Pet King
chapter-96

Although Zhang Zian sounded perfunctory and so were his facial expressions, it was a reasonable excuse. Running a pet store does not allow him to have normal days off like other people. It was absolutely normal to get out of the store when it was not busy.

"Mr. Manager, do you like hiking? I thought you preferred staying indoors," Jiang Qianxue was curious.

"Of course! Don’t judge a book from its cover! In fact, I was in the hiking club when I was in college. I’ve been to Yulong Mountain, Meili Snow Mountain, and Mount Everest, so on and so forth," he said seriously, "but now I am getting older and not in the shape I used to be in. So, I am hiking this small mountain for fun."

Some viewers in the broadcast room started cursing. Zhang Zian ignored them.

He noticed Snowy looked different today. She was wearing a red color name-brand wind breaker, a pair of hiking shoes and a small backpack on her back. An Evian mineral water was sitting on the side pocket of her backpack, the same brand as what Fina drank. Obviously, she was well prepared.

Looking at himself, he was dressed like normal: a long-sleeve shirt and a pair of jeans. He didn’t bring anything. He wasn’t dressed for hiking.

"Your equipment…that’s too much for hiking! If you want a live show for hiking, you are lucky today! I am a professional hiker. I can help you!" He still tried to pretend.

She smiled and shook her head. "I am not hiking today. There is a new teahouse on top of the mountain and my fans would like me to visit."

Zhang Zian faked to be a hiking professional; however, when he heard the word "new", he was excited. Was the new teahouse related to rare pets?

"A new teahouse? Up the hill?" he asked.

She nodded, "yeah. It is called Teahouse in Hidden Fog. I heard it is very distinctive."

"When did it open?" he asked again.

"About…two weeks ago?" She wasn’t sure.

He thought about it for a second and clapped his hands, "that’s great! Let me, a professional hiker, protect you today! Buddy, Let’s go!"

More cursing came out from the live broadcast room, "Who is your buddy?!"

He turned around as he spoke. After a few steps, he found that she didn’t follow.

"So…Mr. Manager, are you coming to the tea house?" She asked, standing still.

He was moving around and said, "Yeah! Why wait? Time is of the essence!"

She pointed at the opposite direction and told him, "Then we have to go that way…"

Zhang Zian was embarrassed. Why didn’t she tell him earlier!

People were laughing like crazy. He walked back and got started heading the other direction.

Half an hour later…

Zhang Zian was left behind for at least 10 meters.

"Wait! Wait! Let me catch my breath!"

Zhang Zian sat down on the side of the road, gasping for breath and sweating like rain. He thought he was quite fit since he stretched every day. He was wrong!

Snowy explained in her show as she hiked. She was breathing normally. She was fit.

"Haha! Mr. Manager is a wimp!"

"Let’s all find out what other lies Mr. Manager told!"

"That was a slap on your face, Mr. Manager!"

Zhang Zian didn’t have extra energy to fight back. He asked as he was panting, "How… how much longer is it?"

Snowy pulled out the map and said, "Close. Another 30 minutes."

"Let me take a break…10 minutes…no, five is enough…" he wiped off his sweat. His legs would kill him tonight!

She pulled out the water from her side pocket and handed to him, "Come on. Have a drink of water."

People burst into an uproar.

"Snowy, you can’t waste your water on him!" the fans were unhappy.

The water bottle was unopened. Zhang Zian licked his lips and asked, "Don’t you want a drink?’

She shook the water bottle and handed to him. "Take it. I am not thirsty. We will get some tea when we get up there."

Now was not a good time to fake it. He would be dehydrated if he could not get a drink. He took the water, opened the lid, drank half a bottle and soothed his breath.

The path was quiet. There was barely anyone on the path. Countless green stone steps were built along the path and disappeared in the woods.

It got colder up here. The fog also thickened. However, he could still see clearly.

On both sides of the path, layers of fog lingered in the woods. The sound of bugs and birds brought out the quietness in the mountain.

A guy showed up from the bottom of the hill, walking up steadily on the steps. His steps were firm yet light. As he approached, they could tell he was a local farmer wearing a men’s tank top. An old towel was wrapped on the carrying pole where the pole touched his shoulder. There were two cartons of mineral water on each side of the pole. Two patches were on his tank top. Sweat was showing in the front and back of his top. However, he looked a lot less exhausted than Zhang Zian.

There were four cartons of water on the carrying pole. That was at least 50 kilograms.

As the carrier walked by them, Jiang Qianxue respectfully pointed her camera at him and wanted to share with her fans how difficult to it was to walk up the stairs with water. Life is difficult. We should appreciate it.

Some fans were quick, "Wow! That is Fiji mineral water! Principal Wang also drinks this water!"

"That’s true! It is Fiji water!"

"I am a poor guy. I only drink Peasant Lady Mineral Water!"

"I will buy it if I can get a peasant lady from drinking that mineral water!"

"That is heavy!"

"Real poor guys only drink tap water!"

Zhang Zian wiped his mouth and asked, "Sir, where are you sending the water?"

The carrier didn’t stop nor did he turn his head. He only replied, "The teahouse."

The carrier looked like he was in a steady pace but he walked way past Zhang Zian and Snowy and disappeared in the fog. The teahouse? Was he going to their destination – Teahouse in Hidden Fog?

What a coincidence!

"How many tea houses are there in this mountain?" Zhang Zian asked Jiang Qianxue.

"Umm… only one, I think," she paused and replied, "I came here for a hiking live show before and didn’t see any tea houses."

There was neither spring water nor tap water in Mt. Hidden Fog. Only rain and snow water. Therefore, many local people from the village would carry water up the hill and sell it. A one-yuan bottled water would sell for five yuan up the mountain. This was a great way to exercise and also make money. Zhang Zian was curious how much the normally 10-yuan Fiji water would sell for up the mountain.

Why did the teahouse order expensive water like that? For making tea?

That was crazy! Zhang Zian felt his wallet through the pockets in his pants.

It looked as if he would have to pay some serious money for a tea today!