Time passed very quickly. In the blink of an eye, it was already the day of the departure.
Before setting off, Zhang Zian put Galaxy, Fina, Old Time Tea, and Snowy Lionet in the game.
The flight duration was very long. The path crossed over Eurasia, where they transferred to another flight. It would basically take an entire day just for the journey there. Unlike the previous trip to America, Fina was not in the mood to board the plane this time. It would definitely throw a tantrum if it were to starve during the journey there.
It was the same for Richard; it wanted to act tough and board the plane, but it would be too troublesome to transfer flights, and it was going to be cold outside, so after thinking it through, Richard decided to conserve its strength and energy for when they reached Germany.
Initially, the Pet Hunter game provided five elfin pet bars and five normal pet bars, but after Fina was captured and its true name was unlocked, an additional two free pet bars were provided. As the number of elfins grew, however, the elfin pet bars were insufficient, so Zhang Zian allocated the two free pet bars to the elfin pet bars. This made it so the elfin pet bars could hold a total of seven elfins.
The elfins stored were Galaxy, Fina, Old Time Tea, Richard, Snowy Lionet, Famous, and Pi—just the seven of them. There would be just enough space to keep all of them within the game, but what if there was a new elfin? That could potentially be awkward.
On this flight, Famous would be consigned through the animal cargo hold, Pi would remain in the store and, if necessary, Richard could enter the passenger compartment, so the space within the pet bars would not be too packed.
“Pi,” Zhang Zian said as he locked his luggage bag.
“Zhi zhi?” Pi, who was typing right in front of the computer, turned its head back.
Zhang Zian went through his thoughts again, checking if he missed anything before he said, “Pi, we’ll be heading off now. Remember to look after yourself and the house—don’t run around, lock the door to the living room once we leave, and do not open the door if anyone else other than me knocks.”
This was not Zian’s first time reminding Pi about these rules. Pi nodded briskly to acknowledge what Zian said.
Whenever a customer entered the store, Zhang Zian would observe them. If he felt that the customer required any assistance he would approach them, but if he felt that the customer did not require any assistance at the moment, then he would just leave them be. He was unlike those shopping guides in the malls, where they annoyed customers and pressured them.
Customers that liked pets were usually of a better standard. Most of them were well behaved and law-abiding while they browsed around the store. They would pay attention to not cross their boundaries or do anything inappropriate. There was a note pasted by the side of the stairs to remind customers to not proceed any further than the second floor, for it was a private residence. Most customers would turn back after they noticed the note, but there would always be some unknown creatures— known as the naughty kids—that would take advantage of their parent’s love and would run around. They would go through things that did not belong to them and make a mess everywhere. You couldn’t scold them or even say anything to them, or else the parents would become protective.
Aside from that, there would occasionally be a few customers with a different mentality. It was obvious that they had noticed the reminder on the note, yet they would pretend to be unaware and would attempt to head up to the second floor. There was no way of knowing if it was done out of curiosity, or they were trying to do something sneaky.
When either of those situations happened, either Wang Qian, Li Kun, or Zhang Zian would step forward to stop them. When the naughty kids were stopped, they would make an ugly face before running off. What aggravated them the most were those adults that played dumb and tried to act innocent after they were stopped.
When the shop was busy, Zhang Zian would arrange for Zhan Tian to stand guard at the stairs. As the previous ace of the police dogs, Zhan Tian was very vigilant and dedicated to its duties, so it would be impossible for anyone to sneak through under its watch.
Zhang Zian had already instructed Wang Qian and Li Kun to pay close attention after he left in order to prevent theft, to which the two of them consented without much deliberation. The two of them were quite foolish, and they might become too engrossed in their mobile game. Zhan Tian could not stand by the stairway all day since it needed to rest, eat, and relieve itself, so Zhang Zian felt the reminder was necessary.
As a precaution, Zian locked all doors on the second floor and instructed Pi to lock the door of the living room from the inside once he had left.
“Pi, you have to take care of yourself for the next few days. Don’t sleep too late and don’t sit for too long.” Once again, Zian started to remind Pi on the daily issues.
Pi nodded its head.
“Okay then, we’ll see you again in a few days time. Bye bye!” Zian waved goodbye to Pi.
