A busy and fulfilling weekend has passed.

After two days of lazy sleep, on Monday morning, Zhang Zi'an woke up early again, briefly cleaned the store, and prepared lunch for Pegasus and two police dogs — still potato beef stew.

He received an official notice last night that all the crew members except him returned to the crew on Monday morning to report. As for him, today he will go to the Binhai City Police Dog Training Base with Director Feng Xuan to select the dogs as stand-ins, and temporarily pull these dogs back from the brink of death.

The police dog training base is usually not open to outsiders, and Zhang Zi'an has never been there, so he doesn't know what is real or not, and he still has some small expectations in his heart.

Lu Yiyun came early as usual, and as soon as she entered the store, she smelled the mouth-watering aroma of beef. As soon as she heard the report that Zhang Zi'an was leaving the store to go to the crew, she suddenly felt weak and worried that she would not be able to cope with the customers.

Zhang Zi'an encouraged her a few words, telling her to relax, if she can do business, don't force it if she can't do it. There are many more customers now than when he first took over the pet store, and it is inevitable that some strange requests and questions will be raised, even if he can't cope with it, let alone Lu Yiyun, who is a newcomer.

As he was talking, two car horns sounded outside the door, Zhang Zi'an looked sideways, and as expected, Xiao Liu came to pick him up again.

After a few more words of advice to Lu Yiyun, he left the store with Feimas and got into Xiao Liu's car.

After Zhang Zi'an left, the store fell silent.

Compared to weekends when customers flocked to the market, Lu Yiyun enjoyed the quiet of Monday morning, turning on her computer, spreading out her drawing tools on the cash register table, and letting Jasmine lie on her lap, ready to draw for a while before the first customer arrived.

When Zhang Zi'an fed the snow lion raw brisket, he also fed a few pieces of jasmine by the way. Jasmine was well fed, yawned profusely, curled up in a ball, and had become accustomed to using her master's leg as a second cat nest.

Before Lu Yiyun started writing, he stroked the cat for a while. She gently stroked the hair on the back of Jasmine's neck, I don't know if it was a psychological effect, I felt that it had eaten raw beef brisket for a few days, its body became a lot stronger, and the hair was smoother, which was very comfortable to touch. She looked at the time number in the lower right corner of the computer and whispered to herself, "If you touch it for another three minutes, you won't be able to ...... it for another second."

The time of petting the cat always feels very fast, and often before it is enough, the time slips away unconsciously.

In the quiet pet shop, the painting of a girl and a cat, which was originally an excellent picture, was suddenly broken by a scream!

"Help, help!"

Lu Yiyun was so frightened that she trembled under her hands, and she may have accidentally pulled Jasmine's hair, and she meowed softly, jumped off her lap, and jumped inside—exactly the direction the voice came from.

"Jasmine, Jasmine, come back, don't run around!"

The sudden cry for help made Lu Yiyun frightened, she didn't know what was going on, why there was a cry for help in the pet store, could it be that Zhang Zi'an didn't turn off the TV when he left?

Jasmine was gone in the blink of an eye.

She looked around at a loss, looking outside the store. Pedestrians and vehicles rush to and fro in the early morning, and no one has any intention of stopping to enter the store. Although she is very sorry for Zhang Zi'an, in fact, she usually prays for fewer guests, but at this time, she hopes to come in casually and give her courage.

Wang Qian and Li Kun will not come so early, they are college students, they sleep late and get up late, except for special circumstances, the time to come to the store every day is basically not earlier than 10 o'clock. They have a lot to do when they arrive, shoveling feces and cleaning the cat litter, and leading the puppies out the store's newly opened back door to walk the dogs in a nearby uninhabited green space.

What should I do, should I call the police?

She was pinching her phone, her palms covered with sweat.

After standing there for a long time, she decided not to call the police, she didn't know how to deal with the police, what if she called the police and found out that it was a false alarm?

"Jasmine!" she called a few more times, but Jasmine still didn't return.

The room was calm again, and Lu Yiyun took a few steps inside.

It's business as usual.

The black and white kittens were chasing and frolicking with several Abyssinian cats, the golden and white cats were lazily sleeping on the cat climbing frame, and the other kittens and puppies did not behave unusually.

