If Zhang Zian was right, this Pomeranian was originally a cream or mottled color, and after the street vendor bought it at a low price, it was dyed into the more popular reddish-brown color.
In general, the young people in the city preferred white Pomeranians, while reddish-brown Pomeranians were more popular near the urban-rural junctional areas because reddish-brown was easier to recognize. Under strict distinctions, the target audiences in dog markets, pet shops, catteries and kennels would be somewhat different.
Unlike other breeds of dogs, before they reached one year old, real reddish-brown Pomeranians were covered by a layer of gray lanugo. When they gradually grew up, this layer of lanugo would fade away and the beautiful reddish-brown furs would grow out, just like how the ugly duckling sublimated into a white swan.
There were no reddish-brown Pomeranians in Zhang Zian's shop, and as far as he knew, many pet stores and kennels did not have them, because customers didn’t believe in them—I asked for a reddish-brown Pomeranian, why did you give me a grey one? Even after patiently explaining to the customers, and assuring them the puppies would become the reddish-brown color after a few months, no one would believe them. Nowadays, "integrity" meant nothing at all.
Anyway, since explanation didn’t work, Zhang Zian just stopped selling them. Why bother?
The Pomeranian in front of him was no more than three or four months old and already had reddish-brown furs all over its body. If the possibility of a genetic mutation was eliminated, then it was dyed this color.
The process of dyeing a Pomeranian was slightly different than dyeing chicks. The vendors needed to dye the Pomeranians’ furs holding brushes that had been dipped in dyes, a process that contained some technicality. Of course, no way would they use any high-end dyes. They probably just used cheap and abundant potent industrial coloring agents.
Hearing this, the middle-aged woman who had just held the Pomeranian rubbed her palms on her trousers.
No one could imagine that such a lively and energetic Pomeranian was suffering from diseases and toxicity inside. If not for the plenty of painkillers that it consumed to suppress the pain, it probably would have been convulsing on the ground a long time ago.
Zhang Zian sighed, "Unlike the chicks, puppies are sold at a slower rate. Such dyed puppies are only put on the stands for sale on weekends when more people are visiting the dog market. We just happen to have seen them."
The middle-aged woman was still scared, thinking that if not for Zhang Zian, she might have brought this sick puppy home. Not only would she have suffered from financial losses, but she would also have been sad when the puppy soon died.
Deng Jie was also very upset. Whether she ended up buying a Shiba Inu or a Pomeranian, she couldn’t have avoided being deceived in the end. The dog market was full of wicked businesses.
Liu XX was so anxious and angry that his face and neck turned red, and he kept cursing at the middle-aged woman and Zhang Zian. If he had sold this Pomeranian, he could have earned over a thousand yuan. Since he couldn’t sell it, which cost him a few hundred yuan when he bought it from another stand, he had suffered a loss around 2,000 yuan in total! And it might snow any minute, so probably very few customers would remain in the dog market in the afternoon. How could he stay calm??
The middle-aged woman was by no means a duck soup. Hearing that Liu XX was cussing her, she began to curse back, and then the quarrel kept escalating with all kinds of filthy language. Zhang Zian was not interested in their sparring. He patted on Snowy’s shoulder, and then gestured to Deng Jie. The three of them left quietly among the chaos.
"Today has been really eye-opening for me." Deng Jie shook her head and smiled bitterly, "I’d rather have no pets than to buy one at the dog market again."
"No need to generalize one or two events to the whole dog market. There are certainly decent vendors here, and people who bring the offspring of their own pets to sell, just not too many. If you have limited knowledge about pets, I would suggest you buy at regular pet-selling places. You know, the prices might be higher there, but at least you can rest assured." Zhang Zian pointed at a stand selling pigeons not far away from them, "Test papers for CDV and Parvovirus are easily accessible on the internet, but the test paper for parrot fever is rarely found. So be more careful when selecting birds as pets."
They had been at the dog market for around an hour, but had only covered a small part of it. There were a lot of stands that they passed by but didn’t stop to look at, such as stands selling cold-water fish, tropical fish, and all kinds of birds, rodents, and turtles. These were the pets that Zhang Zian not familiar with, so he couldn’t judge them hastily.
Snowy suddenly shouted in surprise, pointing to the front, "Mr. Store Manager, look! Is that stand selling leopards?"
Zhang Zian glanced at the stand and smiled, "Impossible. Though this place lacks city administration, the vendors know better than to sell leopards in public. Those are Bengal cats. You want to go and have a look?"
"Great! Mr. Store Manager, you don’t have Bengal cats in your shop, right? The cat called Fina is not a Bengal cat, correct?" asked Snowy.
"No, she isn’t. Bengal cats are rare, and I have not heard of any pet shop or cattery in Binhai city selling them," Zhang Zian said with reservation. After all, he did not know much about other pet stores, and he doubted whether those were really Bengal cats.
