955: Tear Stains

Tear Stains

The two employees were very concerned with the calico cat, Snowy's, health, and they told all the details of the situation to Zhang Zian.2

Actually Zhang Zian understood the situation within a few seconds, it was just that he could not say it immediately. If one spoke too fast, the others would look down on them, and then subsequently would not trust them. It was like the doctor knowing your illness but still needing to check your pulse.

He purposely made an expression that made it seem like he was thinking very hard. He quietly muttered for a while before he slowly said, "There's no need to worry. Snowy is not hurt, it's just crying."

"Crying?" Wen Li did not have cats herself. Upon hearing that, she was even more confused. A cat could cry until the fur on its face was red?

She quickly thought the worst and worriedly said, "Crying red tears? Is it conjunctivitis? Cornea inflammation? Glaucoma? Cataracts? Does it need to eat some kind of medicine or have something applied to it?

"Have you been watching too many advertisements?" Zhang Zian could not help but insult her. "It's just ordinary tears. There's no need to give it any medicine at all. A cat's tears are normally colorless and transparent, but there are components of iron in the tears. After they flow out, if you do not wipe them away in time and they are dried by the wind, then when they meet the oxygen in the air, they are oxidized. That causes them to become reddish-orange because they are oxidized iron. It's not blood stains, but tear stains," he explained again. Although eye infection and illnesses would also cause tears, that cat's eyes were not red or swollen and did not have any signs of infection or pus. It was only ordinary crying.

The two employees finally managed to understand. They expressions changed from worried to surprised.

Right after that, Zhang Zian's tone changed. "However, a cat cries as a reaction to external shock. Has it gotten scared recently, or has there been any kind of environmental change lately?"

"Nope." The two employees looked at each other and shook their heads to say no.

"Then that means its too fat. It is due to eating foods that are high in fat." Zhang Zian looked at its fat body and said, "It needs to lose weight. Fat is quite helpful to cats, but it cannot be too fat. If it's too fat, it will have all kinds of chronic diseases, and it will greatly reduce its expected lifespan."

Upon hearing that, the two employees were all quite embarrassed.

The male employee admitted, "This is all our fault. The Forbidden City provides cat food, but because of budget constraints and how many stray cats there are, the cat food is all quite ordinary. We often buy our own cat food to feed the cats we like… Quite a lot of people still bring small snacks around to feed them, and sometimes tourists feed them, too. A lot of them end up eating all day long, so naturally they get pretty fat.

"At first, we did not find anything about it; they are so cute when they are fat. The feeling when you pet them is especially good. After that, we felt that they were a bit too fat. Even though we said in our hearts we would not feed them anymore, we could not help it… It seems like we need to put them on a diet." Wen Li expressed that she would learn from her mistakes and change.

The Forbidden City employees, especially the employees in charge of the literary items, were graduate students majoring in archaeology and restoration of cultural relics. They tended to be more introverted and liked staying at home. Often, men and women who preferred staying at home also preferred cats, and hence loved the stray cats a lot.

The stray cats lived in the Forbidden City and did not have any enemies. They did not need to run about, and were very well taken care of by the employees. They laid around all day, sleeping after eating and eating after sleeping. Their days were better than an ordinary house cat's. If they did not get fat, then there was something wrong.

Zhang Zian had, with much difficulty, gotten closer to them, and was just wondering if he should ask if the Forbidden City was looking for temporary workers. He heard the male employee remind Wen Li, "Wen Li, it's rare that we meet such a high-level person. How about we invite him to help look at the condition of the cat in Jianfu Hall?"

"Right!" Wen Li hit her forehead. "How could I forget about Zhuang Zhuang? I was just saying that I would bring it to the vet after work today. It's just…"

She looked at Zhang Zian in embarrassment before telling the male employee, "He's here to explore the Forbidden City. Let's not waste his time. That's so embarrassing… It's better that I just bring Zhuang Zhuang to a veterinarian after work."

"Ah, we wanted to go and watch Dog Warrior for the second time today. You aren't going again?" the male employee asked, finding it a pity.

Wen Li hesitated. "This…"

When Zhang Zian heard Jianfu Hall, his heart was moved. He had just looked at the map and there was no palace called Jianfu Hall in the open area. That meant that the palace was likely in the restricted area!

He was just thinking very hard about how to make his way into the restricted area, and it just happened that the chance was there. Of course, he could not let it go.

"No worries. Anyway, I've come to the Forbidden City before. This time around, I'm just touring the Forbidden City again. I was planning on spending the whole day at the Forbidden City anyway, so just taking a look won't take too much time," he hurriedly said.

"See, he's already said that," the male employee said happily. "Then let's just stop being overly polite.

Zhang Zian nodded. "Exactly. Plus, I'm just grateful to you all for supporting Dog Warrior and Famous so much."

Wen Li was overjoyed. If she could solve the problem of Zhuang Zhuang in the daytime, she could go to the cinema with her colleagues later that night. Yesterday, after they saw the premier, they all praised the film, saying that it was another black horse in the domestic film market that year. When she heard it her heart felt itchy. It was somehow considered a collective activity, which would not be good to be pushed off again. It was easy for people to think that she did not want to be in the group.

"Then that's great! Don't worry, I won't let you come in vain. You came to the Forbidden City before, but what you saw were just the ordinary open areas, right? We'll bring you into the restricted area to walk around. We won't let you come in vain!" she promised excitedly.

The male employee corrected her. "I still have something going on. You can just bring him in alone."

"That's good too. Help me cover it up in front of our superiors," Wen Li said, half-jokingly.

The male employee also did not want to suffer losses and started to bargain, "I can help you cover it up, but tonight's movie ticket…"

"All right, all right, then tonight I'll be in charge of your movie ticket." Wen Li waved her hand impatiently. "You really don't have a gentlemanly attitude at all!"

The male employee laughed and walked off.

Wen Li warmly signaled to Zhang Zian. "Come, I'll bring you to Jianfu Hall to see Zhuang Zhuang."

Zhang Zian was very willing. When he saw that most of the tourists behind were catching up again, he gave a look to the elfins to signal for them to follow behind him.

"Will it be inconvenient?" he asked guiltily. The main reason was that he was worried that he would be stopped by the other employees.

"It won't be. Anyway, I want to make a trip there to take something. It's something convenient." Wen Li seemed very sure; she was not worried at all.

She then waved to the calico cat, Snowy. "Snowy, do you want to come along? Walking a bit more is good for losing weight."

Snowy sniffed Fina's scent carefully, then chased after it.

Wen Li brought Zhang Zian and turned towards the west side, saying hello to the other staff. They bypassed a sign of that said, "Tourists Stop Here" and entered the unopened area of the Palace Museum.

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PS1: There really is a fat calico cat in the Forbidden City named Snowy.

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