“Zhi zhi!” Pi, too, waved its hands while it smiled.
He dragged along his heavy luggage bag after him as he left the living room and stopped worrying once he heard the sound of the living room door being locked from the inside.
“Master, do you need us to send you to the airport?” Li Kun asked as Zian came down to the first floor. Zian’s luggage bag seemed to be quite heavy.
Wang Qian nimbly ran out to hail a cab.
The previous trip to America was not too cold, and he hadn’t been there too long. But it was still very cold in Germany now—much colder compared to Binhai City—so Zian had to bring along cotton-padded, and additional, clothing. Other than that, as he would be walking the red carpet with Famous and attending the awards ceremony, Zian had to prepare a set of formal wear; almost his entire luggage bag was stuffed with various clothing.
Zhang Zian waved. “It’s okay. Although it seems quite big, it isn’t too heavy so I am fine by myself. The only thing the two of you need to do is to look after the shop. If there are any issues that you can’t solve, just put it aside and wait for my return.
Zian also reminded Lu Yiyun, “Xiao Yun, you’re always the first to come and last to leave, so remember to lock the door when you leave.”
Lu Yiyun nodded. “Yes, I will. Have a safe trip Mister Store Manager.”
Wang Qian stopped a cab right outside the store after Zhang Zian finished all that he wanted to say. He waved goodbye to all of them.
“Famous, let’s go,” Zian called out as he walked out of the store, dragging the luggage bag behind him.
The driver opened up the trunk, and Wang Qian helped Zhang Zian to load the luggage into it.
“Hold on, Mister Store Manager! Hold on a moment!”
Lu Yiyun ran out of the store. “Key! You haven’t given me the keys to the shutter doors!”
Zhang Zian slapped his own forehead. He had thought of everything, but he’d forgotten about this! How could she lock the door with no keys?
Zhang Zian took out the keys from his pocket and handed them to her. “Look at my memory…”
Zian’s wallet followed his keys out of his pocket and fell to the floor, but Zian did not notice.
Famous smelled a scent and said, “Wallet.”
Zhang Zian lowered his head to look and was immediately left speechless.
Up in the sky and down to the earth the spirits were watching. Thank god Fina’s asleep within the game. I should have never sworn about losing my wallet yesterday…
Not bringing a wallet along when walking about in China is not much, but Germany’s mobile payments were not as advanced as China’s. His foreign currency credit card, euro banknotes that Zian exchanged at the bank, a photocopy of his passport and everything else important were all kept in his wallet. If Zian really lost his wallet, it would haunt him for three sleepless months.
Zian picked up the wallet that fell on the ground and got in the cab with Famous. Wang Qian and Lu Yiyun watched as Zian left straight for Binhai Airport from the pet store.
It was a journey with no words. After arriving at the airport, Zian brought Famous to process the consignment procedures and handed over the Airline Veterinary Health Certificate to the staff. From February onwards, the EU had a new set of rules for animals entering their borders. A document, the EU Incoming Tourists Pet-Veterinary Health Certificate, was required, while, at the same time, a handwritten statement letter must be produced to state that the pet was not for any commercial purposes.
Aside from those requirements, Zian also bought a large-sized pet air box. Of course he could bring his own, but that would require him to produce a Transportation Equipment Disinfection proof, so he might as well buy one on the spot.
Zian released Famous’s leash and it entered the pet air box. Although this was already the largest pet air box available, it was still quite cramped for Famous.
“How is it, Famous? Are you hungry?” Zian asked softly.
According to the regulations, pets that were to be consigned were required to fast ten hours before the flight. Although no one really bothered with this rule, the flight duration for this trip was really long and, since Famous did not want to squeeze into the box with its own poop, it had been fasting since last night.
“I’m still okay—not really hungry.” Famous curled up its body as it laid down. “There’s no need to worry! I’ll just take one nap and we’ll be there.”
“Okay, then. Just treat it as a diet.”
It was okay to not eat, but drinking water was still necessary. Zhang Zian bought a water bottle and placed it within the pet air box, then closed the door of the air box and covered it up with a net sling, as requested by the airline staff. This was to greatly limit the chances of the pet escaping from the pet air box and causing a commotion aboard the plane.
Now that everything was ready, Zhang Zian was prepared to board the plane. A long flight awaited him.