Zhang Zian opened the shutter door and took Zhan Tian back to the shop.
The elfins had already woken up. Fina was lying on the cat tree. Seeing that he came back empty-handed, she asked unhappily, "Where is my breakfast? Did you feed yourself before you went out? "
"Wait a minute. I went there too early. It's not ready yet." In order to avoid listening to her nagging, Zhang Zian didn't take off his coat. He picked up the big broom and shovel and went out again to clear the snow and ice in front of the shop.
Today, Wang Qian and Li Kun were not coming, so he had to do all the cleaning work by himself. The characteristic of a pet shop was that even if it was not open for business during the holidays, the cat litter had to be changed, the dog feces had to be shoveled, and the indoor sterilization had to be carried out. If these heavy tasks were done, why not just open for business and make money?
That was Zhang Zian's plan. Since he had no other plans, he would open the shop as usual today.
The traffic on the sidewalk in front of the shop was not small. The snow was stepped on during the day and slightly melted. At night, it became ice again. It was not easy to clean it up by sweeping. Many times, he had to smash and shovel it.
Zhang Zian worked very hard, not because he wanted to be a model citizen, but because if an old man or an old woman slipped and fell in front of his shop, he would not be able to pay for it even if he sold his pants.
While he was working, a slender figure passed by him and walked into the pet shop that was currently empty.
Zhang Zian was a little puzzled. It was the first day of the New Year, and there was already a customer here? Was it a good start?
However, before he had time to be happy, the figure pushed the door open and walked out of the shop. In less than 10 seconds, Zhang Zian looked up and saw the back of a girl in a white short down jacket and blue jeans hurrying away to the north.
Maybe she went the wrong way?
He did not care. Sometimes people went the wrong way, so he continued to shovel the snow and remove the ice.
After a while, he carried the big broom and shovel back to the shop, and then cleaned up the cat litter and dog feces as usual. He was going to take it outside and throw it away when the sanitation workers came. When he passed by the cashier, he seemed to notice something out of the corner of his eye, so he went back.
There was a piece of paper behind the computer screen at the cashier. When he took it off, it was another missing dog notice, exactly the same as the one he saw on the lamppost.
In that case, the girl who just entered the store was the owner? He even came to the pet shop to find a dog. What a desperate situation!
He carried the garbage bags out of the store and piled them up at the designated spot outside the store. Just then, a car horn sounded, and Sun Xiaomeng stopped her car on the side of the road.
"Yo, Happy New Year!" Zhang Zian raised his hand to say hello.
Sun Xiaomeng rolled down the window. Instead of looking at his face, she stared at the paper in his hand. "Happy New Year. What's that paper you're holding?"
"This? Someone had posted a missing dog notice. Don't you think it's interesting that the missing dog notice has been sent to the pet shop? "Zhang Zian held up the paper and showed it to her.
Sun Xiaomeng took the paper and muttered to herself with a frown, "I haven't found it yet..."
Zhang Zian could tell from her tone that she knew about it. Curious, he asked, "Did you also go to your clinic to put up notices?"
Sun Xiaomeng pointed to the phone number on the notice and said, "She is a regular customer of my shop. She often brings her dog to my shop for vaccinations and physical examinations … Tuan Tuan's sterilization was also done in my shop. Seeing her lost dog looking for it everywhere, I feel very sad. "
"Oh, no wonder."
Zhang Zian understood that it was an acquaintance of Sun Xiaomeng.
"It seems that a lot of dogs have gone missing recently. Just the dogs that come to my clinic regularly for physical examinations have gone missing." She handed the notice back to Zhang Zian.
"So many?" Zhang Zian was deeply surprised. Her clinic was quite small, but two or three dogs had gone missing in such a short period of time. Considering the nearby urban areas, the number was really not small.
He thought for a moment and told her what Aunt Li had said about dog trapping, and then asked, "Do you think it's possible? I heard that dog trapping is rare in the city, right? "
Sun Xiaomeng seriously thought for a while and replied, "It's true that dog trapping is rare in the city, but you see, it's going to be the Spring Festival soon. Many people are short of money at this time, and they may have bad ideas. It's cold now, and many people wear masks when they go out. Even if they are caught by surveillance cameras, there is no problem. Naturally, some people will take the risk. Whether these dogs are resold or sold to dog meat restaurants, they are worth a lot of money. "
Zhang Zian glanced at the pedestrians. Indeed, as she said, at least five or six out of ten people were wearing scarves and masks. It was strange to wear masks in the summer, but it was different in the winter, especially now that many people wore masks to prevent smog.
