Chapter 1342: Reward System

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

It was yet another day.

“Good morning, Mr. Store Manager!”

Early in the morning, Little Celery saw Zhang Zian standing by the door of the store and immediately ran over to say hello.

“Hey, Little Celery. Good morning.”

Zhang Zian was observing the swallowtail butterfly larva by the store next door. He took the opportunity to wave at Little Celery.

Little Celery ran forward and copied him. She also went to take a look at the larva.

“Has it become a larva?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“That’s great! How long will it take for a beautiful butterfly to emerge from it?” She was looking forward to it.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Well, it won’t take long.” Zhang Zian nodded. “Did Little Celery give some thought as to what she will be writing for her composition?”

“Yes, I did, and I am done!”

Little Celery shared her idea with Zhang Zian. He corrected her on some of the factual and rhetorical errors along the way but did not modify her main content. After all, this composition needed to be written by her, not him.

After sharing, Little Celery did not intend to go to school immediately, nor did she intend to enter the store to visit the hamsters and rabbits. Instead, it seemed like she had something else to say.

“What’s the matter? What else?” Zhang Zian saw her hesitating.

“That...” She groaned. “The caterpillars by our school are growing in number. Even the walls are filled with them. They are everywhere. The students are very scared. The teachers are also getting headaches about this issue. So I told the teacher that Mr. Store Manager is very capable. Perhaps you may have a way to solve the caterpillar problem.”

“Oh... So, if I’m not wrong, you recommended me to your teacher?” he asked.

“Well... I didn’t ask you in advance, so I don’t know if Mr. Store Manager has the time...” she said as if she had made a mistake.

“I have a lot of time, and if it’s anything to do with eliminating pests, leave it to me!”

If the issue was controlling stray cats and dogs, he likely wouldn’t be as boastful. However, this was merely some caterpillars. However many there were, as long as he set off to work on them, he would definitely be able to eliminate all of those filthy caterpillars!

Although he had not made the street office budge to his request, something he was highly frustrated about, now that he had the time to think about it, it was not a big deal. The street office was merely a coordinating department. For example, the internal affairs of the school could not be controlled by the street office. Why not take this opportunity and try out what he wanted to do at Zhonghua Road Primary School? It may be wiser to start off with a smaller area. If he had to treat the entire Dongcheng District from the get-go, he may not do such a great job.

“Great! I have already told the teacher. The teacher also informed the guards about it. Mr. Store Manager can come by anytime he wants!” Little Celery was so happy she skipped a little. “Then I will go to school first!”

“Okay, go ahead. Don’t run too fast.”

Little Celery ran away happily, and Zhang Zian saw her slowly disappear around the corner of the street.

He thought through it. Even if he were heading for the school, he should not go in the morning because the school was busy then. There were many parents there to pick up the children. If he wanted to go, it would be better to go in the afternoon.

As for the afternoon, besides his usual practice of playing Sihwa’s songs at the seaside, he’d also made an appointment with the white dog to observe the results of the stray dogs’ collection.

From two days ago in the afternoon till noon today, the time given to Little White to mobilize his comrades was about 48 hours.

How many bottles could stray dogs collect in 48 hours?

Although there were often people in the city who were short on money, who couldn’t afford things, or were simply bored, who picked up bottles, they could not possibly pick everything up. People such as the old grandmother who came to the pet shop for help would be unable to pick up bottles for 24 hours a day. Thus, most of the bottles would still go to the landfill. They would be further sorted and recycled by the landfill operators or simply crushed.

The stray dogs were going to grab the empty bottles and transfer them to other places before the material in the landfill was sorted. In other words, was this a collective act to profit off the state?

“Come, help me move this into the car.”

Zhang Zian greeted Wang Qian and Li Kun and asked them to help.

“Master, how much dog ??food are you going to move? You are going to empty your entire shop!”

Wang Qian and Li Kun asked the inevitable question.

Sustained labor couldn’t rely on coercion, temporary enthusiasm, or mere idealism. It must have appropriate incentives. For Little White, despite how strong he could be, nothing would matter if they used a communist method of feeding. Everybody knew from the history books what happened when food was distributed in such a manner.

In order to mobilize the labor enthusiasm of the stray dogs, they must be allowed to see the real benefits in front of them. Clean dog food was a good option.

Other than that...

Uncle Li came over on a tricycle, and the car was filled with foam insulators.

“Store Manager Zhang, the roast chicken legs that you ordered are finally baked,” Uncle Li said as he wiped away his sweat.

“Thank you for your hard work. I am sorry to make you roast it overnight. Really sorry,” Zhang Zian apologized.

“Ah! Don’t mention it!” Uncle Li smiled boldly and glanced at the pet store with curiosity. He asked, “Hope you don’t mind me asking, but isn’t this a little too much? Why do you want so many roast chicken legs?”

Having suddenly received such a large number of orders from Zhang Zian, the old couple were both happy for their business but nevertheless worried about not being able to deliver.

The two old folks, Uncle Li and his wife, had started preparations yesterday night. They’d thawed the frozen chicken legs bought from the wholesale market, marinated them with honey, and then, in order not to delay their normal business, they’d gotten up at three in the morning and cooked the chicken legs. It was very hard work and thus hard-earned money.

After exhausting all the free time they had to complete the order, the tiredness had finally overcome them. Auntie Li had, by now, gone back to catch up on sleep.

Uncle Li’s question was also very normal and expected. After all, the puppies in the pet shop were fed dog food most of the time, and only a few dogs, such as Famous and Zhan Tian, were fed chicken legs.

Zhang Zian explained, “I don’t intend to feed the dogs here in the store. It is... The nearby pet breeding base needs... Well, yes. Grandpa Li, I may need so many chicken legs in the future. If you can’t do it, please hire someone so you don’t tire yourself out.”

“Good, good.”

Although Zhang Zian had not given him a direct answer, Uncle Li was old-fashioned, and he did not invade the privacy of others too much. Anyway, it was impossible to use chicken legs to do crimes. It was most important to make money off this.

Dog food was something that everyone had, more or less. It could fill the stomach. However, to truly motivate people—or dogs—to work, it was important to rely on chicken.

Dogs were very human-like animals. They would observe and learn, and they could be conditioned to react in a certain appropriate manner. They would soon find out that whoever brought in more bottles would also have bigger pieces of chicken to eat.

The reward and punishment mechanism was not very effective for cats, but it was very effective for dogs.

Dogs who didn’t work hard would have to lick the chicken bones left behind by the other dogs. They would only be able to look and drool. If there was no leadership or system, it would be highly chaotic and disorderly. There would be aimless fights and robbery. However, with Little White around to restrain the dogs, he didn’t have to worry about this issue.

Soon, the Wuling Hong Guang MPV had been fully filled except for the driver’s seat. Fortunately, the car could take on everything. If it hadn’t been able to, he would’ve needed more than one vehicle.