Future Pet Shop

"What’s wrong?" Xia Shixuan asked, turning back with her hand on the doorknob. Shen Yibin also stopped curiously. ’Is there something wrong with the bedroom? That can’t be right.’

"Shixuan, do you think my hairstyle will get ruined if I sleep like this?" Li Shiqing asked nervously. After so much begging, she had finally gotten Scarf to give her a super cute hairstyle, and she was planning on showing it off tomorrow. If her pillow ruined it while she slept, wouldn’t all that effort be for nothing? ’Absolutely unacceptable!’

"It won’t. Your new style is mainly the bangs in front, just like the boss’s. As long as you don’t toss and turn in your sleep, it won’t get messed up. You don’t sleep on your stomach, do you? Even if you did, you’d still turn your head to the side, right?" This made Xia Shixuan worry about her own hair. She quickly took out her phone and, with a series of clicks, took pictures from every angle. "Okay, I’ll save these photos. If it gets messed up in the morning, I can just fix it by following the pictures. If you’re worried, you should do the same."

Scarf hadn’t used any washing, cutting, or blow-drying techniques to style their hair; it had merely changed the direction and position of the strands. If they saved photos, they could indeed restore it to its original look. With Xia Shixuan’s reassurance, Li Shiqing was finally able to relax. "Thanks, Shixuan! You’re a genius, why didn’t I think of that? Now I can finally sleep in peace!" After saying that, she copied Xia Shixuan, taking out her phone and snapping away, CLICK CLICK CLICK, all around her head.

"Ugh, look at you two." Gao Shu, who hadn’t gotten a chance to have Scarf do her hair, rolled her eyes at the sight. She was speechless at their antics and turned to go back to her room.

’Do they have to be like this?’ Shen Yibin didn’t quite understand their obsession. But when he thought of Xu Ruoxi and Le Yi, whom he had met at the coffee shop earlier, he found himself leaning against his bed, hesitant to lie down. ’My hairstyle is probably going to get messed up too, right?’ But copying Li Shiqing and Xia Shixuan by taking pictures to save the style... he just couldn’t bring himself to do something like that. For a moment, he was caught in a dilemma.

’Forget it, whatever. I’ll take Scarf out with me first thing in the morning. I refuse to believe it’ll just let my hair stay messy. I’m the one holding all the cards here, how can I let a small problem like this defeat me?’ With that thought, Shen Yibin finally lay down and went to sleep, his mind at ease.

The next morning, after waking up, making breakfast, and eating, Shen Yibin planned to take Hah’Er, Xiaoliu, and Scarf out for a stroll near the manor. The moment he stood up, Xia Shixuan rushed over, a placating smile on her face. "Boss, can I take a day off today?"

"Take a day off if you want. Don’t you all usually coordinate it yourselves? As long as someone is covering the store, you can take a break anytime." ’That’s weird. You’ve never asked me for a day off before.’

"Er, well, I meant that it must be so hard for you to take care of all these pets every day. So today, I’ll help you save some energy. Just leave Scarf to me. I promise I’ll take good care of it." Xia Shixuan put on a show of being considerate of Shen Yibin.

"Shixuan, you just had a day off yesterday! Even if someone gets a day off today, it should be my turn! Boss, let me take Scarf out for a walk instead!" Gao Shu shot Xia Shixuan an angry look. ’It was bad enough that you all cut in line to get your hair done yesterday. Are you seriously trying to take Scarf with you to go shopping today, too? You can’t hog all the good things for yourselves!’

"Boss, I want to take a day off today, too!" Li Shiqing and Xie Nannan shouted in unison. Their goal was also to take Scarf shopping and have it help them pick out clothes and accessories.

"All of you, get to work. I didn’t say much yesterday, but today you’re trying to take a mile, aren’t you?" Shen Yibin’s mood soured instantly. ’And here I thought you were actually being considerate of the store. Turns out you’re all just after Scarf’s sense of style! There’s no way I’m letting you get what you want.’ "I’m not approving anyone’s day off today. I’ll be back later to see if you’re actually working hard. If it’s anything like yesterday, no one gets tomorrow off either!"

The four girls all lowered their heads, not daring to pester Shen Yibin any further. Shen Yibin huffed, led the little critters downstairs and out the door, and got into the car. Just as he was about to start the engine, Xia Shixuan asked in a low voice from the doorway, "Boss, if we work hard today, will you agree to let Scarf go shopping with us tomorrow?"

"We’ll see how you perform!" Shen Yibin waved his hand, started the car, and sped off toward the suburbs in a flash, leaving the four girls staring at each other blankly at the shop’s entrance. After a moment, they immediately went back inside and started bustling about.

Arriving at the manor, he released Bald Qiang and his partner back into the pond and continued training with Hah’Er. Scarf leaped from Shen Yibin’s shoulder into the Yunshui River, exercising with them in the water. Xiaoliu climbed to the top of the Totem Pole again, perching on Marc’s head to gaze at the surrounding scenery. From a distance, it looked as if the Totem Pole had grown a little taller.

"You did great today. You ran another five hundred meters more than yesterday. Let’s keep it up tomorrow and try to go even farther." After the workout, Shen Yibin said while wiping the sweat off Hah’Er. Hah’Er, meanwhile, was lying on the grass, HUFFING and PUFFING, without even the strength to reply.

Scarf swam a few laps in the Yunshui River and scooped up a good number of river fish. At this point, Shen Yibin didn’t feel like going back to make lunch. He decided to just set up a barbecue by the riverbank. He still hadn’t taken the grill back from the last time he brought it over, and all the seasonings were there. He retrieved the grill from the construction site’s warehouse, set it up by the river, and everyone enjoyed grilled fish while they played.

After eating and drinking their fill, he lay lazily on a stone slab, basking in the sun. He watched Scarf frolic in the water while chatting with Xu Ruoxi and Le Yi on WeChat, not getting up to head back until the sun had set.

Upon returning to the store, Shen Yibin was stunned by the scene before him. The shop was now spotless, so clean it was almost unbelievable. When Xia Shixuan saw him return, she quickly pulled him to the front counter. "Boss, today’s sales are up twenty percent from yesterday! Come take a look at the books."

"Whoa, you guys did a great job!" The shop was clean and sales were outstanding. Shen Yibin couldn’t help but praise them.

"So, Boss, can I take a day off tomorrow and go out with Scarf?" Xia Shixuan asked cautiously.

"Hm, seeing as you all worked so hard, I’ll reluctantly agree." ’When employees work this hard, a boss should naturally reward them.’

"Awesome! Shi Qing, we can go shopping tomorrow!" Xia Shixuan immediately jumped for joy. It seemed they had already coordinated things among themselves.

"Er, invite Officer Bai and Qiao Wenqi to come along, too!" ’If we’re going to do this, might as well get it all over with at once!’