Future Pet Shop

"Bai, how much longer are you going to be? We’re already eating breakfast!" First thing in the morning, the moment she sat down at the table, Xia Shixuan started incessantly messaging her on WeChat. She was clearly dying to go shopping.

"When we left, Bai was leaving too, so she should be here any minute!" Qiao Wenqi chimed in. "Don’t be so anxious. The department stores aren’t even open this early. Why don’t we think about which shops we should go to first?"

"Hey, can you guys not rub it in? We have to work our butts off today." Xie Nannan slumped over the table, listlessly poking at the meatballs in her bowl with a spoon. According to yesterday’s agreement, she and Gao Shu had to stay behind and mind the store, so there was no way she could go shopping with Xia Shixuan and the others. Naturally, she was feeling a little down.

"You might be a day late, but tomorrow it’ll be just the two of you shopping. That’s a lot more relaxed than going with a big group like us," Li Shiqing consoled her. They all needed Scarf to help them as a consultant. With fewer people, more time could be dedicated to each person, allowing them to try on more outfits. This was also why Xie Nannan and the others had agreed.

"Scarf, we’re counting on you today! I’ll buy you ice cream later!" In the eyes of these girls, Scarf was basically a king. They absolutely had to keep him happy.

"Let’s go to Cyan Cloud Street Shopping Plaza first. There are more brand-name stores there, so we can take our time choosing. After we’re done, we can head to Purple Cloud Street; the shopping center there is pretty big too..." Xia Shixuan started planning their route. Her only frustration right now was that Yunzhong City didn’t have enough high-end brand stores. If only she could take Scarf shopping in Shanghai, Xiangjiang, or even New York or Paris.

"Hey, have some consideration for us lower-income folks!" Bai Yanni’s voice came from downstairs. She said it half-jokingly, half-seriously. It went without saying that Xia Shixuan’s family was rich. Although Li Shiqing had just graduated, her salary working for Shen Yibin was nothing to scoff at. Qiao Wenqi and Mo Xiaomo were both career elites. As a police officer with a fixed salary, Bai Yanni’s income naturally couldn’t compare to theirs. But she wasn’t too bothered by it. Expensive clothes had their perks, but it wasn’t like you couldn’t find good-looking, affordable ones. She believed Scarf could help her find suitable clothes too.

"Bai, you’re finally here! I missed you to death!" Xia Shixuan immediately gave her a huge hug. "This is Yunzhong City, not Shanghai or Xiangjiang. The brand stores in the shopping centers are mostly mid-range. Don’t you worry, Bai."

"You came over as soon as you woke up, huh? Sit down and have something to eat first. You’ll need energy to shop if you want to last the whole day," Shen Yibin said, pulling out a chair for Bai Yanni. Shopping was hard physical labor; one had to store up plenty of stamina.

"You should eat more too, Boss. We’ll be counting on you later!" Xia Shixuan said with a grin, placing a piece of pork rib on the plate in front of Shen Yibin.

"Counting on me? What do you mean? What does your shopping trip have to do with me? I was planning on taking Hah’Er out to play later," Shen Yibin asked, bewildered.

"Bin, if you don’t go, who’s going to carry our bags? A few weak women like us can’t possibly carry all that stuff," Mo Xiaomo said bluntly, exposing Xia Shixuan’s true intentions in a single sentence.

"So you’re just planning to use me as a pack mule?" Shen Yibin was utterly exasperated. This was no easy task. From the looks of it, they were planning to spend all their savings today. ’Even though my stamina has skyrocketed after training with Shi Gaofei, I probably couldn’t handle it. One, two, three, four, five! Carrying bags for five girls? This is going to kill me!’

"Hey, we’re a bunch of gorgeous women, you know? Countless guys beg to carry our bags and we ignore them. Now we’re giving you this amazing opportunity, and you’re not happy?" Mo Xiaomo casually slung an arm around Shen Yibin’s shoulder, staring into his eyes. She looked ready to give him hell if he didn’t agree.

"I’ll go, I’ll go, alright?!" What else could Shen Yibin say? He could only surrender. He’d never been able to win against Mo Xiaomo since their university days, and not much had changed. He could only lower his head and keep gnawing on the pork rib. ’Xia Shixuan was right. I really need to load up on nutrients to survive what’s coming.’

"Nannan, we’ll leave cleaning the table to you guys today. We’ll take care of it tomorrow and the day after." The moment breakfast was over, Xia Shixuan rushed out of the pet store. The five girls, plus Hah’Er, Scarf, and Shen Yibin, packed themselves into the car until it was bursting at the seams, and zipped off toward Cyan Cloud Street Shopping Center.

"Let’s go straight to the second floor. Most of the women’s clothing is on the second floor. After we’re done there, we can come back down to the first floor to see if there are any accessories to match." Once they reached the shopping center, Xia Shixuan led them inside like she owned the place. Normally, shopping centers definitely wouldn’t allow pets inside, but that rule was naturally void when it came to Shen Yibin. He strode in boldly with Hah’Er and Scarf and took the escalator up to the second floor.

One guy bringing five beautiful women to buy clothes was a rare sight, and Shen Yibin quickly became the center of attention. But the five girls’ center of attention was Scarf. Xia Shixuan gently stroked the fur on Scarf’s back and asked, "Scarf, which store do you think I should go into?"

’She got in first again!’ The other four girls shot her a look in unison. ’You were the first to get your hair done, and now you have to be the first to buy something too? How unfair is that?’

For women, shopping was even more intense than a battlefield. Xia Shixuan couldn’t care less about their glares. She just kept smiling and asking Scarf.

Scarf raised his head and surveyed the surrounding shops, then looked back at Xia Shixuan. He quickly made a decision, hopping down from Shen Yibin’s shoulder and marching confidently into the second fashion boutique on the left.

"Welcome!" The sales associate was clearly taken aback by Scarf, but her professionalism kicked in the moment Xia Shixuan and the others walked in. With a smile, she welcomed them and began introducing the store’s clothes. "Ladies, over here we have our new arrivals for this season. The theme for this season’s collection is..."

"That’s alright, you don’t need to introduce anything. We’ll just look around ourselves. We’ll call you if we need anything," Xia Shixuan interrupted. ’Are you kidding me? With Scarf here, who needs a sales associate’s pitch?’

Shen Yibin didn’t follow them in. Instead, he sat down with Hah’Er on a bench in the hallway to rest. Today was undoubtedly going to be a long and arduous ordeal, and he had to use every minute to recover his strength.