Zhang Zian was used to having Wang Qian, Li Kun, and Lu Yi Yun come to the store to work every morning. Suddenly, none of them came, which made him feel awkward. He had to do everything by himself. It was easy to go from frugal to extravagant, but difficult to go from extravagant to frugal.
He finally convinced Fina to go to the police dog nursing home together. As for what he would do if Fina found out that he had been tricked again, he would think about it in the future.
Many companies and institutions had closed for the day before. There weren't as many migrant workers in Binhai City as there were in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. Even so, the whole city seemed to be empty on New Year's Eve. Li's Supreme Snack Bar for Cat Fanciers usually had a long line, but today there were only two or three people in front of it.
Zhang Zian didn't open the shutter door. There were no customers, anyway. He was sweeping the floor when he saw Pi pick up a rag to wipe the table.
"Pi, thank you, but let me do it. You can go play. It's rare to have a day off." He grabbed the rag from Pi.
Pi scratched its head and looked around cautiously.
Since it came to the pet shop, it had stayed on the second floor. The first floor was a completely unfamiliar world to it. Every elfin had its own territory, which made Pi feel a little lost.
"Go watch TV," Zhang Zian said, seeing its confusion.
Pi tried to move to the front of the TV, but didn't dare to get too close to Old Time Tea. It squatted on the ground a meter away and stared at the TV screen.
The TV was showing the Spring Festival special every year. There were a lot of people wandering outside the train stations and airport terminals, and the host was excitedly reporting which highways were congested. This was new to Old Time Tea and Pi, as it allowed them to experience firsthand how many people there were in China.
Old Time Tea moved to the side, indicating that it could watch the TV closer.
Pi moved a little closer. It was much more comfortable to watch the TV.
The TV reporter walked into the waiting hall of the train station. The hall was full of passengers with big and small bags. Most of them were playing with their phones.
The reporter randomly selected a few people to interview. The questions were quite routine, such as whether it was difficult to buy a ticket and whether they missed home.
"Huh? Is that person reading your novel? "Old Time Tea pointed at a young man in the corner of the screen.
That person was accidentally photographed by a reporter who was randomly interviewing another person. As a background NPC, he sat on the chair without even raising his head, staring at the phone screen. The screen seemed to be showing the Qidian app, and one of the icons on the bookshelf was the cover of Pi's novel.
"Zhi zhi!" He cried out in delight. Although the man only added the novel to the bookshelf and did not read it, it was still something to be happy about.
This scene only lasted for a few seconds before the reporter turned to interview other people.
Pi looked more attentively. It stretched its neck forward, afraid to miss any image.
However, until the end of the Spring Festival interview, there were no more similar scenes. Originally, to be able to meet a person who was reading his book in the vast sea of people was already a very fortunate thing. He couldn't ask for more. However, this also meant that more and more people were reading online novels.
Pi sighed in disappointment.
"Meow! Pi, want to play hide-and-seek?"
It turned its head. Xinghai was sitting behind it, looking at it expectantly.
Pi covered its head in fear. The pain from hitting its head while playing hide-and-seek was still fresh in its memory.
Zhang Zian laughed. "Pi, don't worry. Just be careful in the future. Don't let Famous and the others find you easily."
"No, if you want to play hide-and-seek, that's your business. Don't drag me into it. I can't play hide-and-seek." Famous refused flatly.
"So, Famous, you admit defeat?" Zhang Zian provoked with the broom.
Famous retorted, "Admit defeat? No, I didn't admit defeat. I just don't want to kill anyone while playing hide-and-seek! "
"Don't look for excuses. Admit defeat …" Zhang Zian waved his hand.
Famous said, "It seems that if I don't teach you a lesson, do you really think I'm afraid? Okay, let's play. "
"Okay, who will be the ghost? How about we play rock-paper-scissors? "Zhang Zian was happy. Famous' answer was exactly what he wanted.
Famous looked down at its and Xinghai's feet, and then at Zhang Zian and Pi's palms. It felt sad, knowing that it would definitely lose if they played rock-paper-scissors.
"No, no rock-paper-scissors. Flip a coin!" It said firmly.
"Flip a coin …" Zhang Zian put down the broom, touched his trouser pocket, and took out his wallet. "I don't have a coin on me. Wait a minute."
He went to the second floor to find a coin. After a while, he came back down with a one-dollar coin.
"Come on, who will guess?" He tossed the coin in the air, and then clasped it between his palms.
"Meow! Xinghai will guess first!" Xinghai said excitedly.
Famous knew that it was definitely no match for Xinghai if they were to guess a coin.
"No one will guess with Xinghai?" Zhang Zian looked at them. "Then I give up. Xinghai doesn't need to guess. Famous and Pi will guess first. Whoever loses will guess with me. How about that? "
"That's fair," Famous agreed.