There was a buzzing TV in the corner, she knew that there was a small TV there, and there was an old cat wearing a hat and a long shirt and a horse coat always lying there watching TV, which was a special scene of Qiyuan Pet Shop, and anyone who watched it thought it was funny, everyone thought it couldn't understand the content of the TV, and just pretended to be blind.

She walked over on tiptoe, and the old brown cat tilted its head sideways and glanced at her slightly. For some reason, she always felt that its eyes were very kind and kind, just like a grandfather who stayed in his hometown in the countryside.

It grinned, as if smiling at her, moved to the side again, gave way to a place, and waved its paw into the clearing, as if inviting her to watch TV with her.

The fluff in the middle of the old electric blanket has been worn bald and polished, and a few brown cat hairs can be seen.

Lu Yiyun wasn't quite sure if she was wrong, was the old cat really inviting her to sit down and watch TV together?

There was a movie she had watched on TV, which was "Ip Man 3", of course she didn't watch it in the cinema, after all, she didn't have friends who could go to the movies together, and she didn't even know which way the door of the cinema opened......

She waved her hand to show that she didn't want to see it, then gestured and asked, "My cat, Jasmine, is so big and yellow, do you know where it went?"

Lu Yiyun felt that she was stupid, why should she talk seriously to a cat?

The brown old cat seemed to understand what she meant, and moved back regretfully, continuing to stare intently at the TV, shaking her head when she saw the highlights, as if she was intoxicated.

Wouldn't it? It really understands?

Lu Yiyun thought about it, since Zhang Zi'an can teach a kitten to dance, it doesn't seem unusual to teach an old cat to watch TV?

Unable to get an answer from the old brown cat, she walked over to the cat climbing frame and looked at the golden cat with apprehension. The morning sun shone diagonally through the window, shining on its body, and the tips of each hair shone with a golden light, as if it were made of gold.

This cat seems to have a big temper, and she has seen it meowing like a demonstration to Zhang Zi'an with a cold face several times, but Zhang Zi'an always gives in helplessly, so she has been a little afraid of it from the moment she first entered the store.

The golden cat noticed her gaze, her eyes opened a slit, and her green gaze met her, clear as ice and sharp as a gun.

Lu Yiyun took two steps back in fear, stretched the distance a little longer, and asked with a gesture: "My cat, Jasmine, is so big and yellow, do you know where it went?"

She felt her hands tremble, and the cat's gaze was too aggressive, it was hard to imagine how Zhang Zi'an persevered...... No wonder it's on par with the leopard-like Athera cat.

The golden cat lost interest in her after just one look, yawned lazily, and closed her eyes again, as if it was superfluous to even bark.

There were a few meows coming from a slightly lower position, and the white cat glared at her, stretched out its pink little tongue and licked her lips, and meowed three more times.

Lu Yiyun is very familiar with this expression, every morning when he picks up the corner of Zhang Zi'an's pants to make a raw brisket, it is the same expression, and Zhang Zi'an's expression is always very embarrassed, and he needs to separate one hand to pull the waist of his pants to prevent his pants from being ripped off...... At this point, she would be embarrassed to look away.

"I don't live here, I don't have raw brisket. She waved her hand again.

The white cat pursed her lips in disappointment, closed her eyes and snoozed like the golden cat.

"I'm sorry. She bowed her head and apologized. She herself wondered why she apologized so seriously, when she had done nothing wrong.

She walked around the room and searched carefully, but she couldn't find Jasmine, whether it was on the top of the shelves, under the chaise longue, behind the litter box, or in the bathroom...... I searched them all, but I never found Jasmine. When passing by the chaise longue, she stared at it for a long time, resisting the urge to lie down and try it - she thought that the store manager lying on the chaise longue was cool, no matter what kind of customer she could handle, and she also wanted to be such a person, not humble or arrogant, not shy and silent in the face of strangers.

Maybe this recliner is some kind of golden finger, you can get some skills and points by lying on it, and maybe you can get some inexplicable store opening system......

She shook her head and stopped her wild delusions, probably because she had watched too much on the Internet.

It's still important to find Jasmine.

"Jasmine!

Lu Yiyun whispered a few more times, but Jasmine still did not appear.

"Help, help!"

The cries for help reappeared.

Although he had a certain amount of psychological preparation, Lu Yiyun was still frightened. This time she heard it clearly, the cry for help came from upstairs, the second floor where Zhang Zi'an lived, and it seemed that she was still a girl.

