Future Pet Shop

"SQUEAK! SQUEAK!" To the astonishment of the crowd, Bald Qiang and Gao Lujie calmly climbed onto a fallen tree. They were planning to gnaw it into several sections and drag them upstream to build a dam; Wen Yuan had already marked a spot for them in his blueprints, and Shen Yibin had also told them the plan.

"You can gnaw on it later. First, let’s finish felling all these trees. I’ll have people help you move them to the stream in a little while," Shen Yibin said, stepping forward to pat Bald Qiang on the head. ’All these workers are waiting. We can’t be holding things up.’

Bald Qiang seemed to understand. He immediately jumped off the log, scurried aside, and began gnawing on another large tree. Before long, that tree also let out a series of CREAKS and CRACKS before crashing to the ground. Soon after, the pair had felled every last tree in the area, large and small. Shen Yibin then directed the workers to use various machines to transport the large trees upstream and stack them.

Once that was done, the construction company’s manager ran up to Shen Yibin and exclaimed with sincere admiration, "Well, I’ve really seen it all today." He had supervised many construction sites, but he had never seen a panda operating an excavator or beavers felling trees. ’Didn’t the government make it illegal for animals to become spirits? Where on earth did this guy find so many of them?’

"Heh, I’ll have to trouble you for the rest!" Shen Yibin said with a smile, shaking the manager’s hand. He helped Hah’Er load the excavator onto the truck, then got ready to return to the shop with Hah’Er, Maphario, and Xiaoliu. As for Bald Qiang, Gao Lujie, and Wen Yuan, they were left behind at the construction site. The two beavers still had to work on building their dam—their new home. Wen Yuan’s job was to watch over them to make sure no accidents happened, and also to continue building his affinity with them. Besides, he had only ever seen Bald Qiang build a lodge back at the shop; he hadn’t yet observed them building a dam. This was a prime learning opportunity that Wen Yuan absolutely refused to miss. He figured that once this major project was completed, his own design skills would also see a significant boost.

Things were going to be a bit tough for Bald Qiang and Gao Lujie, though. They hadn’t lived in their lodge at the shop for very long, and now they had to build a new home from scratch. ’Those two are really destined for a life of hard work.’ But it was no big deal. Compared to their temporary home at the shop, the pair probably preferred building a den out in a beautiful, scenic spot in the wild.

Back at the shop, Shen Yibin relaxed comfortably on the sofa with Hah’Er and then practiced Swordsmanship with Xiaoliu for a while. Before he knew it, it was time for dinner. Wen Yuan returned with Bald Qiang and Gao Lujie in tow; he couldn’t bear to make the pair work overtime into the night. After a hearty dinner and a good night’s rest, the two critters followed Wen Yuan back to work at the construction site the next morning.

And so their days fell into a pattern: strenuous work, returning home for dinner, then a game of ping-pong. Bald Qiang and Gao Lujie’s lives were busy yet fulfilling. Perhaps because they spent every day together, Wen Yuan’s affinity with Bald Qiang finally surpassed the eighty-point threshold, reaching a level where a purchase was possible. However, Shen Yibin wasn’t in a hurry to break the news. Wen Yuan was already planning to settle down in Yunzhong City anyway, so waiting another day or two wouldn’t matter. Besides, the two-month deadline wasn’t up yet, and Shen Yibin didn’t want to rush the Future Pet Shop’s mission. ’I’ll tell him after I get back from Europe,’ he decided.

The day before he was scheduled to leave, Shen Yibin brought Hah’Er and the others to the construction site again. He planned to let them watch how Bald Qiang built a dam. When they arrived, the site was already vastly different from how it had looked on day one. The land had been completely leveled, and workers were in excavators, digging the foundations.

Seeing the massive excavators at work, Hah’Er’s eyes lit up and he looked eager to give one a try. Shen Yibin quickly pulled him back. ’Hey, this is nothing like the toy Hou Longtao gave you! You definitely can’t operate this thing. Let’s not cause trouble for the workers, okay?’

Carrying Hah’Er, Shen Yibin walked along the perimeter of the site and up the hill. Before long, they reached Bald Qiang’s workstation. Bald Qiang was in the process of dragging a large log to the middle of the stream, driving it vertically into the muddy creekbed to serve as a pile. As far as the eye could see, two full rows of these piles were already in place, stretching from one bank to the other. In just two days, Bald Qiang had already built the dam’s entire framework.

Gao Lujie was acting as Bald Qiang’s assistant. She piled smaller branches around the piles and then filled the gaps in between with mud and gravel. Only by packing it tightly could the dam hold back the stream and form a pond, allowing them to build their den in the center. This was where a Beaver’s large tail played a crucial role. Gao Lujie and Bald Qiang took turns slapping the mud with their tails to make the dam even more solid.

Wen Yuan sat cross-legged in the shade of a tree. A video camera was set up beside him, a still camera was in his hands, and a drawing board with paper and a pen rested on his lap. He was using multiple methods simultaneously, determined to record every last detail of how the beavers built their dam and den. He was so engrossed in watching the pair that he didn’t even notice Shen Yibin approach.

’No wonder they say you can’t achieve greatness without a touch of madness.’ Anyone who ever made huge contributions in their field possessed an all-consuming passion to master their craft. Seeing Wen Yuan’s dedication, Shen Yibin had no doubt that he would one day become one of China’s top masters of landscape design.

’Sigh... since you’re this dedicated, I might as well tell you the good news sooner rather than later.’ Shen Yibin shook his head, walked over to Wen Yuan, and patted his shoulder. "Planning to spend the whole day here again?"

"Oh, Mr. Shen!" Wen Yuan jumped, startled, only then realizing who it was. He quickly got up and invited him to sit. "Yes! Watching them build this dam these past few days has been incredibly rewarding. Look, all these branches of varying thickness... the placement of every single one is perfect. If you moved just one, the overall effect would be ruined. This level of holistic planning and execution... I’m just left in the dust..." As he spoke, he pulled out his drawings and began to earnestly explain the genius of it all to Shen Yibin.

"You’re the only one who could see all that. If it were me, I wouldn’t be able to make heads or tails of any of it." Shen Yibin chuckled and pushed the drawing board aside. ’Explaining this to me is like casting pearls before swine. How could I possibly understand any of this?’ "I have some good news for you!"

"Oh? What is it?" At first, Wen Yuan didn’t think much of it. But when he saw Shen Yibin looking over at Bald Qiang with a knowing smile, it instantly clicked. He flushed beet-red with excitement and asked in a trembling voice, "Mr. Shen... does this mean you’re willing to sell the pair to me?"