Future Pet Shop

’Sigh. No wonder fox spirits in myths and folklore are so seductive. Look at Scarf’s skills! All it did was move its paws a few times, and Xia Shixuan and I look completely different. Our charisma shot through the roof. If it were actually a girl who put on some makeup, how could any normal person resist? Its charm skill must be maxed out.’ Shen Yibin thought, secretly shaking his head as he looked at the incredibly excited women.

"Hey, customers are here. You should get back to work." ’Darlings, no matter how much you love looking good, you have to do your jobs first.’ Thinking that might be a bit too direct, Shen Yibin added, "Scarf’s been busy for a while and is all sweaty. Let it rest in the freezer. You can come find it for a haircut after you get off work tonight." ’Great, now Scarf is a full-fledged hairstylist.’

Scarf was also very satisfied with its work. It circled Xia Shixuan once, nodded, and went back into the freezer, climbing onto its bed to lie down again. That little bit of work had already left it drenched in sweat, so it was time to go cool off.

Xia Shixuan felt a little embarrassed for having skipped work for so long just to get her hair done. She quickly put away her phone and said, "I’ll go greet the customers. Scarf, I’ll buy you some Häagen-Dazs when I’m done!" With that, she hurried downstairs to attend to the customers. Shen Yibin noticed the customer was clearly stunned when he saw Xia Shixuan and remained in a daze the entire time. The sight made Shen Yibin’s head throb. ’Scarf is really causing a lot of trouble.’

He finished his tea, and figured Scarf should be well-rested by now. Shen Yibin stood up and called out, "Come on, let’s go swimming at the river again." ’Right. If it stays in the store, these girls won’t be able to focus on their work at all. I’d better get it out of here, before Li Shiqing and the others keep getting distracted by what’s happening upstairs.’

"Boss, you have to come back early today!" Li Shiqing and Xie Nannan watched reluctantly as Shen Yibin left with Scarf. Although they said they wanted him to come back early, what they really wanted was for Scarf to return soon and give them new hairstyles too. That way, they could be as pretty as Xia Shixuan, take a bunch of selfies, and show off on their social media feeds.

Wen Yuan had to go to his studio in the afternoon, so he entrusted the Bald Qiang couple to Shen Yibin and left first. As he was leaving, Shen Yibin thought he overheard him on the phone with his wife, mentioning words like "fox" and "hairstyle." Shen Yibin figured that by the time he got back tonight, Wen Yuan’s wife would probably already be at the store.

’Great, Scarf’s workload has increased again.’ Shen Yibin was helpless. You can’t stop a woman who wants to be more beautiful, no matter how capable you are. He could only try to manage Scarf’s workload and make sure it didn’t get overworked.

"Hah’Er, come run with me." Leaving the Bald Qiang couple and Scarf to play in the pool, Shen Yibin started exercising with Hah’Er. Xiaoliu had no interest in this and went with Maphario to the garden to take care of the seedlings. Shen Yibin went over to have a look. The four Heaven-Reaching Tree seedlings were already growing quite robustly, their height far exceeding the pine and fir saplings. They had shown their extraordinary nature from a young age. Perhaps in a few years, one of them would break the 84-meter record for the tallest tree in China. With Maphario around, Shen Yibin had almost no doubt about it.

"Mmmph~" Hah’Er seemed reluctant to move. Under Shen Yibin’s insistent gaze, it unwillingly started jogging along the river behind him. But after barely two kilometers, the little guy plopped down on the ground and refused to get up no matter what. It seemed the road to losing weight was indeed long and arduous.

"Are you really not getting up?" Shen Yibin put his hands on his hips and looked down helplessly at Hah’Er. The little guy was lying on the ground, huffing and puffing, and Shen Yibin couldn’t tell if it was really exhausted or just faking it.

"Mmmph~" Hah’Er whined, rubbing its paws and putting on a pitiful expression.

"Go ahead and pretend. When we were in the Qinling Mountain Range, and in the Northeast Forest, you ran so far without ever complaining about being tired. And now you can’t handle a mere two kilometers?" ’I know what you’re capable of. What’s the point of this?’

"Mmmph!" Seeing that its ploy had been exposed, Hah’Er drooped its head in embarrassment, but it still lay on the ground, refusing to budge. Shen Yibin was at his wit’s end. He could only shake his head, turn his back to Hah’Er, and squat down for it to climb on. "Sigh, I’ll carry you back! Why is my life so hard, stuck with a lazy bum like you!"

"Mmmph!" Hah’Er perked up at once. It leaped onto Shen Yibin’s back, nearly making him stumble, and giggled foolishly as Shen Yibin carried it back to Bald Qiang’s pond.

A moment ago, it had looked completely listless, but as soon as it entered the water, Hah’Er was suddenly full of energy. Its four paws churned the water as it joined Scarf and the Bald Qiang couple in a rowdy, playful pile.

Shen Yibin sat on the bank watching them frolic and play, and he couldn’t help but smile. Seeing them have so much fun brought him a special kind of joy.

They played until five in the afternoon, when Shen Yibin figured it was time to go back and make dinner. He called them all over, and they got in the car to head back to the city. Once they were in the city, Shen Yibin didn’t go straight back to the store. Instead, he stopped at the wet market to buy a bunch of ingredients for dinner. After buying everything, he stopped again halfway home.

’Huh, isn’t that a Häagen-Dazs up ahead? Should I get out and buy some for Scarf to try?’ ’Since I’ve already seen it, I might as well. I can grab some for Hah’Er, Xiaoliu, and Bald Qiang’s crew, too.’ So, Shen Yibin parked the car and got out.

Hah’Er and the others obediently stayed in the car and waited for Shen Yibin to return, but Scarf insisted on staying on his shoulder and refused to leave. Shen Yibin had no choice but to let it. The Häagen-Dazs staff mistook Scarf for a real scarf. They were only a little surprised and didn’t say much, quickly preparing the ice cream according to Shen Yibin’s order.

"Here, this one’s yours. See if you like it!" After leaving the store, Shen Yibin stood outside the car and handed out the ice cream to Scarf, Bald Qiang, Hah’Er, and the others. Once he was done, he prepared to get in the car and leave.

But before he could get in, Scarf darted into the car, placed its ice cream on the dashboard, then came back out and started tugging on his pant leg, trying to drag him to the store next door.

’Huh? It won’t even eat its ice cream? What does it want me to buy now?’ Shen Yibin subconsciously looked ahead. When he saw the store’s name clearly, he was a little dazed.