Her legs trembled slightly, and some bad imaginations came to her mind—could it be that Mr. Store Manager kidnapped and imprisoned a young girl? There are many reports about this kind of thing on the Internet, both at home and abroad.

So you are such a store manager sir?

No!

Lu Yiyun denied his idea, Mr. Store Manager is not such a person.

It's not that she blindly trusts Zhang Zi'an, but she thinks that it is impossible for such a perverted madman to show sincere love for pets, and she trusts her eyes and intuition.

In that case, what is this cry for help?

She was hesitating, but she saw the black and white kitten squatting two or three meters away at some point, blinking at her with silver-gray eyes.

Before coming to the pet store to bathe Jasmine, Lu Yiyun had never seen or heard of a cat with silver-gray eyes, and every time she saw it, she would be surprised. It is as if it comes from a two-dimensional world, from a different world, and the line between the real and the unreal becomes blurred in it.

There are a lot of customers in the pet shop, but few people have seen it, and it often disappears when customers come in, not knowing where to hide - it must be very good at hiding. But when there was only Lu Yiyun in the store, it was never hidden.

"Do you know where my Jasmine has gone?" she asked, hopelessly.

The black and white kitten tilted its head, as if to understand her words, raised one of its front paws and pointed to the stairwell leading to the second floor, and meowed.

"Upstairs?"

Lu Yiyun guessed this answer somewhat, Jasmine couldn't run out of the store, since the first floor was searched, then it must have run to the second floor, but the cry for help from upstairs discouraged her.

The black and white kitten nodded.

"Can you understand me?" she asked, surprised.

Whether it's the old brown cat, the golden cat and the white cat, or this black and white kitten, they all give her a very strange feeling, they don't look like cats, but like people - if you apply the common characters in comics, they are the hidden old butler in the castle, the domineering tsundere lady, the head maid who wears a fluttering white maid outfit and keeps an inch away from the eldest lady, and the little child who is not familiar with the world but is somewhat mysterious.

So what is Zhang Zi'an's character?

A young man who strayed into the castle?

Sounds like a character of the manga protagonist......

The young illustrator's brain is slipping again.

The black and white kitten didn't answer, took a few steps in the direction of the stairwell, and then turned back to wave to her.

"Let me go up with you......? After all, it is the private residence of Mr. ...... manager," she hesitated.

It blinked its silver-gray eyes and beckoned to her again.

“...... All right. I'll apologize to the store manager when he comes back. Lu Yiyun muttered to herself as if she was comforting herself.

She followed the black and white kitten, step by step up the stairs to the second floor.

"That...... Anyone?" she asked quietly, plucking up her courage. In fact, she hoped that no one would answer.

"Help! Help! Get me down!"

Most of the rooms on the second floor were closed, except for one door, which was hidden and left with a gap, from which cries for help could be heard.

Strange, where did the black and white kittens go?

She had been following it, but when she reached the second floor, it was gone.

Lu Yiyun stared at this hidden door, as if it was a trap to invite you into the urn, Jasmine must have run into this door and then been trapped.

Now that she has come here, whether it is for the girl who called for help or for Jasmine, she is not allowed to back down.

She mustered her courage, grabbed the doorknob, and slammed it open—

It's an ordinary living room, with old-fashioned leather sofas, old coffee tables with mottled paint, carpets that don't look like they're supposed to be, and an outdated television.

A spherical chandelier hangs from the ceiling with a string tied to the end of which is tied to the calf of a gray parrot. It stared at Lu Yiyun with little black eyes in an upside-down posture, and shouted, "You wage earner, what are you waiting for? Quickly put down Uncle Ben! Also, drive this damn cat away!"

Lu Yiyun: "......"

The grey parrot fluttered its wings and shook like a pendulum. The string was not long, and it was tied to its calves, so that it could not fly far, and could not find a place to stay, so it could only be hung upside down like this.

Jasmine squatted under the gray parrot, stared up at it, licked her lips from time to time, and tried to jump up to catch it, but unfortunately it was far away, but it still brought great psychological pressure to the gray parrot.

"What's wrong with you, why are you hanging yourself?" This scene was so weird, Lu Yiyun couldn't help but ask.

She knew that the grey parrot could talk a lot and loved to join in the fun, and many of her customers were amazed at how well she could speak.

