"Mater, you've been on TV over and over again recently . I bet you'll get famous!"
"Nonsense! Master is already famous!" Wang Qian and Li Kun said, full of envy .
In the early morning, the local news was on the television . The background was the residential area where Carpenter Wang lived . Zhang Zian was interviewed seriously in front of the camera as an expert . He described the toxicity of Palytoxin, asking all aquarium owners to be very cautious when buying marine creatures . The best practice was to buy them from official stores in order to prevent similar incidents .
Next, Sheng Ke was interviewed .
The news took a long time to recap the incident, then showed a close-up picture of Palythoa corals . They warned all aquarium owners in the city that if anyone found similar corals at home, they should call the police immediately and not handle them on their own .
Wang Qian and Li Kun were right: Zhang Zian had been on the local news a lot lately, sometimes even in the provincial news . He was almost a local celebrity .
"Don't just watch the stories!" Zhang Zian stared at them . "The live rocks we bought from the aquarium market may have these corals attached to them, too . Be careful, the two of you . If a similar incident happens to us, we'll have to close the shop for good!"
He was not exaggerating, nor was he threatening them . In fact, the aquarium that Carpenter Wang often visited was suspended indefinitely . Nobody knew if they could ever reopen . After such an unexpected event, that aquarium owner might have to head to his hometown and get married there .
They heard that Carpenter Wang's family was out of danger and gradually recovering . Carpenter Wang's condition was the most serious . His hands had been inside the water, so his arms were covered in rashes . He still needed to stay in hospital for observation .
As soon as Welder Zhao got better, he could not wait to be checked out of the hospital . The doctors wanted him to stay for a few more days for observation, but he insisted on being released, claiming that he was too unlucky . He didn't want to spend so much money on being hospitalized because of a few fish . It was definitely not worth it…
Electrician Wu thought that Welder Zhao deserved what happened to him, so he didn't bother to visit him . Moreover, he asked other retired employees not to visit him . Even if they did visit, they should not bring gifts . He would only learn after paying a price…
As the rumors were busted in time by solid proof, the incident didn't cause any aftermath on the internet . It died out soon . Only the retired people in that residential area had something new to talk about at tea time .
Wang Qian and Li Kun made faces, but didn't dare to talk back .
Jiang Feifei was drawn to the story . She felt that ever since she had started working part-time in Zhang Zian's aquarium, she had learned a lot of new knowledge that she didn't know in the past . The work shifts were not boring at all .
They chatted while they did their routine cleaning, preparing for the new business day .
Zhang Zian returned to the second floor . He headed to his parents' room first to check out if the marine creatures were growing well .
The corals seemed normal, especially the "Ugly Duckling Coral" that he named by himself . As it grew bigger, it turned brighter and brighter under the blue light . The blue rings on the red bottom was a rare combination, making it as pretty as the most beautiful corals .
He estimated that, in a few days, he could try to cut them, dividing them into twos, fours, eighths, and so forth… Soon, he would have a flock of Ugly Duckling Corals .
Corals might sprout or divide even if they were left alone, forming a coral bed from one single coral . Artificial cutting, however, could help them propagate faster .
Before making the real cut, it was wise to practice on cheap corals .
The sea angels, Antarctic sea anemone, and sea butterflies were all growing very well . The sea angel's abdomen was already visibly enlarged . He was sure that it was pregnant . A school of little sea angels would be born soon .
He checked the instruments once again . The high-end instruments had automatic alerts that detected abnormalities, but being careful was always good .
After finishing his tasks, he took the saltwater samples and headed back to the living room for the daily water quality test .
Pi was still typing and wearing its glasses . It paused from time to time to refer to the Nameless Book .
"Hey! jeoan! Are you outside? If you are, squeak!" Sihwa shouted from the bathroom .
"Squeak, " Zhang Zian answered her lazily, lifting his head from the microscope .
"Hey! You actually squeaked . Aren't you afraid all cats downstairs will come up to catch the mice? Ahahaha!" Sihwa laughed hard, feeling good about herself .
"Most cats in this shop don't catch mice . Some don't bother, and some just can't," Zhang Zian answered from a distance . "They might know how to catch fish, though . "
Sihwa said, "…Come in here . I have a question . "
Zhang Zian put down his work temporarily and walked into the bathroom .
She lifted the phone so that he could see the words on the screen . "How do you pronounce this?"
Zhang Zian saw that the all of the syllables had confused her . She could not figure out why syllables like yuan, yue, and ying must be read directly, instead of pronouncing them as y-u-an, y-ue, and y-ing .
"Because this is a rule . There is no why . " He gave a crude and simple answer . "Don't mind these minute details––just remember them . "
Sihwa learned very quickly, as she was not a baby and had been immersed in a Mandarin-speaking environment . She encountered difficulties only once in a while .
"Then why is there an apostrophe in Xi'an?" she asked again .
"Without the apostrophe, you'd pronounce it as Xian . " Zhang Zian pointed at himself and said, "And my name is actually Zi an . It's okay to omit the space in between, but in English, it may be mispronounced . "
"Pfff . Chinese is so hard!" Sihwa was a bit discouraged .
"Quack! How about changing your change into Billy Zhang? I guarantee it will not be misunderstood!" Richard showed up at the right time and started quacking .
"No! This one will be misunderstood!" Zhang Zian complained . "Why did you fly up here again? You can't hold your bird droppings?"
"Quack! You look down upon me! I'm telling you . When you are away, I'm the one teaching her Pinyin!" Richard shouted .
Zhang Zian was quite surprised to hear that He looked at Sihwa and asked, "Is this true?"
Sihwa nodded . "Yes! It's true! Richard's pronunciation is very good . Much more accurate than yours!"
Zhang Zian spoke Mandarin, but he still carried a slight local accent, especially when he spoke with customers .
Despite that, he was even less reassured . He was concerned that Richard might teach her dirty and gay things, which were inappropriate .
"Quack! Oh, right . I'm up here for something . Someone's looking for you downstairs . You'd better go down," Richard said .
"Fine . " Zhang Zian looked back at Sihwa and said, "You can learn by yourself and write down anything you don't understand . We'll discuss it after I come back up . For the stuff the parrot teaches you, don't' believe a single word of it!"
Chapter end
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