Chapter 380: Profiteers Everywhere
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Before the young man sent that message, the conversation style of the Dog Market Trading WeChat Group Chat was as follows.
Liu XX: "Little Monk, how is your business today? Just now I saw a fool leave with a hybrid, how much did you earn from that?
Little Monk Panic: "Brother Liu, stop teasing me! I only sold one in so many days! But you already sold at least two Pomeranians just this morning, correct?"
Three-year-old Oni: "You guys should buy me dinner! I haven’t sold anything today!"
Golden Autumn for Business: "Yo, Three-year-old! Everyone knows that you earn high profit when selling only one pet, so stop acting like you are very poor! The weather is bad today, I won’t go to my stand. Hope to hear good news from you!"
...
But after the young man sent the warning message, the conversation style changed drastically.
Liu XX: "What the f**k! Who is seeking troubles? Staff from the Trade and Industry Bureau or the Tax Bureau? Three-year-old, did you not hand in our dues?"
Three-year-old Oni: "I’m innocent! I’ve handed in our complete dues! Don’t blame me!"
Red Dragon: "The man is not from Trade and Industry Bureau or the Tax Bureau. I think he is one of our own."
Little Monk Panic: "What? Who could be so stupid? I know most of the owners of the kennels in Binhai City, and I don’t think they would do such things..."
Red Dragon: "It is not yet clear, I'm just letting you guys know."
Golden Autumn for Business: "Thanks, Brother Dragon. If he really disturbs our business, show him what we will do!"
Red Dragon: "Let me make it clear. We set up this group chat to unite the brothers in the dog market. We are in this together. No one can conduct business on his own. Do you understand?"
Everyone responded: "Yes, Brother Dragon! Trust us!"
...
Holding the Dragon Li that was disguised by the vendor as an American Shorthair, Zhang Zian said to Snowy, "From body shape, a Dragon Li and American Shorthair are very much alike. And the fur color of some Dragon Li, like this one, can also be similar to that of an American Shorthair. This kitten is indeed in good condition. It is clever, energetic, and seems quite healthy. But it is a Dragon Li, the price of which is only one tenth of an American Shorthair."
The vendor said exasperatedly, "Nonsense! Put my kitten down!"
Snowy targeted her camera at this vendor to shoot his embarrassment.
"Hey! Stop shooting me!" The vendor quickly covered his face.
Zhang Zian put the kitten down, and pulled at Snowy, "Let's go."
He did not think it was necessary to quarrel with these street vendors because there were so many profiteers in the dog market. It was more important to educate the tens of thousands of viewers in Snowy’s live broadcast about these common frauds so that they wouldn’t fall for the same traps when selecting pets.
Snowy looked at the kitten, then caught up with Zhang Zian. She asked, "Mr. Store Manager, how did you distinguish a Dragon Li from an American Shorthair?"
In addition to cursing out the unscrupulous vendors, the audience also wanted to know the answer to this question.
As Zhang Zian walked, he explained, "The method of distinguishing them by the patterns on their bodies as described on the internet is unreliable, for the patterns on some Dragon Li that share the pedigree with American Shorthairs are almost identical to the patterns on authentic American Shorthairs. Therefore, we must not only look at their fur color and facial features, but also observe their shapes and bones. For example, look at their tails. From the root to tip, the tail of a Dragon Li gets slimmer gradually, while the tail of an American Shorthair gets finer dramatically. Another difference lies in the shape of their heads. The head of an American Shorthair is an oval shape, and takes up a larger proportion of its whole body, similar to the 1:6 proportion of an ordinary person. The head of a Dragon Li is smaller and hexagonal in shape, and the proportion of the head to whole body is 1:9, like a supermodel."
Snowy was still somewhat confused.
Zhang Zian comforted her, "You can’t distinguish between them because you haven’t met as many cats as I have. In the pet industry, I need to observe different kinds of cats and dogs every day, so I can tell differences easily, otherwise I would suffer great loss if I was tricked by those peddlers."
Snowy nodded, agreeing to his words.
