Pet King

explicably 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.”

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.

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.