Future Pet Shop

"Ooh! Ooh!" Seeing his own likeness being brought to life by the combined efforts of Bald Qiang, Maphario, and Marc, Hah'Er rolled on the floor in delight, squealing nonstop. One moment he was inching closer to the carving, carefully comparing the wooden panda to himself and noting any differences. The next, he was racing upstairs, pulling all sorts of food from the fridge to feed them. Then he was busy cleaning up wood chips. He was an absolute whirlwind of activity; Shen Yibin had never seen Hah'Er so industrious.

Even Xiaoliu couldn't take it anymore. It jumped down from the tree and hobbled over, hugging and stroking the other tree roots, seeming to wonder which one would be best to carve into its own likeness.

Wen Yuan, meanwhile, held his drawing board, sketching nonstop while muttering to himself. It seemed he was trying to find some inspiration in Marc's sculptural art. Shen Yibin couldn't help but be impressed. 'As expected of a master-class designer,' he thought. 'He never stops learning and improving, no matter the time or place. He's way better than I am.'

The shop's customers, seeing everyone crowded around the poolside, ambled over curiously. When they saw the two lifelike root carvings, they were utterly astonished. 'Holy crap, am I seeing things? An animal that can make art?' Immediately, someone got excited and started asking for a price. "Boss, is that woodpecker for sale? Name your price, I promise I won't haggle!"

"Yeah, yeah! Boss, just name a price!" Their eyes gleaming, the customers all turned to look at Shen Yibin and Marc. A pet like this was simply too incredible to resist.

"Uh, we're not planning to sell it for now. Why don't you take a look at the other pets in the store? They're all very smart, clever, healthy, and cute." Shen Yibin pulled out his phone, opened the app, and checked their affinity levels. Unfortunately, not a single person met the minimum requirement, so he could only politely refuse. 'Sigh, it's really not easy finding owners for the pets from the Future Pet Shop,' he thought.

"Ah, the boss is no fun, keeping the good ones for himself and refusing to sell!" The crowd let out a collective sigh of disappointment. But then they thought, 'If I had a woodpecker that smart and talented, I wouldn't let it go either!' Fortunately, the story of the talent show held to find an owner for Cheeky was already well-known throughout Yunzhong City, so they didn't press the issue. Instead, they squatted down and continued to watch the group of pets create their art.

"Hey, Boss! If the woodpecker isn't for sale, can we buy these root carvings? If you'll sell, I'll put down a deposit right now." The people shifted their focus to the pieces Marc had created. Although they couldn't buy the woodpecker, getting its artwork was the next best thing. The two pieces looked extraordinary, and they would be an excellent choice either as a home decoration or as an investment to be resold later after its value increased.

"My friend, did you not notice it's carving my head? It might be a little inappropriate to bring my head home with you, don't you think?" Shen Yibin said. 'People who know me would recognize it's a portrait, but anyone who doesn't might get the wrong idea.'

"Haha, I guess I didn't really notice," the man who asked said, scratching his head in embarrassment. True, taking Shen Yibin's head home did seem a bit inappropriate. But these people weren't ones to give up easily. He quickly spotted another piece. "Well then, Boss, the panda statue has to be for sale, right?"

"Hmph!" This time, before Shen Yibin could even say a word, Hah'Er grew anxious. The moment the words were out, it pounced forward and threw its arms around the root carving, staring daggers at the man who had just spoken. This was its treasure; there was no way it would let anyone else have it.

"As you can see, Hah'Er is quite fond of this piece." This saved Shen Yibin the trouble of explaining. He shrugged. "You can't just snatch something out of Hah'Er's paws, can you?"

"Exactly! Look how scared you've made Hah'Er!" A chorus of agreement immediately rose from the crowd, and someone stepped forward to criticize his behavior.

"There, there, Hah'Er, don't be scared. He was just kidding, he's not really going to buy it, so don't you worry," someone else called out, comforting Hah'Er. "If he dares to take it, just watch us sort him out." How dare you frighten Yunzhong City's most beloved panda? Do you even want to make a living in Yunzhong anymore? The man instantly became a public enemy.

"My mistake, my mistake! I was just joking, I don't actually want to buy it! I apologize, I'll apologize to Hah'Er, is that okay?!" He too realized his words had been careless and hastily bowed in apology toward Hah'Er. Only then did Hah'Er slowly release the tree root, allowing Bald Qiang and Maphario to continue their work. Its eyes, however, remained fixed on the man, watching him warily for any sudden moves.

'Well, it looks like it's not really suitable to keep doing this in the shop anymore,' Shen Yibin thought. The growing crowd was not only disrupting the pets' artistic creation but was also affecting business. 'Should I take them to the construction site? Hmm, that's not a bad idea. It's peaceful there, and the scenery is great. It might even spark some creative inspiration for Marc.'

"I'm going to make lunch. We'll go out and play after we eat!" With the decision happily made, Shen Yibin went upstairs to the second floor and started cooking. He deftly whipped up a lavish spread. He had even prepared special dishes for Marc: steamed bee pupae and fried silkworm pupae, though he wasn't sure if it would like them.

"KIK! KIK!" The two dishes were clearly to Marc's liking. Its beak tapped continuously against its food bowl, its tongue darting out to snatch up the silkworm and bee pupae. It looked absolutely delighted as it ate.

'As long as it likes it,' Shen Yibin thought. 'Otherwise I'd have to research how to cook some seriously weird insect dishes. Most people can stomach steamed bee pupae and fried silkworm pupae, but I doubt the others could handle a full-on insect feast.'

After lunch, amidst the disappointed sighs of the customers, Shen Yibin left the pet shop with his pets, hauling the tree roots with them. He headed for the construction site. Once there, he unloaded the roots by the edge of a stream, and the animals got back to work.

For the time being, Bald Qiang and his mate put aside the work on their own 'villa,' staying to help Marc chew through the roots. Wen Yuan went off to inspect the progress on the construction site, while Shen Yibin found a rock to sit on and watched them work.

With no outsiders to disturb them and their teamwork growing more seamless, their pace quickened. Before long, Marc had completely carved Shen Yibin's head out of the root, and Hah'Er's form was also beginning to take shape.

Just then, Wen Yuan returned. He took out his drawing board, capturing the two statues in a quick sketch, and also snapped a few photos. Then, as if he'd suddenly remembered something, he turned to Shen Yibin and said, "Bin, all these individual statues are a bit plain, don't you think? How about we tackle a bigger project?"