When he opened his eyes, he immediately forced himself to wake up. He thought that this was some kind of illusion, that he was still sleeping in a tent in the Egyptian desert. Peter Lee was snoring in the tent next to his. In the next moment, he heard the sound of the tent unzip, the sound of feet running on the sand, and the sound of toilet paper ripping. A voice kept muttering, "I can't hold it… I can't hold it…"
Yet there was none of that. The surroundings were quiet, very quiet. There were only the sounds of the elfins breathing, the sounds of cars parked along the sidewalk, and neighbors waking up and greeting one another.
Above him was not a tent, but a ceiling that had already turned yellow. There was also an old-school ceiling lamp.
His eyes were wet and unlikely to become dry. His mouth did not have the taste of dryness either. The air he breathed in was moist and cool—there was no need for the air conditioner.
With this, he slowly relaxed. "Ah, I'm home."
It was still early. He closed his eyes and lay down for a while. It wasn't that he was tired, just that he simply wanted to savor the comfort he was experiencing at this moment.
After a few minutes, he got up.
The elfins were still sleeping, even Famous and Fina. They had followed him almost the entire journey in Egypt and were very tired. They'd fallen asleep immediately last night when their heads. .h.i.t the pillows.
After he got out of bed, he often drank a cup of warm water. Sometimes he couldn't finish the cup. With the cup seemingly half full, he would often pour it out. However, today, he looked at the half-full cup for half a second, tilted his head backwards, and drank it all down.
Whether it was running water, wooden beds, st.u.r.dy houses, toilets, the cool air from the refrigerator, or the lights that could be turned on with a b.u.t.ton, one tended to value these things more after a close shave with death. These daily common events and things had become seemingly more precious.
Of course, there was also electricity.
The weather was cool. After he'd returned yesterday, w.a.n.g Qian, Li Kun, and the customers in the store complained that it was too hot. He had just turned off the air conditioner before it was switched on again. This forced him to hide the air conditioner's remote control. He thought this would solve the issue once and for all. However, he forgot that manufacturers had developed mobile apps that allowed phones to act as remote controls instead. Why would they do that?
When he hid the remote control and ran to the aquarium to monitor the situation, he saw several smart customers using their mobile phones to turn the air on. The other customers quickly learned to do the same. Were they trying to go against his wishes?
It seemed that he would have to come up with a new method today. Should he use tape to cover the receiver on the air conditioner or simply pull the plug?
He washed his face while pondering this. After was.h.i.+ng, he saw a strange man in the mirror and, startled, took a tube of toothpaste to defend himself. He realized then that it was only himself.
Black, thin, dry hair, unshaven. No wonder w.a.n.g Qian and Li Kun hadn't recognized him. He didn't even recognize himself.
The trip to Egypt had had a huge impact on him, both inside and out. Before the tan went away, he would have to settle for the t.i.tle of "Binhai's popular dark-skinned guy."
"Hey… Four Seasons Hotel… Oh…"
There was a bubble in the bathtub. Sihwa was murmuring away while dreaming. She turned over in her sleep, and her tail was splas.h.i.+ng water all around.
She must be educated to save water. Since she'd arrived here, the monthly water bill had reached a new high.
After was.h.i.+ng his face, he returned to his room. Vladimir was woken up by the sounds he made. He rolled out of the bed, rubbed his eyes, yawned, and moved to the windowsill.
Now early summer was becoming midsummer. It was very cool. It made Zhang Zian miss the woolen vest worn by the Bedouins. His windows only had a screen to cover things up, but air could pa.s.s through freely.
Vladimir used his claw to open the window. He heard footsteps and lifted his claw to the ear. He looked as if he were giving a polite greeting. "I shall hand over everything to you now! I trust the work that you do!" With hardworking eyes, he would take a bow and then leave.
Having been gone for quite a while, he was not sure how everything had been, or whether the foundations of the organization were stable. He'd gone to sleep immediately upon returning. He decided to inspect only after he had woken up. Previously, he would have definitely gone out at night. Going out the next day was a big step for him.
He felt that he had a lot to worry about. After all, the Holy Cat statue had been sent back to Egypt, and more than a dozen animal G.o.ds were looking after it. In addition, it was imprisoned in a pyramid of several million tons, buried under tens of millions of tons of yellow sand. Unless it was dug up, it would not be able to do nasty things again. In this case, what else could threaten Vladimir and his stray cat army?
But anyway, he was unstoppable. He would play. Eventually, he would return.
With the window opened, the noise from the outside got louder, and the elfins, with their sensitive hearing, gradually got up. When they woke up, they looked somewhat confused. They had a look of "Am I still dreaming or what?" on their faces. It took quite some time for them to be fully awake.
In Egypt, Pi had spent most of the day sleeping in the mobile phone. At night, it used a laptop to write novels. The yellow sand and high temperatures had no effect on it. It quickly jumped back onto the familiar desk, opened the Word doc.u.ment, and started typing. It was nevertheless more comfortable typing at home then in the mobile phone.
The same was true for the other elfins. In their home, they could be lazy, relax, and simply be as kings.
In the bed of the princess, Fina woke up. However, she did not lift the veil.
"Look at you. Congratulations. You seem to have lost weight," Zhang Zian said casually, quickly running downstairs before Fina internalized what he'd said.
There were fewer familiar faces in the pet shop now than there had been before they'd left. There were a few new cats and dogs. Those they knew had grown older, their fur a little thicker and denser. The new ones were observing them, even letting out low growls to act as a deterrent.
Other than that, there were no visible changes in the store, and everything was about the same as when he'd left.
He opened the shutter door and stood by it. He thought that, rather than driving those jeeps in the desert, it would have been less troublesome if they'd driven large tanks. They could withstand almost anything thrown at them, carry heavy loads and lots of people, and travel through treacherous terrain and undulating slopes. That would have been so much better.
"Mr. Manager, good morning!"
As always, Lu Yiyun was the first to come to work. While the boys wore short sleeves, she wore a long-sleeved s.h.i.+rt and long pants. She made Zhang Zian believe once again that the weather really was not that hot.