"Gah, Uncle Ben's brain is in the water, and he wants to hang himself?" it shouted indignantly, "It was Zhang Zi'an's idiot who hung Uncle Ben!"

"Mr. Store Manager won't hang you up for no reason, have you done something bad?" Lu Yiyun asked.

"What's bad?" it screamed, "Uncle Ben just accidentally pulled on the sheets! Zhang Zi'an, that careful eye! Hang Uncle Ben up for such a trivial matter, he deserves to have no girlfriend!"

Lu Yiyun: "......" is so disgusting!

"It's your cat, right? get rid of this damn cat first! it has no ill intentions toward Uncle Ben!" the gray parrot cried loudly.

Lu Yiyun has never seen someone who asks for help and is so arrogant.

"It's called Jasmine. She said.

"Jasmine or Lily, get rid of it anyway!" it cried, "If this continues, Uncle Ben will become cat, this is a huge loss to human civilization!"

"Jasmine, come here. She said to Jasmine.

Jasmine glanced at the grey parrot reluctantly and meowed back to her.

She carried Jasmine out the door and closed it, wondering what to do with the grey parrot.

Zhang Zi'an must have hung it here to punish it, so will she be good at putting it down to upset him?

"What are you doing in a daze? Put Uncle Ben down! There are scissors on the coffee table over there!" the gray parrot fluttered its wings, barely flew a few more times, and soon ran out of strength, and was hung upside down again.

"Just now, you were imitating the girl's voice and calling for help?" Lu Yiyun asked.

It exclaimed proudly, "Who else but Uncle Ben?

"Well, it's a lot like that. She nodded in acknowledgement.

"It's good to know, why don't you put Uncle Ben down?" it glared at her.

"Wait a minute. Lu Yiyun took out his mobile phone, "I'll call Mr. Store Manager and ask him." ”

"Don't!" the grey parrot tried to stop her, "Hey!

Before she could finish dialing the number, her mobile phone suddenly rang, and the caller was Zhang Zi'an.

"Hey?" she answered.

"Hey, Xiaoyun, go down to the second floor and put down the gray parrot in the living room. I forgot about it when I left. Zhang Zi'an said on the other side of the phone.

"Oh, I'm on the second floor, and I heard it come up. She justified her actions.

Zhang Zi'an paused, as if thinking for a while, and then asked, "What is its voice...... Is it scolding me?"

"No!" the gray parrot cried, glaring desperately at Lu Yiyun.

Lu Yiyun replied truthfully: "It scolds you for being an idiot." ”

"Oh, then hang it for another 15 minutes. Zhang Zi'an decisively decided, "What else do you say?"

"Say you deserve to not have a girlfriend. ”

"Add another 15 minutes!"

The gray parrot cried out angrily: "You are ruthless! You are cruel! You are vexatious! Put Uncle Ben down!"

"Then let's do it first, I still have something to do here, I'll see you in the evening. Zhang Zi'an ignored his protest and hung up.

Lu Yiyun's mood calmed down, looked at the time, and put the phone back in his pocket.

"Mr. Store Manager said to hang you for another 30 minutes, and I will start the timer from now on. She said.

The gray parrot scolded: "You are also an idiot! Is it okay to be a little assertive! What about the righteousness and courage that you say? If he asks you to die, do you want to die too?"

"Of course not. She shook her head, "Don't take me for a fool. ”

At this time, there seemed to be a voice passing by in the alley outside the window.

The gray parrot seized the opportunity and screamed again in imitation of the girl's voice: "Help, help!"

Pedestrians heard the shouting and stopped.

Lu Yiyun heard someone outside talking: "I seem to have heard a cry for help, do you want to call the police?"

"I think I heard ...... too"

She walked to the window, opened it, and said to passers-by downstairs, "I'm sorry, don't call the police, I'm watching a horror movie." ”

The pedestrian looked up at her and left in disappointment.

The grey parrot cried out with all his might, "Gah, you stupid humans, all idiots!"

"I advise you to save some effort, there are still 29 minutes. Lu Yiyun suggested seriously.

If you use the common character design in the comics, then this gray parrot should be a stable boy who always likes to cause trouble, right?

She sat quietly in the corner of the sofa, holding her chin and silently timed, indulging in the fantasy of the comics.

——————

A large chapter of nearly 6,000 words

Regarding the cover that everyone complained about, this is the starting point, and it has nothing to do with me......