Future Pet Shop

"Still want to fight? I don’t think so." After a period of utter chaos, both Shi Gaofei and Xiaoliu had run out of steam. One’s head was covered in lumps, while the other was covered in scratches from his opponent. They lay on the ground, wheezing heavily. The two had just been in a free-for-all, and in the end, it was a lose-lose situation; neither had come out on top.

"HUFF... HUFF..." Shi Gaofei couldn’t even stand, but he still glared fiercely at Xiaoliu. He’d taken on lions on the African savanna without losing out, yet here he was, schooled by this scrawny monkey. ’It’s absolutely unbearable!’

It was the same for Xiaoliu. Was there any beast in the forests of Emei Mountain that he *hadn’t* beaten up? And now he couldn’t even take down this little guy. He gripped his stick with a trembling paw, ready to charge back in as soon as he recovered an ounce of strength.

"You still want to fight? Take a look at the state you’re in!" Shen Yibin was utterly exasperated. He grabbed Hah’Er and pulled him over. "You caused this mess, now you go sort it out." If Hah’Er hadn’t started roughhousing excitedly the moment he saw Shi Gaofei, it wouldn’t have led to so many misunderstandings. After all, Xiaoliu had just been trying to stick up for him.

"Nnngh..." Hah’Er also realized he’d caused trouble. He hugged Shen Yibin’s leg and hid behind him, not daring to approach the two riled-up combatants to explain anything.

"Sigh, let’s get them upstairs and lying down. They’re going to need some medicine." One of the rascals was black and blue with a head full of bumps, while the other was covered in gashes. If they didn’t get treatment, there could be serious problems. The bruising on Shi Gaofei’s head needed to be cleared up soon, or it might affect his intelligence. And if Xiaoliu’s wounds weren’t treated quickly, he could get tetanus, which would be disastrous. Shen Yibin, Hong Mian, and Hah’Er worked together to carry the two of them up to the second-floor terrace and lay them flat on the sofa.

"I have some medicine for injuries here, but I’m not sure if it’s safe for them," Hong Mian said, pulling a few small bottles from her bag. They looked like military-grade supplies, the kind prepared for special forces.

"That’s for humans, right? It’s probably not suitable for animals," Shen Yibin said. "I have some medicine in my room. I’ll go get it. Though, I think I stuffed it at the very bottom of a box last time, so it might take me a while to find it." In truth, Shen Yibin was thinking about the Future Pet Shop. He remembered seeing special pet medicine there that should work for the two of them. It was just that choosing the items and having them delivered would take some time, so he needed an excuse.

After calming the two injured animals down a bit, he instructed Hah’Er to keep a close eye on them and make sure no more trouble broke out. Only then did Shen Yibin hurry back to his bedroom, shut the door, and start searching on his phone.

"Found it. This one is specifically for reducing swelling; it should work for Shi Gaofei." Shen Yibin quickly found the medicine he was looking for, but one look at the price made him gasp. ’What the hell? A tiny bottle of this costs over a thousand? This is highway robbery! Damn, the wound recovery medicine is even more expensive—three thousand! Still, it guarantees no scarring and rapid hair regrowth... If it really works that well, I guess three thousand is a bargain!’

Wincing at the cost, he quickly placed and paid for the order, then stared expectantly out the window. About ten minutes passed—during which Xia Shixuan had already called for him twice from outside—before the Future Pet Shop finally delivered the two small bottles of medicine.

One of the two bottles contained a cream-like ointment for treating redness and swelling. The other was an aerosol spray, similar to Yunnan Baiyao, designed to stop bleeding, reduce bruising, disinfect, and promote new fur growth. He opened the instruction manual and saw the application was very simple: first clean the wounds with alcohol, then apply the medicine directly. The dosage was also explained in detail. Shen Yibin estimated that there would be medicine left over after treating the two of them. ’Maybe I can use it on someone else in the future... eh, on second thought, no. I really hope nothing like this ever happens in the shop again.’

"Found it, found it!" When Xia Shixuan came to urge him for the third time, Shen Yibin quickly opened the door, holding the two bottles of medicine. "Go downstairs and bring up a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and grab plenty of cotton swabs."

Once Xia Shixuan brought up the alcohol and cotton swabs, the whole group immediately gathered around the two patients and got to work. Shen Yibin and Hong Mian carefully cleaned the bumps on Shi Gaofei’s head with alcohol, while Hah’Er, Maphario, and Xia Shixuan started cleaning Xiaoliu’s wounds. The two injured animals bared their teeth and whimpered in pain.

"Hurts now, doesn’t it? We’ll see if you dare to fight again next time," Shen Yibin chided as he worked. "If you two start making a scene again, I’m washing my hands of you."

Hong Mian must have received special training in this area, as she quickly finished cleaning Shi Gaofei’s wounds. Shen Yibin dabbed a bit of ointment onto a cotton swab and applied it to the bumps on Shi Gaofei’s head. A cool, minty scent wafted out as soon as he opened the jar. The moment the ointment touched the lumps, Shi Gaofei let out a groan of relief. The medicine truly seemed to be working wonders.

"Let me help you. Shi Gaofei was a bit out of line earlier, I’m so sorry," Hong Mian said. Having finished with her patient, she started helping to clean Xiaoliu’s wounds. It seemed she was hoping this gesture might help mend the rift between the two combatants.

With the ointment deftly applied to one bump after another, Shi Gaofei’s whimpers gradually subsided. His eyes slowly fluttered shut, and he drifted off to sleep. It seemed the medicine had a sedative effect as well.

"Alright, now it’s your turn!" Seeing that the honey badger was asleep, Shen Yibin took out the aerosol can and began spraying Xiaoliu’s wounds. The moment the mist hit the cuts, the bleeding stopped at a rate visible to the naked eye. Xiaoliu’s wails also began to subside. The effect was far more visually striking than the ointment used on Shi Gaofei.

"Where did you buy this medicine? Can you tell me? And... can humans use it?" Hong Mian’s eyes were wide with astonishment. She was often deployed on special assignments and was no stranger to trauma medicine, but she had never seen anything as miraculous as what Shen Yibin held. ’If my unit could be equipped with medicine this good, how many soldiers’ lives could be saved!’

"Uh, I just got lucky and managed to find it. It’s... not exactly easy to get ahold of," Shen Yibin said. He immediately felt that sounded a bit dismissive, so he quickly added, "But I can give you a sample to take back for analysis. I can give you the instruction manual, too. It lists the ingredients and has the chemical formulas. Hopefully, that will be helpful!" Shen Yibin had glanced at the manual earlier and confirmed there wasn’t any sensitive information on it.

"Then I can’t thank you enough!" Hong Mian nodded and accepted the instruction manual from Shen Yibin. As for a sample, that would require a proper container, so it could wait.

"There. They’ll be fine after they get some sleep!" With the work done, both Xiaoliu and Shi Gaofei were now lying on the sofa, snoring away. Shen Yibin led Hong Mian to the side to chat over a cup of tea.

They had been chatting for over an hour when a noise from the sofa interrupted them. They turned to look and saw Xiaoliu and Shi Gaofei helping each other to their feet. The sight left everyone dumbfounded. Could this be the legendary "you don’t truly know someone until you’ve fought them"?