383 A Windfall (1/2)

Chapter 383: A Windfall

Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Zhang Zian couldn’t help but laugh when he heard the vendor’s quoted price.

Because of their unique, wild and beautiful looks, Bengal cats were sought after by some people. A few years ago, they were really expensive, but recently, due to the increase in the number of Bengal cats being bred in Northeastern China, the price had dropped. Lao San charged 50,000 yuan for one Bengal cat. Who was he trying to fool?

However, this fully-grown Bengal cat was indeed in good condition. On its golden fur were distributed large patches of horizontal markings. Its jujube pit-like pupils looked sharp and piercing. Its tail seemed strong and powerful, with annular patterns extending to the tip. Its nasal areas were not as exquisite as other ordinary house cats, but there was a protuberance on the left and right side, and had stiff whiskers like wild, ferocious beasts.

”Brother Qi, why are you thinking of buying a Bengal cat? I don’t remember you liking to raise small animals...” Snowy asked Lin Qi.

Lin Qi scratched his head, and said embarrassingly, ”Well… actually, one of my friends raises a serval, and that cat looks really good. It is big and beautiful and wild, unlike those ordinary cats. We are envious of him… so I thought I should raise a cat and make others envy me too…since he raises a serval, I intend to raise a Bengal cat. I can’t raise the same breed as his. And then I heard the Bengal cats here are quite nice, so here I am.”

Zhang Zian understood that Lin Qi wanted to buy a cat out of rivalry.

”Oh...” Snowy turned back to ask Zhang Zian, ”Mr. Store Manager, can you help my Brother Qi determine whether this Bengal cat is worth that much?”

Lin Qi frowned. In fact, he wanted to buy this cat because the price quoted by the street vendor was relatively high. The serval that his friend bought was imported from the United States for over 200,000 yuan. If he bought a cat too cheap, he would feel like it couldn’t compare with that.

Zhang Zian couldn’t understand this rich young man’s psychology. He just honestly said, ”This Bengal cat is in excellent condition... But it is not worth the price. I would say it costs at most 20,000 yuan. In fact, regardless of its condition, I do not recommend buying it. If a Bengal cat doesn’t possess a studbook, it means it is probably the first or second generation of wild Bengal cats, and will be hard to tame.”

”Cut the nonsense!” snapped the street vendor Lao San, ”Are you blind? My Bengal cats are so obedient and well-behaved!”

Snowy also thought that this Bengal cat was obedient. Though it looked very wild, it had been quietly lying in the iron cage, occasionally uttering a short, sharp cry, which was completely different than the meowing of ordinary cats.

Lin Qi shrugged, ”A wilder cat is just what I’ve been looking for.”

Zhang Zian laughed, ”Wilder... hey, Snowy, have you been scratched by your Snow ball?”

Snowy tilted her head and thought for a moment. ”I have been scratched once, but I didn’t bleed — only a red print was left on me.”

”A Persian cat has a gentle character and limited strength, so you will be fine if it scratches you. But if you are scratched by this Bengal cat, I am afraid your skin will be torn open.” said Zhang Zian. His parents' hands and wrists were covered with many scratches. They would wear special rubber gloves when bathing cats. But they didn’t wear gloves all the time, so inevitably they were scratched by cats.

The paws of a Bengal cat were much more forceful than that of a house cat.

”My cat won’t scratch people. I assure you. Look how tender it is. Why would you think it scratches?” In order to prove what he said was true, Lao San picked up a thin iron bar and knocked at the cage a few times. The Bengal cat inside was frightened, but it only moved a little bit, cried out a few times, and didn’t struggle radically.

Lin Qi turned around and looked at Zhang Zian, seeing how he was going to cope with this.

Zhang Zian silently thought for a moment, and said, ”There are two possibilities. First, this Bengal cat is really tender; the second possibility is that it has taken sedative drugs like sleeping pills. I can’t tell which is the case for the time being. If the latter is true, when the efficacy has passed, it will reveal its true nature.”

”Sleeping pills?” Snowy cried in surprise.

”Yes, if the vendors here can feed Pomeranians painkillers, of course they can feed Bengal cats sleeping pills.” Zhang Zian said these with leeway. ”But as I said earlier, I'm not 100% certain.”