It said to Pi generously, "You guess first."
Zhang Zian also said to Pi, "Pi, you've never guessed a coin before, right? You just have to guess which side goes up. Is it the side with the number or the side with the flower? "
Pi blinked and gestured for them to wait. It went back to the second floor on all fours. When it came down, it was holding its book in its arms. It opened it, stretched out its finger, and made a "1" sign.
Famous was speechless. "You're cheating! Didn't you say that you can't use your ability? "
"It means that you can't use your ability when you're playing hide-and-seek. Now it's time to guess a coin." Zhang Zian corrected it. "Famous, if you want to use your ability, you can."
"Forget it. I give up," Famous said helplessly. Pi's book recorded life, the universe, and everything else. Of course, the two sides of the coin were also recorded. Famous couldn't guess a coin better than Pi.
"Eeek!" Pi smiled happily.
"Now it's just the two of us," Zhang Zian said to Famous seriously. "I'll give you a chance to give up."
"I won't lose to you. Let's rely on our luck," Famous said disdainfully. "I'll let you guess first."
"That's good."
Zhang Zian flicked the coin into the air again. The coin drew a silver trajectory and fell between his palms again.
He stared at the back of his palms, as if his eyes could see through them.
"Don't play tricks. You act like you have some kind of superpower …" Famous complained. "Do you think I was raised by someone?"
Zhang Zian was unmoved. He looked up and stared at it. "I guess the side with the number is up."
"Then I guess the side with the flower is up," Famous said. "Okay, don't waste time. Move your palms away."
Zhang Zian moved his palms away. The "1" on the coin fell into his eyes. He won.
Famous sighed at its bad luck and closed its eyes. "I'm going to start counting. You guys go and hide! One, two, three, four … "
"Meow!"
"Eeek!"
"Haha! Famous, don't peek! You can't cheat! "
Three sets of footsteps ran off in different directions.
Famous patiently counted to 100 and opened its eyes.
It looked around the first floor and didn't find any of them. Obviously, they were hiding on the second floor.
After coming to the second floor, it repeated the same trick and shouted, "I see you. Stop hiding!"
This time, Pi didn't fall for it.
Famous wasn't discouraged. Anyway, there were limited places to hide. It was not afraid that it couldn't find them.
Learning from the last experience, it went straight to the kitchen and used its claws to open the door of the refrigerator.
There was no one in the refrigerator, only some fresh vegetables and fruits.
Famous muttered in its heart, wondering if Zhang Zian was really hiding in the freezer.
"Are you in there?" It stared at the refrigerator and asked. "You can only use the same trick on me once. If you are in there, you'd better come out and admit defeat. Otherwise, I'll find some tape to seal the refrigerator. "
After waiting for a while, there was no movement in the refrigerator.
Was Zhang Zian really not in there, or did he think it was lying to him?
Famous hesitated for a moment and used its claws to open the door of the refrigerator.
A gust of cold air gushed out. There was no one in the refrigerator. This was normal. If there was someone in there, it would be very scary.
Famous was more or less relieved. It seemed that Zhang Zian was not that crazy.
Just in case, it opened the kitchen cabinets one by one and then jumped on the stove to look into the range hood. It didn't know why it was looking into the range hood. Anyway, Zhang Zian was not in there.
Famous subconsciously regarded Zhang Zian as the softest persimmon. Xinghai didn't need to be mentioned. It heard Zhang Zian read Pi's novel yesterday, so it knew how good Xinghai was at hide-and-seek. Pi had the support of the book, so it seemed that it couldn't be underestimated.
Besides, Xinghai and Pi were very small and could hide in many places. But Zhang Zian was a big person. How could he hide in the sky or in the ground?
Famous continued its search with confidence.
It had already searched the kitchen. Next, it went into the bedroom and the living room. Whether it was the closet, under the bed, under the table, or any place that could hide something big, it searched. In the end, it didn't find Xinghai and Pi. It didn't even find Zhang Zian.
Strange!
Famous was stunned. There was only the storage room left on the second floor. Were the three of them hiding in the storage room? Didn't they say not to put all their eggs in the same basket?
No matter what, it still held on to the last glimmer of hope and pushed open the storage room door.
There were a lot of things in the storage room, but the cat, the monkey, and the man were not there.
Famous didn't want to admit defeat, especially not to Zhang Zian. It looked up and down the first and second floors, but still couldn't find the three of them.
"Old Time Tea, the three of them didn't go out, right?" It ran to Old Time Tea to confirm.
"No." Old Time Tea smiled.
Famous believed that Old Time Tea wouldn't lie to it, but it was very strange. Did the three of them really go to heaven or hell?
