After watching the corals, Galaxy heard the kittens downstairs had already woken up. It ran downstairs merrily to play hide-and-seek with them.
Zhang Zian also went downstairs and opened up the shutter door to ventilate the shop. He tested the water quality at the same time.
A brand new Wuling Hong Guang MPV was parked in front of the shop.
Now that he owned a car, not a bicycle, he might be able to ask a girl if she would rather laugh in his Wuling Hong Guang, or cry in someone else’s BMW.
As the water testing result was fine, he started cleaning up the shop as usual.
Soon, Lu Yiyun, Wang Qian, and Li Kun arrived for work.
“Master, it’s a shame that you didn’t come with us to get the bottom sand. Otherwise, you would have seen my handsome driving!” Wang Qian bragged excitedly. “This Wuling Hong Guang deserves its fame! With over 100 kilos of bottom sand and eco-bio-blocks, I passed two accelerating Honda Civics, one BMW M4, one Tesla, and almost passed a Lamborghini! As I was about to drift in the alley, I arrived at the pet shop…”
Zhang Zian was intoxicated. Was it a Wuling Hong Guang he was driving, or an AE86? It could drift in an alley?
Li Kun clarified, “Master, don’t listen to his nonsense. In fact, I was the one driving. He almost peed in his pants…”
“Just save it, both of you! Don’t drive the car into the ditch. If you get a ticket, you will pay it. Stop the bullshit and get to work!” Zhang Zian vented. When he bought the car, the two of them despised the Wuling Hong Guang so much, saying it was a low-class car. But after they got the car, they enjoyed driving it so much.
“Aye.” They agreed and started working with brooms and mops. They still could not shut up, arguing one after the other over who was a better driver.
“I’ll use the car soon. If you are finished, just take a break. Our custom-made aquarium tanks are being delivered today. If I’m not here then, just sign off the courier for me,” Zhang Zian instructed.
“Master, are you going to try drifting in the alley?” they asked.
“Drift in your a**! I’m going to the beach to take a walk.” He laughed and cursed.
He was planning to play the underwater loudspeaker in the sea. It might be too late if he waited any longer.
“Good morning, Brother Store Manager!”
With a loud and clear greeting, Little Celery hopped into the shop. Then she stepped outside in doubt, looked up at the store sign next door, and mumbled, “Amazing Fate Aquarium… Brother Store Manager, are you going to sell fish?”
“Good morning, Little Celery. That’s right! I’m going to sell fish, but not food!” Zhang Zian put up his hand. “Come here, high five! Yay!”
“Yay!”
Little Celery jumped and clapped her little palm against his, despite that she didn’t know why he wanted a high-five.
It was his first time seeing Little Celery ever since his return from Germany. Before that, he had been busy day and night, while Little Celery had been going to school late to take care of the hamsters during the winter holidays. They always missed each other.
“Little Celery, did your school start?”
Judging from the way she was running, he saw that her backpack seemed much heavier now than it was in the winter holidays. Maybe it was full of textbooks and exercise books.
“Yes! It’s the first day of school today!” She nodded with strength.
She was wearing a red flannel hoodie with a sweater inside, a backpack, a scarf, but no hat. The scarf dangled behind her as she ran.
“Oh, I’ve never seen those shoes before. Are they new? Very nice,” he asked.
“Aha! New shoes for the new year! It’s my first time wearing them! I kept them specifically for the school day! They are bigger than the old ones. The old shoes are getting squishy!” She hopped with joy.
He felt that she had grown a bit taller after the winter holidays. Kids grew fast, after all. They grew up in the blink of an eye.
“Haha, Little Celery can certainly control herself! I’d surely put on my new shoes the same day I got them when I was younger.” Zhang Zian laughed. “Oh right, Little Celery, how are the hamsters? Are they okay?”
“Very good! Our class report is handed in. We got the full mark! Except that… Yaning wrote all of it. We didn’t really help her…” She said with embarrassment.
“That’s fine. Everybody’s good at something, and not so good at something.” Zhang Zian encouraged her. “Wang Yaning is good at writing reports. Little Celery is good at making the team work together. You compliment each other’s role. Isn’t that great?”
Little Celery nodded. “The school is very happy with our report and agreed that we can keep hamsters.”
“Oh? Does it mean that you need more hamsters? Should I look for more for you?” Zhang Zian asked.
“There’s no need. Thank you, Brother Store Manager. We are going to breed our own hamsters. We’ll use these hamsters to breed the new generation. This is also the focus of the hamster raising class this semester,” she said seriously.
“Is that so. You need to work hard, then. But I’m sure Little Celery can do it.” Zhang Zian thought that this was indeed a good idea, as hamsters were very fertile. In fact, all rodents were very fertile.
“Yes!” She made a little fist and looked very motivated. Yet, her eyes were soon filled with questions. “Brother Store Manager, how do hamsters reproduce? We’ll put the males with the females, and that’s it?”
Zhang Zian didn’t know what to say.
He suddenly understood something. The purpose of hamster raising class in Zhonghua Road Primary School was not that simple. They intended to use this class as part of the sex education program. When he was young, the schools were not thinking that far in advance.
Education’s purpose went beyond answering questions and teaching knowledge. Children nowadays were maturing earlier and faster. They indeed needed the missing link in education. The decision maker in Zhonghua Road Primary School deserved a thumbs up.
As he thought, he encouraged her. “Little Celery, don’t worry. Just follow your school’s instructions. They would certainly not let you go ahead blindly.”
Little Celery nodded, still a bit confused.
“Your school teachers may only give you some general guidance. If you have any questions regarding details of hamster breeding, just come ask me. But you’d better try searching for the answer first.” He smiled.
“Okay! Thank you, Brother Store Manager!”
Little Celery still had questions, but she no longer had doubt in her eyes.
“You are welcome. After you grow up, if you can help take care of my business, it would be great.” Zhang Zian joked with her.
“I get it! I’ll go talk to Bell and Ear!” She ran into the shop to see the hamsters and lop-eared rabbits.
Zhang Zian looked at the time, instructed Wang Qian and Li Kun to examine the courier carefully, then took the underwater loudspeaker and left the shop. He drove the Wuling Hong Guang towards the beach.