Future Pet Shop

Shen Yibin couldn’t help but shiver. ’Women are terrifying when they want to shop. Is all this really necessary?’ They’d already bought so many clothes this morning; it would take ages to wear them all even in rotation. The season was about to change anyway, so what was the point of buying even more? Shen Yibin simply couldn’t comprehend their behavior.

"Boss, we should get going," Li Shiqing said, looking at Shen Yibin apologetically. "You’ve worked hard today, Boss. Why don’t we eat out tonight? My treat." She had originally wanted to offer to cook, but then she remembered her cooking skills were no match for Shen Yibin’s, so she changed her offer to eating out.

"Right, right! Bin worked the hardest today. Let’s not eat at the shop tonight. I know a restaurant with great food; we can go there," Qiao Wenqi chimed in.

"I’ll go back and grab a few bottles of good wine to toast the boss tonight," Xia Shixuan said quickly. As she spoke, she sidled up to Shen Yibin and asked in a coquettish voice, "Are you tired, Boss? How about I give you a massage when we get back? My massage skills are actually pretty good, you know."

Goosebumps erupted all over Shen Yibin’s body when he heard that. He quickly herded Hah’Er into the car. "Drink with you? I’m afraid I wouldn’t even know what hit me. Let’s just go. Get back early tonight." As for the massage, he’d rather not. Shen Yibin couldn’t guarantee he’d be able to resist the temptation.

In the afternoon, they moved on to another shopping mall, and the girls once again entered their frenzied shopping mode. Shen Yibin continued to wait outside with Hah’Er, admiring the girls’ dazzling beauty. Yunzhong City was in the south, so even in winter, the temperature hovered around twenty degrees Celsius. As a result, the girls’ clothes were quite thin, leaving Shen Yibin feeling dizzy. He had to down three nutritional drinks just to keep himself from collapsing.

"Bin, we’re done with this store. Let’s go to the next one." Bai Yanni emerged from the shop, laden with bags and looking utterly satisfied. Scarf was perched on her shoulder as she spoke, already heading toward the next store.

"Whoa, you guys really hauled in a lot." Shen Yibin looked at all the bags with a sigh. ’That’s almost more clothes than I buy in a year.’ He stood up, walked over, and reached out to pat Scarf’s little head, asking with concern, "Are you tired? If you are, we can go back and rest for a bit."

Scarf briskly shook its head, looking full of energy. This made Shen Yibin roll his eyes. ’Looks like this little guy is a shopaholic too. Normally, just one trip outside leaves it panting and out of breath from the heat, but now that it’s time to shop, it’s not tired at all. Huh, it doesn’t seem to have bought anything for itself. If it wanted to, it could just grab a scarf and drape it around its own neck, and these girls would be fighting to pay for it, wouldn’t they? Maybe it just likes the feeling of dressing others up?’

"What floor is the next shop on?" ’Fine, since you’re not tired, I guess I’ll just have to keep being your pack mule.’ Shen Yibin took Hah’Er’s paw and followed them toward the escalators.

"There’s a Zara downstairs. Should we go check if they have anything new?" Xia Shixuan suggested when they reached the escalators. The other girls had no objections and got ready to head down.

But Scarf leaped off Bai Yanni’s shoulder, ran onto the up-escalator, and chirped a few times back at Shen Yibin and the others, as if urging them to follow.

"But that’s the maternity and children’s clothing section up there. There’s nothing for us to wear," Mo Xiaomo said, quickly stepping onto the escalator to grab Scarf. But once it reached the next floor, Scarf dodged Mo Xiaomo’s attempts to catch it and started chirping insistently again.

"Come on, let’s go up and see. Maybe it saw some clothes it likes?" Shen Yibin said, though he wasn’t sure. The others were all counting on Scarf to recommend outfits for them, so they didn’t dare go against its wishes. They followed Shen Yibin and Hah’Er upstairs.

Once upstairs, Scarf went straight over, bit Hah’Er’s pant leg, and started dragging him toward a nearby children’s clothing store. Hah’Er cluelessly scratched his head, looking at Scarf. ’What on earth are you doing?’

Hah’Er weighed a good few dozen pounds; how could Scarf’s tiny body possibly drag him? After two fruitless tugs, Scarf grew anxious. It let go, ran to the front of the store, looked at a large-sized children’s outfit in the window display, then looked back at Hah’Er and chirped again, as if urging him to hurry over.

"Hah’Er, Scarf is trying to pick out new clothes for you." Shen Yibin finally understood. "You know, I have a feeling you’d look really good in that outfit."

"Mhm, mhm! It’s rare for you to have such good taste, Bin," Mo Xiaomo added, nodding vigorously like a chick pecking at grain. "Hah’Er, hurry up and try it on so we can see!"

"Oh, right! How did we not think of buying clothes for Hah’Er? We’re the worst!" Xia Shixuan said, looking vexed. "It’s my treat today! Whatever Scarf picks out for you, we’ll buy it!"

"Hmm?" Hah’Er finally understood what Scarf was up to. He waddled over to the display window, pressing his face against the glass to get a better look at the bright red children’s outfit.

"Mr. Shen, are you here to buy clothes for Hah’Er?" The commotion outside had long since alerted the proprietress inside. When she realized Yunzhong City’s biggest star had come to her shop to buy clothes, she was so happy she couldn’t stop smiling. She rushed out and eagerly ushered them into the store. "Did this red one catch your eye? I’ll get it out for Hah’Er to try on right away."

After speaking, she even closed the shop door and hung up a "Temporarily Closed" sign, leaving the entire store for Hah’Er and Scarf to browse at their leisure. ’As long as Hah’Er buys clothes here, the news will spread and be the best kind of living advertisement.’ Her calculations were quite shrewd; compared to the advertising effect, losing a little bit of business for a short while was nothing.

"Here, I’ll take Hah’Er in to try it on." Now, the girls weren’t in a rush to buy their own clothes anymore. They all gathered around, trying to help Hah’Er.

"Ngh~" Hah’Er shook his head repeatedly, clinging to Shen Yibin’s leg and refusing to let go, though his eyes remained fixed on the red outfit.

"I’ll do it." ’Oh, so you know about modesty between males and females, huh?’ Shen Yibin knew exactly what Hah’Er meant. He took the clothes from the proprietress, led Hah’Er into the fitting room, and helped him take off his old clothes and put on the new ones.

"Here, take a look! How does Hah’Er look in this? Handsome, right?" Before long, Shen Yibin emerged from the fitting room with a newly dressed Hah’Er.