"I think it's more profitable to return the dogs to their original owners." He pointed to the 10,000 yuan reward on the notice and laughed.
"People are not so stupid to take the risk of returning your dogs to you after trapping them. Who knows if they will receive the reward or get beaten up …"
Jokes aside, Zhang Zian also knew that no one would do such a stupid thing.
"Today is New Year's Day. Aren't you resting in your clinic?" he asked.
She looked regretful. "I was going to rest … Oh, you should be quite free today, right? The girl who posted the notice should be waiting for me at the clinic now. She wants me to help her. Why don't you go with me? You have a lot of ideas in this area. Just think of it as doing a good deed. "
Zhang Zian said, "Do I look very free to you?"
"Yes, you do!" she answered concisely.
But she was indeed quite free. Zhang Zian was also a little curious about this matter, so he pulled down the shutter door, locked it, sat in the passenger seat, and went to the clinic with her.
The girl in the white down jacket and blue jeans was waiting at the door of the clinic. She put her hands in her pockets and kept looking around. Maybe she was waiting for Sun Xiaomeng, or maybe she was hoping to see the figure of her dog.
"Sister Xiaomeng!"
Seeing Sun Xiaomeng get out of the car, she quickly walked up to greet her. Then she noticed Zhang Zian, who also got out of the car, and felt that he was a little familiar …
Sun Xiaomeng took out the key to open the door and introduced, "This is Ning Lan, my customer and friend. This is Zhang Zian. You just went to his pet shop to post the notice. Didn't you see him? "
Ning Lan then remembered that she was confused when she saw the pet shop was open, but no one was there. She thought he was a street sweeper …
"Sorry, I almost didn't sleep last night, and now my mind is blank. I didn't notice you just now," she said to Zhang Zian apologetically.
Zhang Zian noticed the obvious dark circles around her eyes, and knew that she was not lying. It seemed that she was exhausted looking for her dog.
"It's okay, I was sweeping the snow, and you didn't know that I was the shop owner … But I want to ask, why did you come to the pet shop to post the notice when you were looking for your dog?" he asked curiously.
"Well …" She was very embarrassed. She glanced at Sun Xiaomeng and said hesitantly, "I was thinking that if someone found my dog, maybe they would sell it to the pet shop … I went to other pet shops to post notices, but they didn't let me. There was no one in your shop at that time, so I wanted to go in and see if my dog was there, but I thought it was not a good idea, so I quickly ran out after I posted the notice …"
"I remember that your dog is three years old. I don't have a dog that old in my shop," Zhang Zian proved his innocence.
Sun Xiaomeng opened the door of the clinic and gestured, "Don't freeze outside. Come in and talk."
Ning Lan and Zhang Zian followed her into the clinic one after another. He immediately saw the same notice on the cashier counter.
Nurse Long Xian was not there. She was probably on vacation.
Sun Xiaomeng invited them into her office, turned on the electric heater, took off her coat, and said to Ning Lan again, "You can explain the situation to him in detail again. He has a lot of ideas in this area, and maybe he can help. Although he runs a pet shop, even the captain of our Municipal Criminal Police Unit owes him a favor."
Zhang Zian pondered for a long time, but still couldn't figure out whether this sentence was a compliment or an insult to him …
Ning Lan suddenly looked at him in a different light, and hope was ignited in her heart again. Since her Tuan Tuan was lost, her parents had been sighing and crying all day long. She was worried that her parents would be too sad, so she had been looking for them everywhere in the neighborhood, but there was no clue at all. They had reached the point of turning to any doctor who could help, no matter who it was.
She cleared her throat and told the whole story in detail from the beginning.
Ning Lan's parents were retired teachers at Binhai University, and she was also a postgraduate student at Binhai University. She didn't live in the dormitory, but at home. Every morning and evening, she would walk the dog with Tuan Tuan near the family quarters, and nothing had ever happened. Tuan Tuan was an impure Samoyed, but it was very affectionate. Whether it was the elderly or the children, it would never open its mouth to bite, or even bark loudly. The elderly and children in the family quarters also liked it very much. After a long time, she didn't use the rope to lead it anymore, because she felt that it was pitiful to be led.
That day, she walked the dog as usual. It was winter vacation, and while walking with Tuan Tuan, she scrolled through the WeChat group, talking with her classmates about vacation plans and arrangements.
As they walked, a stray cat jumped past them, and Tuan Tuan chased it excitedly — it was purely playing, and had no intention of hurting the stray cat. Ning Lan emphasized.
Zhang Zian remembered the process when he went to Binhai University to capture Richard. There were indeed many stray cats near the university, and none of them were afraid of people, because the students and staff always fed them.
