Chapter 327: A Returned Customer
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Snowy was not as heartless as she looked on the surface. She knew that her parents loved her very much — whether they nagged her or scolded her, they just hoped she would lead a happier life. Although she understood their intentions, she was not willing to follow the path designated by them—becoming a lady, then marrying a well-to-do man or a self-made talented man, assisting her husband and bringing up their children as a housewife, leading an affluent life that was the envy of all…..
But she was not ready to settle down. She wanted to experience more styles of life. Having not quite figured out the direction of her own future, she didn’t want to make life-changing decisions, nor did she want others to decide her own fate for her.
Snowy was guilty that she didn’t listen to her parents. Therefore, when she heard from her mother that maintaining good relations with the rich housewives would help her father's business, she started to pay attention to potential methods that could make them happy. Right now, as Zhang Zian told her that his kittens had learned new stunts, she was pleasantly surprised.
Some of the audience members also had bought cats and dogs from the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, but many people nowadays didn’t have time to raise cats, so they could only raise cats on the internet through pictures and videos. Now, they were more interested in watching the kittens that could perform stunts, because after all, they didn’t need to pay for that.
Zhang Zian was eager to seize this rare and free advertising opportunity. Every audience member from the live broadcast was a potential customer, and many of them could be Tuhaos.
"What is the new stunt this time, Mr. Store Manager? Is it similar to the figure eights?" Snowy asked this on behalf of the audience, but she also wanted to know the answer herself.
Zhang Zian held his head high, and said with an expression that made others want to punch him, "About the new stunt, everyone can make a guess. If anyone can get it right, you win!"
The audience began their speculations. Most of them guessed the new stunt would be new gaits such as turning around, rolling, shaking hands and bowing. Although some people had guessed it was dancing, and others said singing love songs, Zhang Zian would never admit he had lost.
When everyone had expressed their conjectures, Zhang Zian made a "quiet, please " gesture.
The comments floating on the bullet screens gradually decreased. The audience members, whether they were holding their cell phones or sitting in front of their computers, were all attentively looking at Zhang Zian and his kittens to see the new stunt.
Zhang Zian clapped his hands three times. The kittens stopped their chasing and playing, and raised their heads to look at him together.
"Music!" shouted Richard.
Zhang Zian clapped his hands again and started the music player at the same time. The strong drum beats of the song "Little Apple" were heard from the speaker of the phone.
"You are my dear, little apple..."
"I can never love you enough..."
The kittens started to dance to the drum beats with their short legs. Since dancing was more difficult than walking in figure eights, Zhang Zian would train the kittens every day, so right now, they were more adept in their steps compared to the day when they had performed in front of Song Bai. Now, they could raise their legs, swing their tails and wave their paws more accurately and in unison.
Snowy and the audience were stupefied by the kittens’ adorable dancing, and they felt like their hearts were melting!
Even when the music had stopped, Snowy and the audience were still immersed in that wonderful dance and weren’t able to come to their senses.
"Who recorded the video just now? I’m willing to transfer RMB 50 to you in WeChat if you forward it to me!" Someone broke the silence.
"I'm dying! These adorable kittens are killing me!"
"Please forward the video to me!"
"Me too!"
"I am a poor student, can anyone that received the video forward it to me, please? God bless you!"
"So sad I didn’t record it, or else I could’ve been a billionaire!"
"I recorded it! Don’t worry, everyone, leave your email addresses and I will send it to you! Free! No charge!"
In an instant, countless email addresses of all sorts of colors, fonts and sizes, accompanied by "God bless you", appeared and floated on the bullet screen, which was really dazzling. The well-intentioned audience member who told others to leave their email addresses was probably about to cry. There were hundreds of email addresses on the bullet screen, and instead of copying from his own address book, he could only input them by typing down the characters and numbers. Until what day could he finish such an onerous task?!
Someone sighed emotionally, "Looking at the density of the comments on the bullet screen, I would have thought that someone was disseminating the resources of the videos of porn stars..."
While other clever audience reminded, "Hey! Are you guys are stupid or what? Wouldn’t it be better if we asked the pretentious store manager to let the kittens perform again? Everyone can record the video this time, and we won’t have to ask others to forward it! We can just praise him if he wants to show off!"
