Chapter 86: The Guard From Ancient Egypt
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhang Zian could not believe what he just saw on his cell phone screen.
That was impossible!
That material cat?
I didn’t buy her a diamond ring today; how come her friendliness increased?
Did she…find my debit card?
Putting the questions aside, Zhang Zian was more interested in Fina’s history.
[Tip]:Pet property
[Known As]:Maneki-neko
[Rarity]:Epic
[Characteristics]:When spring comes, if I don’t open my mouth first, who dares to make a sound!
[Unlocked History]:All house cats are originated from Egypt!
4000 years ago, on the alluvial plains along both sides of the Nile, the improvement in cultivation technology remarkably increased the production of food. For the first time ever, humans started reserving surplus grains on a large scale, which also brought the problem of mice. In order to resolve the mice problem, ancient Egyptians tried to tame Felis silvestris lybica, a wild cat from the African desert, into a gentle house cat. It was the beginning of a friendship between humans and cats. All current house cats were originated from there.
Cats had an extremely high status in ancient Egypt.
2900 years ago, the goddess Bastet was honored as the official God of Egypt. Cats were in a tremendously high position in people’s hearts at the time.
Ancient Egypt strictly prohibited exportation of cats; however, cats arrived in Greece 2500 years ago and spread from there ever since.
2000 years ago, the expansion of Rome brought cats all over Europe. During roughly 200 BC, they were brought to China and India through Mesopotamia. Unfortunately, the 12 zodiac animals were already chosen at the time and the cat was not able to make an appearance due to late arrival.
In the 15th century, to resolve the mice problem on the ocean carriers, Columbus brought house cats to America.
In the 17th century, house cats appeared in Australia.
In the 19th century, cats reached the south and north poles on explorer’s ships.
The cat had completed its global occupation.
However, no matter how widely cats reached, their root and most resplendent time was still in Ancient Egypt.
At that time, cats would be made into mummies after death. The owner would hold a grand funeral and the owner’s whole family would shave off their eyebrows to show their sorrow. Whoever hurt a cat could face a death sentence.
The Ancient Egyptian Kingdom was a real cat enthusiast country, the first and has been ever since.
The Fina Paris family has been honored as the guardian of the ancient Egyptian Ptolemaic dynasty and the Grand High Priest of the Bubastis Shrine for generations. The beloved pet of Cleopatra VII, Fina Paris XIII was the most powerful cat of all time. In the annual Best Festival, 700,000 adult men and women would rush to the holy land of Bubastis, and present their most valuable gifts, pray to the Bubastis Shrine. With the powerful faith blessing, Fina Paris XIII became an Elf.
She was half epic, half legend, and almost reached the Goddess status!
Undoubtedly, Fina Paris XIII was the closest to the Goddess cat. She was the ancestor of all cats, the queen of cats.
[Unlocked Real Name]:the golden cat of Cleopatra VII!
…
It was a total shock to Zhang Zian!
Cleopatra VII is a name not many people know, but everyone knows that beautiful queen from ancient Egypt.
No wonder the golden cat was so arrogant. She was in disdain to deal with a normal person.
All of a sudden, everything started to make sense.
Tilapia from the Nile and Persian date palm…
Fina called RMB notes the pink paperaa. Zhang Zian didn’t understand. She actually said pa-per-aa, which means papyrus in Ancient Egypt, the treasure of the Pharaoh. It was also the origination of the word paper in English.
Fina claimed that she was incredibly wealthy. It looked like it was all true. At the time, Cleopatra VII almost turned the Roman Kingdom into a province of Egypt. This once again proved the golden statement – men conquer the world; women conquer men and cats conquer women.
Even now, a purebred Egyptian cat is very rare. It pretty much didn’t exist in China. Zhang Zian had never seen a purebred Egyptian cat before, not to mention a cat like Fina, the original Egyptian cat from 2000 years ago. Until the man offered two hundred thousand Yuan to purchase Fina, he realized how valuable she was. However, he would’ve never anticipated that she was the beloved pet of the Cleopatra VII.
"Master?"
"Mr. Manager?"
The crowd started questioning, seeing that Zhang Zian didn’t speak for such a long time.
Lea rubbed her eyes and said, "Mr. Manager was right. It was not you that picked the cat. It was a mutual selection."
Jiang Qianxue held her Persian cat tightly, buried her face in the cat’s hair and quietly cried.
Xiao Yan was deeply touched. "I found my cat on the street one year ago. It was raining cats and dogs that day. She was in a paper carton, all wet. She was quiet and watching people walk by. Whenever a person approached her, she would scare them away."
Zhang Zian sighed and said, "She had to be waiting for her master to take her home."
"I don’t even know why. Maybe it was what you called chemistry. When I saw her, I thought to myself that I could not leave her behind," she gently rubbed the Dragon-Li, "so I took her home with the carton and named her ‘Rainy’. She was fierce when I first got her. She left a mess in my apartment, knocked over her food bowl and water bowl…even now, a year later, she isn’t close to me. She fights especially bad whenever I try to bathe her."
Zhang Zian analyzed, "She might be deeply hurt from the memory that she was abandoned in a rainy day. Whenever she got wet, she thought that she was going to be abandoned again so she would fight. No one wants to be abandoned twice."
"Could she... take a bath like a normal cat?" Xiao Yan looked up. Her eyes were red.
Zhang Zian wasn’t sure. This Dragon-Li was as wild as one could get. This one was hurt when she was a kitten, so she had to be extremely alert and offensive against humans. He looked at Fina in hope of getting some input from her.
At some point, Fina laid down again, closed her eyes, nodded slightly and meowed.
Suddenly, Xiao Yan felt the tension in her cat relax and she softly laid on her feet. The cat raised her head. Instead of vigilance, there was trust and peace in her eyes.
"You may bathe your cat now. Are you clear with all the steps?" Zhang Zian asked.
"Yes, but…"
"Don’t worry," he said.
Xiao Yan took a deep breath, picked up the Dragon-Li cat and walked in the bathing room. Her cat didn’t struggle at all. That was not like her.
The whole bathing process was super smooth. It was like a completely new cat. Even Xiao Yan could not believe her eyes. Even more surprisingly, she started making cute meow sounds like a kitten. She even licked her arms. This had never happened before! If it was in other places, she would have already begun making threatening low roars.
As everyone was focused on the Dragon-Li, Zhang Zian quietly walked to Fina and asked, "What did you say to her?"
Fina said peacefully, "I just told her, don’t worry. Your master will not leave you behind. You can trust and rely on her."
Holy moly! What a genius golden cat!
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Fina’s history wasn’t fully disclosed here. There will be a separate chapter to fully introduce her. There is a small part of her history in this chapter due to its relevance to the story.