Seeing that Zhang Zian and his companions were walking towards his stand, the street vendor whose ID name was "Three-year-old Oni" in the WeChat Group for Dog Market Trading, but was called by others as "Lao San", felt a headache come on. He knew that Liu XX’s scams had been revealed and he failed to sell a dyed Pomeranian. Probably numerous people on the internet had learned about what he had done. How was Liu XX going to carry on his business in the dog market?
However, Lao San was also known for selling his pets at high prices. He was confident in the Bengal cats that he was selling. He decided to ignore Zhang Zian and his companions, focusing on the heir of a wealthy family in front of him.
As they approached, Zhang Zian saw a young man in sunglasses picking Bengal cats. The young man was about 20 years old, with a sparse beard on his chin. Dressed in clothes of famous brands, he was playing with a bunch of keys in his fingers. There was the striking logo of BMW on the keychain.
"Boss, how much is this Bengal cat?" he asked, pointing to the most beautiful Bengal cat in the cage.
Lao San stretched out five fingers, "Fifty thousand yuan."
The young man pondered a moment and did not say anything. But Snowy exclaimed, "So expensive!"
"Ah?" The young man heard this voice was familiar. He looked back, eyes falling on Snowy's face.
"Are you... Snowy?" he asked with uncertainty.
Snowy was surprised for a moment, staring blankly at his face. She didn’t expect to run into an acquaintance at this place. She felt this man in front her was familiar, but she couldn’t remember where they had met before.
Zhang Zian casually asked, "Your fan?"
Snowy was kind of a famous local anchor, so it was normal for her to be recognized on the streets. Zhang Zian was not surprised that someone had spotted her.
The young man took his sunglasses off and pointed at his nose and said, "You don’t remember me? I'm Lin Qi, we met once two or three years ago."
"Ah! I remember now! You are Brother Qi!" After being reminded, Snowy remembered who he was. Lin Qi could be considered one of her distant relatives. They met a few years ago at a family gathering in a hotel. According to seniority, she should call him brother. Since there were few contacts between the Jiang family and Lin family, she knew little about this brother.
"Snowy, long time no see! You haven’t changed a bit! How are you? How are your parents?" after glancing at Zhang Zian and Deng Jie, Lin Qi greeted Snowy.
"Thanks for asking, they are well!" Snowy was a little anxious. She did not want to interrupt the live broadcast, nor did she want to reveal her identity. She always felt that once the fact that she was an heir to a wealthy family was revealed, estrangement would occur between her and the audience.
"Tut, I heard that your dad’s business is expanding, but nothing can compare with health, right?" Lin Qi put on his sunglasses again.
Zhang Zian realized that this was just an acquaintance of Snowy, probably her relative. It was inconvenient for him to say anything right now, so he walked to the iron cages to see the Bengal cats inside. The audience was also wondering who this Brother Qi was and what his relationship with Snowy was.
Snowy was sweating anxiously, trying to figure out how to change the topic as soon as possible.
"Brother Qi, are you here to buy a pet in the dog market?" she suddenly got an idea.
Lin Qi nodded, pointing to the Bengal cats in the cage, "I heard that this stand sells Bengal cats, so I’m here to check them out. If suitable, I’m intending to buy one. How about you? Are you buying a pet, too? What a coincidence that we meet here."
"Well... I’m not buying, just casually looking..." she answered vaguely. She then glanced at Zhang Zian and Deng Jie, and quickly introduced them, "Ah, yes, I almost forgot. This is Sister Deng Jie, and this is Zhang Zian, who is the owner of a pet shop. If you want to buy a Bengal cat, why don’t you ask him for advice? You know, to steer away from traps."
"Oh?" hearing that Zhang Zian was a pet shop owner, Lin Qi thought he had been hired by Snowy to pick a pet for her.
"Hello, I'm Lin Qi, and Snowy is my distant relative, a younger sister." He extended his hand out to Zhang Zian.
"Hello, I am Zhang Zian, and just as Snowy said, I run a pet shop." Zhang Zian shook hands with him.
Street vendor Lao San felt unlucky today. How come one of them was related to this rich young man?! It seemed that he might not be able to close this deal today…
Fearing Lin Qi might say more about her, Snowy quickly said, "Brother Qi, are you going to buy a Bengal cat here? It is so expensive!"
Lin Qi nodded and said, "Yep. But I asked my friends, and they said that this is the only place selling Bengal cats in Binhai City… and the Bengal cats in other cities are also expensive."
"What are the merits of the cats? They are really expensive!" asked Snowy.
"Because of their good looks, isn’t it? And few people raise them." Lin Qi shrugged.
Zhang Zian had a pretty good first impression of Lin Qi. Though he looked like a wealthy heir with unconventional appearance, he wasn’t as arrogant and domineering as the wealthy heirs in the rumors.