She thought of another question and asked, "Mr. Store Manager, the kitten bit my hand just now. Was it because it was separated from its mother too soon and lacked social education?"
"That's right," said Zhang Zian approvingly, "When kittens are born, a normal mother cat would teach them how to live with humans, and this education includes teaching them not to bite people. If kittens bite, it is either because they are separated too early form their mother, or the mother cat is unable to teach them for some reason—for instance, if the mother cat is used as a breeding machine and has to give birth to kittens litter after litter so frequently that the mother cat collapses physically and mentally."
"So poor..." Snowy looked back at the stand. She found that the two young girls were following them and whispering.
Some audience members raised a question. "Hottie Store Manager, my kitten is always biting. Not only does it bite me, but it also bites my guests. Can this habit be corrected?"
Snowy repeated this question to Zhang Zian.
He immediately replied, "Sure. If it bites you, you bite it back."
Snowy and the audience were stunned, thinking that he was joking.
Zhang Zian laughed, "It's not a joke. Do you know how mother cats educate their kittens? When kittens bite their mothers while drinking milk or playing, the mothers will bite their kittens back and let them know that it hurts to be bitten. After repeating this several times, the kittens will no longer bite—this is social education, tooth for a tooth. If you don’t think you can bite them, you can shout and scare them when they bite, so that they can form conditional reflexes."
Snowy patted her head, "That is so informative!"
The audience also commented, "Yes! Yes! Very informative!"
Someone sent out a long, emotional comment, " I got my kitten as soon as it was born in my neighbor’s home. It used to bite, and then I scolded it and beat it. Now, it doesn’t bite anymore, but it is so afraid of me. Every time I call it, it runs away… if only I knew there were other ways to correct its habits."
Many netizens were criticizing him for beating the kitten, saying that he should be more patient in educating it.
Zhang Zian shook his head and said, "Actually you don’t need to hit it when the kitten bites. But it alienates from you not because you hit it."
The person that issued the comment asked for his advice.
Zhang Zian asked, "Did you also call its name when you were scolding it and beating it?"
"Right! That's it! How do you know that?" asked the audience.
Zhang Zian said with confidence, "When a pet, whether it is a cat or a dog, makes a mistake, especially a severe mistake like biting people, it must be punished. But there are certain skills when it comes to punishing them. You must punish them right away when they commit the mistake. If you bring the event up several hours later, the pet has already forgotten what the issue is about."
He paused for a moment, and added, "Plus, there's a common mistake among novice pet raisers, which is yelling the pets’ names while scolding them. This is absolutely wrong because the pets will associate their names with mistakes, and whenever they hear their owners call their names, they will think they have made mistakes again and will try to run away. The correct way is to call their names when awarding or feeding them, and do not shout their names when punishing them."
Not only Snowy and the audience in her live broadcast program, but also the two young girls behind them were nodding when they heard what Zhang Zian said. Many people had made similar mistakes without knowing them. Right now, they finally figured out why their pets would alienate from them.
There was no love without reason, and there was no hatred without reason.
None of the cats and dogs in Zhang Zian’s pet shop bit people, so he had never explained these issues to the audience. Taking advantage of visiting the dog market today, he could show them how the pets behaved differently based on the social education they had received.
Snowy felt this trip was really rewarding. Not only did she have fun, but she had also learned some things she had never thought about before.
While absent-mindedly listening to Zhang Zian's explanation, Deng Jie was searching for the peddler that lied to her and sold her a fake Shiba Inu last time. She quietly pulled at Zhang Zian's sleeves and gestured, "Mr. Store Manager, that stand is selling Pomeranians, and I almost brought one home last time I was here. Could you please go there and see whether they are real Pomeranians? I’ve been so regretful, thinking that if I chose a Pomeranian over a Shiba Inu, could I avoid the tragedy of being frauded?"
Zhang Zian thought this was unlikely because, as far as he could see, this dog market was full of profiteers with few decent business persons.
"OK, no problem, let's go and see if these Pomeranians are real."
He greeted Snowy. The three of them changed direction, heading to the stand selling Pomeranians.