It looked up at the cat tree that Fina and the others were on. Zhang Zian was not on the cat tree either … Well, if Zhang Zian was on the cat tree, it would be scarier than the end of the world.
Famous searched again. This time, it even went through the trash can in the kitchen, but it still didn't find anything.
Thinking of what it had boasted before playing hide-and-seek, it felt a burning pain in its face …
"Hey! You guys come out! I admit defeat! "It ran to the second floor and shouted.
"Meow! Meow! Xinghai won!" Xinghai ran out from the direction of the bedroom and cheered happily.
Famous was mentally prepared for Xinghai's mysterious appearance. It asked, "Xinghai, did you see them?"
"Meow!" Xinghai shook its head. "Xinghai was the first one to come up."
Famous wanted to ask more questions, but it heard a few very faint squeaks coming from the direction of the bedroom.
That was strange. Why were they hiding in the bedroom?
"Pi, where are you?" It ran into the bedroom and asked.
"Eeek."
Famous followed the sound and came to the side of the air purifier.
"…"
The air purifier trembled slightly.
Famous remembered that it had just seen the filter element of the air purifier in the storage room. At that time, it felt a little strange, but it didn't think much about it. So …
"Pi, are you hiding in the air purifier?" It asked.
"Eeek."
Inside the air purifier, Pi's voice was very dull.
Sometimes the air quality in Binhai City was not good, so every family had an air purifier. The second floor of the pet shop was relatively large, and the bedroom and living room were connected. The volume of the air purifier was not small. Although it could not hide a person, it could hide a young monkey.
Famous said to the air purifier, "Was it Zhang Zian who hid you inside? Wait for him to let you out later. By the way, where is he hiding? "
Dong dong!
Someone was knocking on the bedroom window.
However … it was the window on the second floor.
"Quick … come and help me, I'm going to fall …" Zhang Zian's voice for help came from outside the window.
Famous stood up, grabbed the window sill, and looked out. It saw Zhang Zian holding the edge of the window sill with both hands, his whole body hanging in the air, and his two legs kicking …
"Famous, give me a hand …" Zhang Zian squeezed out a smile.
Famous also showed a sweet smile.
It was smiling, but in its heart, it was cursing.
Old Time Tea did not lie to it. Zhang Zian did not go out — he went out through the window and had been holding the window sill. No wonder it could not find him.
As a commercial and residential building facing the street, the pet shop was relatively high. After Zhang Zian held the window sill, his feet were about two or three meters from the ground. Although he would not die from this distance, he might sprain his ankle.
Outside the window was the quiet alley behind the shop. At this time, no one was walking, or else the police might be called.
"Quick, Famous, don't just look. Help me, my fingers are going to cramp, and I can't hold on any longer …" Zhang Zian urged.
Famous asked unhurriedly, "When you decided to do this, didn't you think that your fingers might cramp?"
"Well …" Zhang Zian smiled guiltily, "I didn't think about it at the time …"
At this time, Xinghai also jumped on the window sill, "Meow … Zian, you are hiding outside the window again!"
Famous said, "… It seems that you are a repeat offender?"
"No, no, it is really a misunderstanding!" Zhang Zian quickly explained, "When I played hide-and-seek with Xinghai, I usually lay on the window sill because Xinghai is short, but you are tall. I thought that if I squatted on the window sill, you would definitely see me, so I came up with this plan …"
"I don't even want to lean against the wall!" Famous complained. "You knew it was a bad plan, but you still did it? Why don't you go to heaven? "
"Stop it, I was wrong. Pull me up …" Zhang Zian begged for mercy.
Famous was once again convinced that the hide-and-seek that Zhang Zian and Xinghai played was in a different dimension from the hide-and-seek that ordinary people played. It angrily went to the storage room to find a strong rope, wrapped one end around the doorknob of the bedroom, and threw the other end out of the window. Zhang Zian held on to the rope and climbed back into the house safely.
"Famous, how is it? Do you admit defeat?" he said arrogantly with his hands on his waist.
A silver coin rolled out of his trouser pocket, bounced a few times on the ground, and was held down by Famous's paw before it fell over.
It looked down at the front, and saw the number "1." It looked at the back, and still saw the number "1."
"What coin is this? Why are there numbers on both sides? "it asked seriously.
"Ahem!" Seeing that his trick was exposed, Zhang Zian coughed and said, "This is the magic coin that I bought before …"
Famous was already too tired to complain. "I beg you, next time you play hide-and-seek, don't call me!"
Zhang Zian looked at the time, released Pi, and concluded with satisfaction, "This is a successful hide-and-seek. This is a united hide-and-seek. This is a hide-and-seek that carries on the past and opens up the future. This is a hide-and-seek that unifies our thoughts and unites our hearts … Well, it's almost time to eat. Let's set off after eating."
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