for the outskirts of Los Angeles.
Allen turned his head curiously. "Sir, what methods do you use to train cats? I know it's a secret, but can’t you reveal any information about it?"
"Allen!" Tim wanted to stop him from snooping on the secrets of others.
"It's all right, you can call me Jeff," said Richard. "In fact, the secret lies in... ‘Qi’."
"Qi?" Tim and Allen repeated in unison.
"That's right, Qi!" Richard said loudly, and Zhang Zian cooperated with it and looked pretentious.
Tim and Allen were in awe of him!
It was undeniable that most ordinary foreigners got to know China from the stereotypes depicted in movies. Many people even thought that every Chinese person could play table tennis very well and every Chinese person could fight Kung Fu. As for the more mysterious Yin and Yang, Feng Shui, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Qigong, they were kind of like sorcery in their eyes…
He must come up with an explanation for the cat training, otherwise they wouldl get suspicious. Why not just say it was related to Oriental Mysticism? Since most foreigners were religious, they might acknowledge such an explanation more or less. Look at the famous Batman series, where the protagonist even went to Tibet to learn fighting methods from a Master ...
"So, are you a Qigong Master?" Allen's half-heartedness had disappeared. Eyes wide open, he asked this cautiously.
While driving, Tim gazed at Zhang Zian through the rear-view mirror. Obviously, he was interested in this question.
"Qigong Master... well, kind of..." Richard laughed mysteriously.
Allen and Tim had recognized the contempt in his reply. They could not help but look at each other blankly. Was Jeff Zhang even better than a Qigong Master?
"Let me tell you the truth. I am the 72nd generation of the Ancient Tomb Sect of Zhongnan Mountain. You must not tell anyone about this secret!" Richard was initially just cooperating with Zhang Zian, but then it felt it would be very interesting to hoodwink these foreigners, and it gradually enjoyed the tricks.
"Oh, we understand! We will never reveal it!" Tim and Allen swallowed and promised this solemnly. Although they didn’t understand what was Zhongnan Mountain or what was the Ancient Tomb Sect, they felt these words were magnificent and classy, and they could not help but start to believe him.
Tim intended to secretly tell his wife Lauren at night, and Allen intended to use this secret to flirt with girls.
"Jeff, when are you going to start training cats? Can you let me watch on the side? I promise you I won’t say anything to anyone!" Allen asked respectfully.
"I'm sorry. I’m about to address this issue—I will choose to train the cats in a field, where no one is allowed to watch." Richard said in an unquestionable tone. Turning its pupils, it said, "But if you are interested in Qi, I can give you some instructions."
Hearing this, Allen jumped up from his seat excitedly and his head bumped into the top! Regardless of the pain, he said incoherently, "Jeff... No… Master Zhang! Are you really willing to teach me Qi?"
Zhang Zian was stunned. He didn’t remember discussing this matter with Richard before, what did it want?
Seeing Allen bite the bait, Richard immediately said, "No problem, but there is a condition."
"What condition? Master Zhang, I will agree to any condition!" said Allen.
"It’s very simple, you have to prepare... uh ... at least 10 different nuts and bring them to me every day!" said Richard.
Zhang Zian was very speechless. So, Richard was seeking its own profits!