Future Pet Shop

’I’ve made quite a bit of money from my design studio over the years. As long as I can buy these two Beavers, I’m willing to spend whatever it takes. I’ve also bought up a few nice plots of land—backed by mountains and facing water, with beautiful scenery. I could build the perfect home for these two Beavers entirely according to my own designs, letting them settle down and build their own lodge there. I could spend my days watching them build dams and lodges. My wife and kids would definitely love them, right? Then I wouldn’t have to go to the office every day. I could just pop in for a meeting occasionally to assign some work, and spend the rest of my time at home watching them while I work on my designs and spend time with my wife and kids. Life couldn’t get any better than that.’

Wen Yuan imagined the wonderful life he would have after taking Bald Qiang and Gao Lujie home, while also pondering the difficulties of achieving this goal. He wasn’t short on money; he could probably scrape together tens of millions if he tried. In his eyes, that price should be more than enough to acquire the two Beavers. If it still wasn’t enough, he could always mortgage his house.

Besides, he felt his design skills were improving by leaps and bounds. No matter how much money he spent now, he could earn it all back in the future. Although the domestic real estate market wasn’t as hot as it had been a few years ago, an outstanding designer never had to worry about finding projects. Any money he spent would come back to him before long.

Besides money, there was the issue of the living environment. Not just any place was suitable for raising Beavers. But he wasn’t lacking in that department either. Given a little time, he could create the perfect habitat for the Beavers to live in.

’And I like animals, too. I even have two dogs at home, so I don’t lack the patience or skills to care for them.’ Wen Yuan simply couldn’t think of any reason for Shen Yibin to refuse him. But Shen Yibin’s question left him dumbfounded. ’Asking if I can play ping-pong? What does that mean? What could that possibly have to do with raising Beavers?’

"Mr. Shen? I’m not really one for beating around the bush. If you have something to say, please just say it directly. I’ll do whatever I can to make it happen. Can we not speak in riddles?" Wen Yuan asked, confused.

"Uh, how about this? You continue observing here in the store. I’m going to step out for a bit. When I get back, you’ll probably understand," Shen Yibin said. He had just checked the affinity level between Wen Yuan and Bald Qiang, and the result wasn’t bad—it was already close to eighty. The only problem was that Wen Yuan spent too much time hunched over a desk for work and wasn’t very athletic. He probably wouldn’t be able to play ping-pong with Bald Qiang. If this problem could be solved, then he would be qualified to purchase Bald Qiang. This was just like how Shen Yibin himself had to learn how to cook before he could buy Hah’Er.

In that short time, Bald Qiang and Gao Lujie had finished their rest. They started moving wood again to build their lodge in the pool. Wen Yuan’s attention was quickly drawn back to them, and for the moment, he couldn’t be bothered to pester Shen Yibin. He hurried back down and continued taking pictures with his camera, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK.

Meanwhile, Shen Yibin left with Hah’Er, got into his miraculous van, and headed for Yunzhong City Stadium. He planned to buy a ping-pong table for Bald Qiang to bring back, so Wen Yuan could witness Bald Qiang’s skills with his own eyes.

He circled the stadium once and quickly found a specialty store for table tennis equipment. He bought a ping-pong table, a net, paddles, balls, jerseys, and all sorts of other gear. Shen Yibin couldn’t be bothered to have the store deliver it, so he just had them stuff everything into his van. He had definitely made the right choice buying this vehicle; even with so much stuff packed inside, it didn’t feel cramped at all. The owner of the equipment store was left dumbfounded, and he started to wonder if he should buy a van like Shen Yibin’s.

"Come out and help me unload!" After parking the van at the entrance, he called inside. A few of the girls came out and helped Shen Yibin carry the ping-pong table into the store, placing it right next to the pool. Wen Yuan also hurried over to lend a hand. It wasn’t that he was willing to stop observing the beaver couple’s construction work; rather, the moment Bald Qiang saw the ping-pong table, it immediately dropped what it was doing and ran up to greet Shen Yibin. Ever since that morning, the little guy had fallen in love with the sport.

"Boss, you like ping-pong too? Why didn’t you say so sooner? I was a substitute on the university team back in college. Once this is set up, I’ll play a few rounds with you!" Li Shiqing said while helping with the assembly.

"Perfect. You can play with Bald Qiang in a bit, then!" Shen Yibin had been thinking that he hadn’t played in ages and probably wouldn’t be a match for Bald Qiang. He hadn’t expected Li Shiqing to have this trick up her sleeve.

’Play ping-pong with it?’ Wen Yuan felt like his brain couldn’t keep up. ’What the hell?’ But Li Shiqing and the others were already used to such oddities. In this store, they had already seen a singing parrot, a Raccoon Cat that could do plaza dancing, a monkey that could brew wine, and a hamster that could plant flowers and trees. A Beaver playing ping-pong didn’t seem all that strange in comparison, did it?

"I can play too, I can play too! Let me go first in a bit!" Ping-pong truly deserved its title as China’s national sport. Not only could Li Shiqing play, but even Xie Nannan and Xia Shixuan knew how. Only Gao Shu stood there regretfully, lamenting why she had never bothered to learn.

"Gao, ping-pong is really simple. I’ll teach you after work!" Li Shiqing said reassuringly, quickly putting an arm around her shoulder.

In no time, the ping-pong table was assembled and the net was stretched taut. It was during work hours, so there weren’t many customers in the store; two employees were enough to watch the front. So, Shen Yibin had Li Shiqing and Xie Nannan stay behind. He handed a paddle and a ball to Li Shiqing, then lifted Bald Qiang onto the table. "You play with him for a while. Switch out when you get tired."

After making the arrangements, Shen Yibin brought over a few chairs. He sat down with Hah’Er, Xiaoliu, and Gao Lujie, eating ice cream while they watched the match between Li Shiqing and Bald Qiang.

As expected of a substitute on a university team, Li Shiqing’s ping-pong skills were far better than those of the old men from the morning. If she were in a country where ping-pong wasn’t as developed, she might even make the national team. She launched a fierce offensive right from the start. But Bald Qiang was no slouch either; its tail had a much larger surface area than Li Shiqing’s paddle.

It hopped and jumped about on the table, blocking left and right, and somehow managed to return every one of Li Shiqing’s attacks. For a moment, the two were evenly matched. The customers in the store all gathered around, taking out their phones and snapping pictures of the incredible scene, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK.

Just then, Shen Yibin clapped Wen Yuan on the shoulder and said, "See that? This is what it loves to do. If you can’t play ping-pong, I’m afraid it won’t go with you."