Future Pet Shop

The rims of Hah’Er’s eyes were a little red. He looked pitifully at Shen Yibin, hugging his leg tightly as if terrified Shen Yibin would abandon him. ’Huh? What’s going on? All I said was that you’d be able to play happily on your own from now on, so why this reaction? Oh, I see. He’s afraid I won’t play with him anymore once we have all this stuff, isn’t he?’ Shen Yibin felt a lump in his throat. He immediately crouched down, hugged Hah’Er, and said, "Gua Wa’Er, how could I ever bear to leave you? These are all things for me to play with you, not for you to play with by yourself."

"Hm?" A smile returned to Hah’Er’s face. He buried his head in Shen Yibin’s arms, rubbing his big head against his chest, his eyes filled with happiness.

"Yes, once these are built, I’ll hold you, and we’ll ride the roller coaster together, go on the Ferris wheel together, go rafting in the stream..." Shen Yibin reached out and pulled Xiaoliu and Maphario closer. "All of us will play together. How does that sound?"

"Mhm! Mhm!" What else could Hah’Er say? The group of them hugged in a big huddle, laughing foolishly. Over on the side, Wen Yuan placed a hand on Bald Qiang’s head and stroked it gently, as if making a promise to him as well.

"Come on, I’ll take you to the river to catch fish. How about we have some fried fish later?" Shen Yibin was also reflecting. ’Have I been too busy lately and spent too little time with Hah’Er and the others? Is that why Hah’Er misunderstood?’ He decided to start making it up to them today. For the time being, he would just focus on playing with them.

’As for business matters, after signing the endorsement contract with Disney, I’ll ignore everything else. The sequel to *Panda Hero* can wait. The movie craze won’t die down anytime soon anyway, so delaying the next installment won’t affect its box office performance.’

So, Shen Yibin and Hah’Er ambled slowly to the riverbank. He rolled up his pant legs and waded into the water with Hah’Er. Bending over, he stared at the water’s surface without blinking. The moment he saw a fish swim by, he plunged his hand into the water like lightning, trying to scoop it up. However, by the time his hand entered the water, the fish were long gone, leaving him so frustrated he could only roll his eyes.

"Hee hee hee~" Hah’Er clutched his belly, laughing at his side. Then, his paw shot out like a bolt of lightning. A small fish went flying onto the sand, belly up. Maphario immediately dashed over and pounced, pinning the small fish beneath him.

"Hmph!" Hah’Er proudly lifted his head, as if to say, ’That’s not how you catch fish. You have to do it like me!’

"CHIRP CHIRP!" Before Shen Yibin could even react, Xiaoliu couldn’t stand to watch anymore. It scurried up a tree, broke off a branch, and stripped off the leaves. Holding the branch, it hobbled into the water. It raised the branch high with its right paw, lowered its head, and stared silently at the water’s surface. Suddenly, ripples appeared on the water. With a SPLASH, the branch plunged into the water. When it pulled the branch out again, a fat black fish was skewered on it, looking to be at least five or six *jin* heavy.

"Awesome!" Shen Yibin gave a thumbs-up. "This one can be the main course! Let’s make black fish soup with bamboo shoots today!" Black fish has a lot of meat and few bones, and its flavor is delicious. This was especially true for this time of year, when black fish were at their fattest. Plus, this was a wild river fish; it would definitely taste better than the farmed kind!

"CHIRP CHIRP!" Xiaoliu grinned, pointed at the small fish on the shore, then shook the branch in its hand, as if showing off to Hah’Er. ’Look, you only caught such a tiny fish. It’s not even a mouthful. Now look at mine! A fish this big would probably make your little tummy burst.’

"Hmph!" Hah’Er sulkily slapped the water, splashing Shen Yibin’s clothes. It glared at the black fish skewered on Xiaoliu’s branch, its face a mask of defiance.

"Alright, alright, don’t be upset. Big fish might have more meat, but how can their flavor compare to the tastiness of small fish? I’ll cook them both later and you can try them. We’ll see which one is actually more delicious, okay?" Shen Yibin quickly comforted Hah’Er, stroking its head and lavishing praise on it before finally calming it down.

Xiaoliu took the black fish off the branch and casually tossed it onto the bank, nearly hitting Maphario. This angered Maphario, who let out a long string of protesting squeaks. That black fish was much bigger than it; if it had been hit, it would have been serious! Xiaoliu scratched its head sheepishly, quickly turned its back, and went back to staring at the water, ready to strike again. Hah’Er also recovered from its funk and began repeatedly slapping the water with its big paws, sending one small fish after another flying onto the sand.

’Uh, one of them is catching small fish, and the other is catching big fish. What am I supposed to do? Should I copy Xiaoliu and break off a branch to spear fish? Never mind whether I have the skill for that, Hah’Er would probably have something to say about it. Should I go ashore and clean the fish, playing assistant to them? But I’m not really satisfied with that, either.’

’Hey, that’s right! Hah’Er really enjoyed eating those crabs at Disney last time. There should be river crabs in the Yunshui River, right? I’ll look for those!’ So, Shen Yibin ran downstream, bent over, and began flipping over the rocks on the riverbed, searching for the crabs hidden underneath. After paying the price of being pinched by crabs multiple times, he finally gathered enough for a platter. ’Mhm, Hah’Er and the others will definitely like this, right?’

"Alright, that’s enough for dinner today! Don’t catch any more!" Figuring they had enough, Shen Yibin called Xiaoliu and Hah’Er ashore. He went to the construction site to borrow a few buckets, put the crabs and fish inside to wash them, and then placed them in the car. He would take them to Xu Ye’s villa later and use them to make dinner.

"Xiaoliu, go up and call them down. We’re going back to eat!" Shen Yibin’s hands were both wet, so it wasn’t convenient for him to make a call. He had no choice but to give this task to Xiaoliu.

"CHIRP CHIRP!" Xiaoliu darted to the bottom of the Totem Pole, hugged it, and scrambled halfway up in just a few moments. As expected of the Monkey King, it didn’t take him long to climb into the elevator. It was unclear how exactly he did it, but Wen Yuan quickly understood his meaning and lowered the elevator.

"Ooh, we’re having fish tonight? And crabs, too. Nice, nice." Wen Yuan stepped out of the elevator and immediately spotted the spoils in the buckets. Bald Qiang and his mate, along with Lance and Mr. Long Sheng, followed him out of the elevator.

"The thing I look forward to most every day now is mealtime!" Lance had also been conquered by Shen Yibin’s cooking skills.

Shen Yibin saw Marc standing quietly on Mr. Long Sheng’s shoulder. ’Huh? What’s going on here? Is there something between those two? He’s only been here for such a short time, and they’ve already hooked up?’ Shen Yibin was completely baffled.