Future Pet Shop

’I should probably wait a few more days,’ Shen Yibin thought. He decided to postpone his plan to find a new pet for now. Hah’Er had just returned from Sichuan and hadn’t recovered its strength yet. It would be too hard on it to leave so soon. It was better to let it rest for a couple of days and recuperate. Besides, Director Kong and the others were leaving in the next two days, and Shen Yibin had to see them off.

He tossed his phone aside, lay down on the bed, and drifted off to sleep in no time. The next morning, he got up early to make them breakfast. Then, Shen Yibin took Director Kong, Sun Qian, and Hah’Er for a jog along the foggy Yunshui Riverfront.

"Slow down, slow down. Don’t fall." In the past, Shen Yibin had always urged Hah’Er to run faster. But considering how hard the past few days had been on it, he deliberately let it slow down today. After running about two-thirds of their usual distance, Shen Yibin turned back with it. By the time they returned to the estate, the morning sun was just starting to climb over the treetops.

"It feels great to break a sweat. I’m going in to take a shower. We can have tea on the rooftop later!" Director Kong went in first, and Sun Qian went to change her clothes as well. Shen Yibin, however, had barely broken a sweat; that amount of exercise was nothing to him. So, he took Hah’Er and Maphario for a stroll in the bamboo forest. As for Xiaoliu, that little guy had run off to the top of the Totem Pole to gaze into the distance again. ’I wonder if it can see the zoo from over fifty meters up? Should I buy Xiaoliu a pair of binoculars? So it can watch over its harem from here?’

"Mmmph~" Not having gotten its fill of exercise, Hah’Er started messing with the bamboo stalks once they were in the forest. It wrapped its front paws around a stalk and spun in circles, having a grand old time. But after just a couple of spins, Hah’Er’s feet got tangled, and with a loud THUD, it tumbled to the ground. The fall must have actually hurt this time. It lay on its back for a long while before pitifully lifting its head to look at Shen Yibin.

"Whoa there, what happened? Is there something on the ground? That shouldn’t be. This bamboo forest is tended to every day, isn’t it?" Shen Yibin hurried over. He knew Hah’Er loved playing in the bamboo forest, so he had specifically told the property management to check it regularly and clear away any tripping hazards like rocks or clumps of dirt. The management staff were very diligent, so how could it still have fallen? ’We went to see Hah’Er’s own cub this time, not some female pandas. Its legs shouldn’t have gone weak.’

The initial impact was a sharp pain, but it subsided quickly. Before Shen Yibin could even reach it, Hah’Er had already rolled over. It didn’t get up right away, though. Instead, it lay on the bamboo leaves, searching all around for the culprit that had made it fall. ’Huh? It’s one thing to look, but why are you sniffing like that?’ This action piqued Shen Yibin’s curiosity, and he also crouched down, following Hah’Er’s gaze.

"Ooh!" Hah’Er seemed to have found something. It sat up on the ground, looked back at Shen Yibin, and pointed a paw at a small bump on the ground ahead, letting out a surprised and happy sound.

"So this little mound of dirt is what tripped you? Come on, I’ll get revenge for you and flatten it!" With that, Shen Yibin walked over and raised his right foot to kick it.

"No! No!" Hah’Er grew agitated and lunged forward, hugging Shen Yibin’s leg. Afraid of hurting Hah’Er, Shen Yibin quickly pulled back his strength, nearly twisting his back in the process.

"What? You don’t want me to kick it? What is this thing, anyway?" ’It can’t be just an ordinary mound of dirt, can it? Otherwise, Hah’Er wouldn’t be protecting it.’ Shen Yibin crouched down again, curiously examining the small mound.

"SQUEAK! SQUEAK!" Maphario came scurrying up from behind just then. It leaped onto the small mound and started digging with all its paws. As it dug, it would occasionally look back and squeak at Hah’Er, its tone sounding as if it were showing off.

’Could this be some treasure Maphario buried?’ Shen Yibin scooted a few steps closer. Maphario worked quickly, and in no time, it had dug away the top layer of loose soil, revealing the treasure hidden beneath. A tender, yellow-tipped sprout emerged from the dirt. The moment Hah’Er saw it, it squealed with excitement and pounced over to help Maphario dig.

"This looks like a bamboo shoot, doesn’t it?" Shen Yibin realized. ’Oh, no wonder Hah’Er is so happy. It found something delicious to eat. Thinking about it, the winter solstice is just around the corner. This is the perfect time for digging up Winter Bamboo Shoots!’

"I’ll go back and get a shovel. There’s definitely more than just this one. We’re having Winter Bamboo Shoots for lunch today!" Shen Yibin scrambled to his feet excitedly. Winter bamboo shoots were a delicacy, especially fresh ones just dug out of the ground. They were crisp, refreshing, fragrant, and sweet, and they tasted delicious with just about anything.

He dashed to the tool shed in the garden and came back with two small trowels. Shooing Maphario and Hah’Er aside, he began digging the soil around the edge of the bamboo shoot. With tools, the work was much faster than their digging with paws. Soon, he had dug down more than twenty centimeters, fully exposing the entire shoot. He reached in, snapped the bamboo shoot off, and handed it to Hah’Er. "Here, hold it carefully. Bamboo shoots usually grow in clusters, so there must be more around here."

Shen Yibin followed the bamboo rhizome and quickly found two more shoots. He dug them all out and tossed them into Hah’Er’s arms. Then he filled the holes back in to ensure the rhizome could continue to grow. As long as the rhizome was there, there would surely be new bamboo shoots in the future.

"Only three? That’s not quite enough to eat! Where else around here can we find more bamboo shoots?" Shen Yibin felt a headache coming on. He had only found that first shoot because Hah’Er had tripped. Looking around at the other areas, he couldn’t see any similar bumps. The remaining shoots must still be buried underground, not having broken the surface yet.

Experienced bamboo farmers can usually find buried shoots by looking for clues like the age of the bamboo and the direction of its branches and leaves, but Shen Yibin didn’t have that skill. ’Am I supposed to dig up this entire bamboo forest?’

’Ugh, this forest is several hundred square meters. I don’t have the strength for that, not even if I called Director Kong and Fang Yuanshan out to help. Besides, doing so would be too damaging to the forest. It could easily harm the bamboo’s root system, causing the plants to wither and die. The losses would far outweigh the gains!’

’Maybe I should look online and see how those bamboo farmers do it? But their methods are built on years of accumulated experience. I doubt I could learn it that easily.’

Shen Yibin scratched his head. Just as he was about to take out his phone to search, he saw that Hah’Er had already sprung into action. It was down on all fours, its nose pressed to the ground, sniffing continuously as it searched inch by inch. It looked just like... just like an enemy sapper sweeping for landmines with a detector!

’This might actually work! Hah’Er’s sense of smell is incredibly sharp; it might be able to find the buried bamboo shoots. In France, they use pigs to find underground truffles. Here, I’m using a panda to search for Winter Bamboo Shoots!’