Tuan Tuan had chased cats before, but of course, he couldn't catch them. Cats were too agile, and if Tuan Tuan lost them, they would run back by themselves, or stand still and wait for her. She was only halfway through typing a message when she saw that Tuan Tuan was chasing the cat again, so she absent-mindedly called it twice, asking it to come back. She sent the message, and saw that Tuan Tuan had indeed lost the cat again, and it stopped at the corner of a building, waiting for her to come over.
Ning Lan walked over slowly, looking down at her phone from time to time, waiting for her classmates' response.
Speaking of this, Ning Lan recalled that Tuan Tuan was originally waiting for her at the corner, but after a moment, it seemed to be attracted by something, and it turned its head to look at the other side of the corner, then walked past the corner.
At that time, Ning Lan called it twice again, but still didn't think that anything would happen, so she just slightly quickened her pace. However, when she walked to the corner, she completely lost track of Tuan Tuan — it was as if it had evaporated from the world, disappearing without warning.
She was a little nervous when she couldn't find Tuan Tuan, but the long-term comfort made her not think of the worst, or rather, she didn't dare to think of the worst. She thought that Tuan Tuan had crawled into the corridor or hid behind a garbage can. She searched the area, but she still couldn't find Tuan Tuan, and then she was completely panicked.
After searching for half an hour, it was getting dark. Ning Lan took a fluke and called home to ask if Tuan Tuan had gone home by himself. Her mother answered the phone, and she was surprised. "No, didn't Tuan Tuan go with you?"
"I should have kept calm." Ning Lan covered her face with her hands and sighed. "I should have told my parents that Tuan Tuan was borrowed to play at a friend's house for a few days. At least they wouldn't be so sad …"
Sun Xiaomeng patted her shoulder and comforted her, "Tuan Tuan might not be in trouble. It's too late to regret it now. Just tell me what happened first."
Ning Lan wiped the corners of her eyes and continued with a nasal voice.
When her parents learned that Tuan Tuan was lost, they scolded her severely, which was rare for them. They scolded her for playing with her phone even when walking the dog. She knew that she was wrong, and her parents were angry, so she didn't dare to talk back. After the scolding, her parents put on their clothes and came out with a flashlight to help her look for Tuan Tuan.
It was such a cold day, and they didn't find Tuan Tuan until eight o 'clock in the evening. They searched everywhere in the family quarters. Their faces were blue from the cold, and their voices were hoarse from shouting, but they still couldn't find Tuan Tuan.
Until then, for the first time, they thought that "Tuan Tuan might not be found."
Under Ning Lan's persistent persuasion, they temporarily returned home. Her parents were retired faculty members of Binhai University, and they knew a lot of people in the family quarters. They called around to ask people to help them find Tuan Tuan. Ning Lan posted on Weibo, WeChat Moments, and found some public accounts on the Internet that could help to find lost dogs. She also printed notices for lost dogs, and began to put them up everywhere the next morning.
Her parents stayed at home with their phones, waiting for calls. Occasionally, someone would call and say that they saw a similar dog, but after careful questioning, they would know that it wasn't Tuan Tuan. Her mother, who had a weak heart, had to rest in bed due to physical discomfort.
Two days had passed, and there was no news of Tuan Tuan. The chances of finding Tuan Tuan were getting lower and lower. Ning Lan had regretted it many times. She tried to tell her parents that if they really couldn't find Tuan Tuan, they would buy another dog, but they were unwilling. They wanted Tuan Tuan … She was the same. Even if she bought another dog, she was still worried about Tuan Tuan's safety.
"Didn't you ask security to watch the surveillance?" Zhang Zian interrupted.
"I did. The family quarters is a relatively old community. Although some surveillance cameras have been installed recently, there are still a lot of blind spots," Ning Lan explained.
She finished talking and sobbed in a low voice.
Sun Xiaomeng comforted her with a few words, took out her phone and said, "Look at this."
Zhang Zian and Ning Lan leaned over to take a look. On the screen was a message sent to Sun Xiaomeng by a customer surnamed Li. It was sent last night, and the content of the message was, "Dr. Sun, my dog is missing. Looking at the surveillance, it seems that it was stolen. If you meet a dog that looks like Tuan Tuan, please contact me as soon as possible."
Then there was another message, sent by a customer surnamed Qian. It was sent at about 6 o 'clock this morning, which was less than two hours ago. The content of the message was, "Dr. Sun, my dog is missing. I am looking for it. I will cancel the appointment in the morning. I am so sorry for the trouble."
Zhang Zian gasped. It seemed that there was probably a gang of dog trappers operating nearby...
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