1320: Tear Stains

Tear Stains

Zhou Jiena and Wang Yan watched the kitten cry and panicked. They knew that they were not beautiful and only had only drawn their eyebrows before leaving the house. After all, it was only the weekend. However, they were somewhat average. They didn't look so bad as to make a kitten cry, right?2

Its watery eyes stared at them, its eyes having a sorrowful, pitiful look. It looked as if it were being bullied by them.

The kitten was a little shorter than the British Shorthair. It also had a small body and short legs. The limbs were short, and it looked like a plush doll. It made people want to try to protect it. Its head and back were mainly covered in dark blue fur. Its neck, chest, abdomen, and limbs were white.

It did, in some way, look like a British Shorthair dyed whiter, but its facial features were slightly unique. Besides its gorgeous bronze eyes that oozed water droplets, the next most striking feature was its flat nose. When it stared at someone, it had an "innocent" look, very popular due to the numerous sticker packs with that look.

Its tears drenched the hair under the eyes, and the hair clumped together. It made its round face look rather awkward.

"Erm, this cat… I seem to have seen it a lot in a sticker pack…" Zhou Jiena first discovered this.

"Uh-huh! Yes! Although it is not the same kind of coat color, this expression... I really do always see it in sticker packs. It looks like a poor little stepdaughter." Wang Yan chimed in. "But why does it cry? Is it okay? Is it feeling uncomfortable?"

"This… Shall we tell the boss?" Zhou Jiena said.

Wang Yan nodded and said, "Boss, this cat…"

Zhang Zian heard them calling him and lifted his head. Before he could say anything, Li Kun, who was nearest to them, immediately jumped from his seat like a squid. He picked up a small bag of things and walked towards the kitten.

Li Kun took a few things out of the bag and lined them up on the display case.

Zhou Jiena and Wang Yan looked curiously and saw that there were small scissors, paper towels, cotton pads, cotton balls, and a small bottle of transparent unknown liquid. The shape of the small scissors was rather strange. They were not as straight as ordinary scissors. Instead, they had a slight curvature, and the tips were blunt.

When Li Kun got up, Wang Qian also moved. He put down his mobile phone and walked into the pet bathroom, located on the first floor. He washed his hands slightly, only washing his fingertips with soap. This was because his hands were washed several times a day, so if it was not necessary, he would not wash his entire palm. It did not matter as much in the summer, but come autumn and winter, the skin on the back of the hand was prone to frostbite, or it could easily become chapped.

Once Li Kun took out all the things, Wang Qian had finished washing his hands and walked over. The former held the body and head of the kitten to prevent it from moving. The latter used a clean finger to pick up the blunt scissors. First, they used a small pair of scissors to cut the wet hair under the kitten's eyes. Then they used a paper towel to dry the tears.

They were not done. Wang Qian put down the scissors, threw away the paper towel, opened the cap on the bottle of unknown liquid, dampened the cotton pad with it, and carefully wiped the kitten's short hair.

Finally, he took a cotton ball, soaking it in warm water before wiping away the unknown liquid.

The whole process seemed a bit complicated, but the staff did this several times a day and were used to it. It took at most three to four minutes.

The rejuvenated kitten suddenly became more radiant. Moisturized by its tears, its big bronze eyes were brighter and shinier than other kittens'. They even held the reflection of the two girls.

The two of them looked at each other. They asked Wang Qian and Li Kun, once they'd packed up their tools and returned to their seats, to continue playing their game. "What is this…all about?"

"Cleaning tears," Li Kun replied briefly.

"That is…?" They pointed to the clear liquid in the vial.

"Boric acid."

"Huh? Acid… It is actually acid?" The girls were in a daze and looked at one another. They each felt that the other person's expression was like this kitten's.

"You don't need to worry about its acidity. Boric acid is not sulfuric acid. It does not irritate the skin," Wang Qian said casually.

Wang Qian and Li Kun then went to take out the trash. Zhang Zian continued. "The cat needs to secrete tears to keep the nose moist, but sometimes the nasolacrimal duct will get blocked and the tears will overflow. Our human skin is smooth, and the tears can be easily wiped off with no issues. However, when cats' tears get into their hair, with time, it will become a tear stain. With normal cats, cleaning it once will be enough. However, for this type of cat…"

He raised his finger and pointed at the flat-faced kitten. "This Exotic Shorthair needs cleaning every one to two days due to the structure of its nasolacrimal duct."

"This is the Exotic Shorthair?"

They both had heard of the Exotic Shorthair, but their impression of it was an exaggerated animated image. Besides its melancholic eyes, they found it difficult to see a resemblance to all the memes they'd seen about it.

Compared with the animations, online sticker packs of the Exotic Shorthair were more common. It always made people feel like laughing.

"Well, it is a very unique cat in every sense," Zhang Zian said.

It wasn't the animated memes that attracted the girls to this cat—it was its big eyes. They appeared warmer and brighter than other cats. They simply looked like two gleaming gems. Other cats had nice eyes, but none as full of vitality as those of the Exotic Shorthair. Anyone who first saw the Exotic Shorthair would definitely be attracted to its eyes first.

Its bright and melancholic eyes, together with its thick and sturdy appearance, made it look like a vulnerable creature deserving of comfort. It excited them very much. Even if they looked at other cats, they would still think about it.

The two of them looked at each other again and read each other's thoughts from each other's eyes. "Shall we…just get this one?"

"How much is the Exotic Shorthair?" They had decided and will not hesitate further.

Out of responsibility, Zhang Zian reminded them, "The cat itself is not expensive, but not many people buy it because it requires more effort to take care of than other cats. You also saw this earlier—it needs to have its tears cleaned every day. Otherwise, if the hair under the eyes is wet for a long time, it may cause infection or inflammation. Other cats also need to have their tears cleaned, but far less frequently. Many customers like the Exotic Shorthair, but they are all persuaded otherwise because of this. If you can tolerate this shortcoming, you will find that the Exotic Shorthair has many strong points."

This shortcoming did not seem to be a problem for Zhou Jiena and Wang Yan. The both of them were very diligent and loved cleanliness. Otherwise, they would not have been such good friends.

They noticed that Wang Qian and Li Kun worked together to complete the cleaning. One had to hold the cat in place while the other cleaned. If the cat moved, the cleaning would become complicated and dangerous. This might be the main reason that the other customers were dissuaded—many of them were single owners. Where would they find someone to help them every day?

However, this was not a problem for them.

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