Future Pet Shop

"Shixuan, that new hairstyle makes you look like a whole new person!" A group of girls chirped around her, more annoying than fifteen hundred ducks.

"Hey, it's working hours, don't you have jobs to do? Be careful, or I'll dock your pay!" Shen Yibin pressed a hand to his forehead. 'Damn it, I run a pet shop, not a hair salon! What is all this?'

"Boss, isn't it lunchtime? The customers have all gone home to eat, so there's no one downstairs," Li Shiqing meekly defended. A glance at the clock confirmed it was indeed the shop's lunch break, so they weren't technically breaking any rules.

"The three of you just came up for your lunch break, but someone else is a different story, isn't she?" Shen Yibin's gaze landed on Xia Shixuan, and then... he was truly stunned. Xia Shixuan was already very beautiful and always paid close attention to her appearance. Her clothes, hair, and even her skin were always a cut above the other girls in the shop. Now, after Scarf's magic touch, she looked even more captivating. It took Shen Yibin a moment to snap out of his daze.

"Boss, I was wrong. Once my hair is done, I'll take whatever punishment you want to give me. You can do whatever you want with me," Xia Shixuan said in a coquettish voice, her eyes glued to the mirror, not even glancing up. Her act left Shen Yibin completely helpless.

He could only resort to his tried-and-true method. "Time to eat! I made grilled fish today. Oh, and the wine Xiaoliu brewed is ready. If anyone isn't at the table in a second, we're going to drink it all!"

Normally, the promise of good food and Monkey Wine would have made the girls drop everything and swarm over in an instant. But today was completely different. Never mind Xia Shixuan, whose hair wasn't even finished, sitting there without moving a muscle—even Xie Nannan, Li Shiqing, and Gao Shu hesitated, unwilling to come over.

"I feel like I've gained a little weight recently. I'll just skip lunch and call it a diet!" To a woman, no food or drink, no matter how delicious, was as important as her own beauty. With her hair still unfinished, there was no way Xia Shixuan was willing to leave. She even tried to placate Scarf, "Scarf, don't rush, okay? As soon as my hair is done, I'll go buy you some Häagen-Dazs."

'Häagen-Dazs is better than my cooking?' Shen Yibin grew even more frustrated at that. So, he resorted to a strategy of pulling the rug out from under her and called out to Scarf, "Scarf! The fish you just caught is all grilled and ready! Come and get it! If you don't come now, I'm going to eat it all!" As he spoke, Shen Yibin picked up a skewer of grilled fish and took a bite, deliberately exclaiming in an exaggerated tone, "Mmm~ So fresh and savory! This is absolutely delicious!"

Huh? Scarf immediately stopped what it was doing. It turned its head to look at the grilled fish in Shen Yibin's hand, sniffed the air, and without a second thought, leaped right off Xia Shixuan's shoulder. In two bounds, it landed on the chair next to Shen Yibin and squatted down, panting heavily as it stared at the fish, practically drooling.

Unceremoniously abandoned by Scarf, Xia Shixuan looked utterly dejected. She was in a bind—she couldn't go to the table, but she couldn't stay either. She had already declared she was dieting, so it would be embarrassing to shamelessly join them now. Besides, her hair was still a mess, and she was afraid to move too much. But if she didn't go, the aroma of the delicious food from the table was making her fidgety, her mouth watering. Her stomach shamelessly rumbled in protest. The scent of the Monkey Wine was an especially fatal temptation for an avid drinker like her. Watching Shen Yibin, Wen Yuan, Hah'Er, Xiaoliu, Li Shiqing, and the others gulp down glass after glass while she could only sit and watch was worse than torture.

"Sigh, I really don't get you women. You all have great figures, so why the heck do you insist on dieting?" Shen Yibin continued his taunts, holding his wine glass and looking at Xia Shixuan with a smirk. "Giving up such delicious food just to lose weight... sigh. I just don't get what you're after."

"Mmm! Mmm!" For some reason, Hah'Er was right there beside him, nodding its head as if in agreement with Shen Yibin.

"I'm not talking about you. You *have* to lose weight. You're going running with me later!" Shen Yibin patted Hah'Er's belly. It was still as round and plump as ever. 'This is non-negotiable. The little swim in the pond this morning wasn't nearly enough exercise. We'll continue with a run by the river later.'

"Waaaah, you're all bullying me." Her hair wasn't done, she hadn't gotten a bite to eat, and to make matters worse, Shen Yibin and the others had drunk all the Monkey Wine. Xia Shixuan felt like life wasn't worth living anymore and started to wail.

"Alright, alright, if you want to eat, just come eat. It's not like I'm forbidding you. There are still two glasses of wine left. If you don't come over now, they'll really be gone!" Shen Yibin's heart softened for a moment. He shook his head and called Xia Shixuan over.

"I'm not eating. My hair isn't done yet, and eating will definitely mess it up." Great. Shen Yibin had tried to be nice, but Xia Shixuan refused to come over because she was afraid of messing up her hair. 'No good deed goes unpunished,' Shen Yibin thought.

"Shi Qing, you guys can clear the table. I'm going to take a break!" After the meal was finished, Shen Yibin went and sat down on the sofa, brewed some tea for himself and Wen Yuan, and lay back to savor it slowly. Scarf, Hah'Er, and the others hopped down from their chairs as well.

"Scarf, come over here and finish my hair!" Xia Shixuan eagerly called out. Whether it was being overly obedient or it genuinely enjoyed styling people, Scarf scampered onto Xia Shixuan's shoulder in a flash and got back to work. A smile finally returned to the long-suffering Xia Shixuan's face.

At this, the other three girls immediately sped up their clearing of the dining table. After finishing at an unprecedented speed, they rushed over and gathered around Xia Shixuan, studying Scarf's work without even blinking, afraid to miss a single detail. All the while, they chatted amongst themselves, "Wow, I never thought you could handle curls like that. But this method is way better than what we usually do..."

Scarf couldn't cut or perm hair, nor could it use any of those complex chemical products. It simply used its own claws to move strands of hair, shifting their positions, yet it managed to work miracles. It didn't take much effort at all to finish Xia Shixuan's new hairstyle. Xia Shixuan immediately took out some mousse to set a few key spots, then stood up and happily snapped countless selfies to post on her social media.

"Scarf, do mine too!" Li Shiqing and the others immediately swarmed it, treating Scarf like some hotshot stylist from a fancy salon.