"Good idea! He won’t suffer any losses from showing off himself!"
Urged by the audience, Snowy, who also wanted to see the dance again, put forward the request to Zhang Zian.
Zhang Zian didn’t mind doing it one or two more times, but he couldn’t grant the request easily, or else people would just ask for it incessantly. So, he acted like he didn’t want to start the show, and only reluctantly agreed after Snowy begged him for several times.
This time, the audience was well-prepared. They remembered to turn on recording mode, and invited their friends and families to watch the dance together. Many of them even dragged their roommates or classmates who were studying to enjoy the show in front of their cell phones or computers.
The bright rhythm sounded again, and everyone was mesmerized by the dancing kittens.
Since they had watched the dance for once, this time, the audience was not as shocked as they had been the first time, and they started to discuss the details of the kittens’ dancing, arguing which movements were derived from which idol groups. The audience indicated that it was dizzying to look at these kittens and that each one of the kittens was just adorable. Just like Zhao Qi, some people even made great ambitions to richen themselves so that one day they could buy all these kittens…
The responses of the audience were just as expected by Zhang Zian, who seized the timing and inserted his advertisement, "My pet shop has a membership system. Become a member today, and you can enjoy a free opportunity to upgrade the stunts for your pets. More exciting stunts await! Don’t miss this chance!"
"So sad. Even though I know I will be cheated by the swindler store manager, I think I will get myself a membership card!"
"Store manager, how much does it cost for me to become a member? Will there be any discounts since I am a fan of Snowy?"
"Stop dreaming! This store manager is notoriously stingy, he even wanted a free cup of water at a tea house…and you’re expecting him to give you discounts? The chance that the sun will rise from the West would be higher…"
Just when Zhang Zian was going to justify himself under these slanders, the automatic glass door suddenly glided open and in walked a middle-aged woman that looked familiar to him. Zhang Zian swore that he had seen this woman before, he just couldn’t remember when.
Seeing that a customer was visiting his pet shop, Snowy went away to other side so that Zhang Zian could greet the customer. It was inappropriate for her to affect his business.
"Boss, here I come again, do you remember me?" said Deng Jie with a smile.
She was carrying a no-brand canvas bag and wearing a plain old down jacket with black trousers. There was no makeup on her face, and her simple dressing just made her another ordinary woman that no one could recognize easily amid the crowd.
The "again" word reminded Zhang Zian, he pointed at her, uttered an "ah" cry, and he suddenly remembered.
"You have been here before, correct?" He rubbed his temples and tried to recall, "I remember you came together with another auntie whose last name is Liu, right?"
Deng Jie waved her hands embarrassedly, "I have been here once, but by myself. I just happened to run into her in front of the shop."
Zhang Zian gradually remembered everything, and her appearance matched with his memory.
Actually, Deng Jie was one of the five customers that visited his pet shop at the beginning—Little Celery, Zhao Qi, her, and another auntie called Liu Wenying. Zhang Zian remembered Liu Wenying because she was Zhao Qi’s neighbor and had been to his shop twice. The first time she came with Zhao Qi to preserve their rights, and the second time she came with Deng Jie.
At that time, Zhang Zian had sold only one cat, which was brought by Zhao Qi. The business seemed unsustainable and he might need to close the shop at any time, so every customer that entered his shop during that period had left him with a deeper impression. Deng Jie thought the cats were too expensive then. She hesitated for a long time, saying that she would discuss with her husband before making any decision, and then left but never came back.
Going home to discuss with family was a very common excuse. Zhang Zian had also used it before when he was thinking about buying expensive items but wanted to escape from the enthusiastic salespersons. Therefore, when he heard these words, he knew that Deng Jie would probably not come again, and he wouldn’t be able to close the deal. Although it was a pity, he couldn’t do anything about it either, for he didn’t want to attract customers by lowering prices. Since then, the appearance of Deng Jie slowly vanished in his mind, and didn’t recur to him until today.
So, why was she here again?
Going from early autumn to early winter, she finally had finished the discussion with her husband that lasted more than two months?