Pet King

Zhang Zian was surprised and flattered by Old Time Tea’s solemnity.
He had no idea what Old Time Tea was going to ask of him.
Was it something to do with science?

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He laughed, “Grandpa Tea, no need to be so polite.
Just ask me anything, and I’ll see if I know the answers.”

Old Time Tea pondered and said, “From what you said, I gathered that Scottish fold cats originated in foreign countries, then were introduced into China, right?”

Zhang Zian nodded.
“Yeah, it is said that this kind of cat was accidentally cultivated by breeders from a small European country.”

“Do you know in what month and what year exactly?” asked Old Time Tea.

“Well…” Zhang Zian was not a cat history expert.
He picked up his phone to do a quick web search before replying, “In 1961, more than half a century ago.”

“That is not right.” Old Time Tea shook its head in doubt, “I clearly saw a lop-eared cat before that time…”

“What?” Zhang Zian was stunned.
“Grandpa Tea, when you say 'before', are you referring to the end of the 19th century?”

He had met Old Time Tea in the Hidden Fog Mountain, where there were many dense woods.
He initially thought that Old Time Tea had encountered the lop-eared cat in the forests of Hidden Fog Mountain.
Now it seemed that this was not the case.

“That’s right.” Old Time Tea was even more confused.
“I was at my prime age when I met the cat, and I’m confident that I was right.
But you say that this cat breed has only been around since 1961… This is so strange…”

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“What did the cat look like? Was it the same as the Scottish fold?” Zhang Zian asked for more details.

Old Time Tea shook its head.
“No, not the same.
This cat had longer white fur, kind of like Snowy Lionet.
Its body was more slender, and its tail was more robust than that of a Scottish fold.”

Snowy Lionet was taking a nap.
Upon hearing its name, it opened its sleepy eyes, and shouted, “What are you doing? Why did you call me?”

Zhang Zian and Old Time Tea ignored it.
He sat back in the recliner, contemplating this issue.

He was sure that Scottish fold cats had only been around since 1961.

However, Old Time Tea could not be wrong either.
It wouldn’t have said anything if it was not certain.

The problem was this: how could Old Time Tea have seen a lop-eared cat before 1961?

As time passed, Old Time Tea stopped watching TV, and Fina stopped her napping.
Both were curiously staring at Zhang Zian's face.

Snow-white fur…
lop-eared cats…
Scottish fold cats…
1961… the end of the 19th century…

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He arranged and combined the few key words together, searching hard for clues.
After a long time, he shouted, “Ah! I know now!” Zhang Zian slapped his thigh and stood up.
“Grandpa Tea, I know what the cat you saw was!”

“Oh? Do tell me, Zian!” said Old Time Tea with surprise.

Zhang Zian swallowed some saliva excitedly, and organized his words, “I used to read rumors about this, but I didn’t take it seriously at that time, and now I recall since you mentioned it…
”

Fina interrupted him impatiently, “Cut the nonsense!”

“Okay…” Zhang Zian thought this was a chance for him to show off his knowledge, but snapped at by Fina, he had to omit the words he wanted to say, and got straight to the point.
“Grandpa Tea, what you saw was not a Scottish fold cat, but an ancient Chinese lop-eared cat, whose English name was Sumxu.
No specimens of Sumxu have ever been found — in fact, its very existence was controversial, for it was most recently spotted before the liberation in China…”

Old Time Tea stroked its whiskers and asked with confusion, “Before the liberation…
do you mean before 1949? This could be the case — the timing is right.”

Fina made a grumpy face.
“An ancient cat? How come I have never heard of such a cat? Did you just make that up? Should I remind you of the consequences if you lie to me?”

“Castrated! Castrated!” As soon as this topic was brought up, Snowy Lionet was inexplicably excited.

Zhang Zian explained to Fina, “Although it was an ancient cat, it appeared much later than your era.
Take it easy, I will explain it to you slowly.”

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Zhang Zian lay back on the recliner, telling the legends he had heard to Old Time Tea, Fina, and the other elves.

The Chinese lop-eared cats were discovered and recorded by Western missionaries in the 17th century.
In their writings, this kind of cat was described as having white fur and droopy ears, and was very popular among Chinese ladies.
Even in China at the time, lop-eared cats were uncommon, and only a small number of them were circulated through the upper class.

Some people doubted whether this type of cat existed because no record of them had ever been found in local Chinese literature.
Others supposed that the lop-eared cat was not a cat, but a creature similar to a mink, or a hybrid of a mink and a cat.
No conclusion had been reached so far.
A considerable number of Europeans were interested in this peculiar cat, and even offered a reward at the European cat show, hoping that someone would bring a Chinese lop-eared cat.
Unfortunately, no one had ever taken that bounty.

Chinese lop-eared cats were last covered by the media in 1938, and since then, the mainstream opinion was that even if this cat breed had really existed, it was now extinct.

Fina's curiosity was aroused, and she kept urging Zhang Zian to continue, but that was all he knew.

Old Time Tea exhaled a long breath, “Oh, so the cat I saw was indeed a lop-eared cat…?”

“Well… Grandpa Tea, the name ‘lop-eared cat’ was created by Western missionaries, and it’s unknown what it was called locally in China, probably a homonym of Sumxu.
In addition, according to the missionaries’ records, although the Sumxu’s ears were droopy, the reasons for that were different from Scottish fold cats.
Scottish fold cats’ ears droop because of a genetic mutation, while Sumxu’s ears droop due to their long-term domestication and the loss of ear function, which made their ears degenerate gradually.
Scottish fold cats and Sumxu represent two different directions of evolution,” Zhang Zian corrected it.

As for what evolution was, Zhang Zian inevitably had to painstakingly explain this to Fina and Old Time Tea, though they could barely understand.

He got thirsty, and opened up a bottle of Evian spring water as a reward for himself.
Fina glared at him without saying anything.

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After drinking, he wiped his mouth and curiously asked Old Time Tea, “Grandpa Tea, so you have met this kind of lop-eared cat?”

Old Time Tea slowly nodded.
“I think so.
Only once did I see such a cat in the jungle at the junction of the Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces, and I was deeply surprised.
I knew nothing about the origin of a creature that looked like a mixture of a cat and something else.
It couldn’t understand the common cat language either.
I think it indeed may have been a Sumxu.”

Zhang Zian thought bitterly, Grandpa Tea, you should have caught that cat and brought it to Europe in exchange for a reward.
You could have hid the huge gold and silver prize in a secret place, and I could go dig up the treasure right now…

With Old Time Tea’s testimony, this kind of lop-eared cat probably existed, but may have gone extinct during the wars of the early 20th century.
It’s hard to say whether it was a cat or a mink.
Zhang Zian was inclined to believe that it was a mink.
As Old Time Tea said, it did not understand the common cat language.

He did not quite believe that this animal was a descendant of cats and minks.
Lions and tigers could give birth to ligers, and horses and donkeys could make mules.
But what was the deal with cats and minks? What about the reproductive isolation factors?

Fina sneered, “If I were there, I would have been able to tell whether it was a cat or not at first glance.”

Zhang Zian did not argue with her because what she said was true.

It was no use regretting a mysterious creature that had gone extinct so long ago that not a single specimen had been left behind.

He stood up with a teapot.
“Grandpa Tea, I'll go prepare some more tea for you.”

“Thank you, Zian.” Old Time Tea smiled and was relieved that the doubts in its mind had been cleared up.