Future Pet Shop

This Shiba Inu was surprisingly adaptable. It didn't panic at all after getting in the car. It just lay in Shen Yibin's lap, watching the scenery outside the window with a silly grin on its face, as if it were already home. There was no sign of discomfort whatsoever. Cheeky chirped and taunted it relentlessly, but the dog either didn't understand or didn't care. It paid Cheeky no mind, and the few times it did look back, it was only to give another goofy smile. This attitude was utterly boring for Cheeky, who, after a bit more nagging, switched targets and started complaining about Hah'Er instead.

"We're here. Let's get out of the car. I'll have someone give him a bath and get his shots. We can let him stay here for the next few days!" Back at the villa, Sakai Kaori called over the servants and had them start cleaning the clumsy Shiba Inu and preparing his vaccinations. When they brought him back out all cleaned up, wow! He hadn't seemed like much when he was dirty, but now that he was clean, one look was enough to see he was actually a handsome fellow. His fur was thick and glossy, his build was powerful but refined, and as he stood gazing into the distance, he looked spirited and alert.

"Huh? Is this the same dog we just brought back?" Sakai Kaori's eyes widened in disbelief. 'He doesn't look the same at all.' Shen Yibin and the others all nodded in agreement. 'Right? He feels like a completely different dog.'

The Shiba Inu looked left and right, seemingly taking in its new surroundings. The moment it saw them, it started barking and ran over. WOOF WOOF! Clearly, the fellow remembered them. However... there was a perfectly good path right beside him, but he ignored it, insisting on trying to jump over the fence instead. His jump fell short. He failed to clear the railing and ended up getting his head stuck between the bars. The dopey dog didn't even look surprised. Instead, he just looked at Shen Yibin's group and broke into a goofy, simple-minded grin. The handsome, spirited image from moments before was instantly shattered.

"Alright, it's definitely the same one," the group sighed, exasperated. 'How did you get stuck again? And with that idiotic grin, who else could it be?'

With his two front paws clutching the wooden railing and his two hind legs straining on tiptoe, the Shiba Inu was draped over the fence in an extremely awkward position. He wanted to squeeze through the gap, but it was too narrow for his shoulders to pass. He tried to retreat, but now his chin was hooked on the railing. Stuck between moving forward and backward, he was clearly in a difficult spot. His hind legs were already starting to tremble; he obviously couldn't hold that pose for much longer.

"We should probably get him out of there first," Shen Yibin said, slowly approaching from the front. Seeing him get closer, the dog didn't show the slightest bit of wariness like most dogs would. On the contrary, the smile on his face only grew wider, though whether he understood Shen Yibin was there to rescue him was anyone's guess.

"Mr. Bin, let me help you!" Sakai Kaori quickly came over, with Mr. Liu Sheng and Sun Qian following right behind. Hah'Er, Egg, Cheeky, and Maphario also gathered around to watch the commotion. The whole group surrounded the Shiba Inu. They first tried holding his head and pushing him backward, but no matter if they pushed straight or tried turning his head sideways, they couldn't get him out.

"Well now, his head is clearly much wider than the gap between the bars. How in the world did he get it in there in the first place?" Mr. Liu Sheng asked, completely baffled after using his hand to compare the size of the gap with the Shiba Inu's head.

"Looks like the only way is to saw through the railing," Sakai Kaori said with a shrug. It was clear that yanking and pulling wouldn't get this guy out; they had no choice but to break the fence.

Shen Yibin reached out and knocked on the railing. The wood rang out with a clear, solid sound. That, combined with its dense grain and rich, lustrous color, made it obvious this was no ordinary timber. He looked at the Shiba Inu, completely speechless. 'Causing such a huge loss for your host the moment you arrive... you're really something else.'

At Sakai Kaori's command, a servant immediately went to the tool shed and returned with a saw. Mr. Liu Sheng took it and set to work. Having practiced Swordsmanship for many years, his hands were the steadiest, making him the most suitable person for the task. As the wood was being sawed, the Shiba Inu just kept staring at Shen Yibin, grinning foolishly. He'd been holding that smile for so long, one had to wonder if his face was getting sore.

CLANG! The sawn-off railing fell to the floor. The Shiba Inu was finally free. Shen Yibin brought him to the dining table to eat with everyone, but he kept his eyes glued to the dog the whole time, terrified it would run off and get stuck again.

Everyone was a bit tired after being out all day, so they all returned to their rooms to rest after dinner. Shen Yibin brought the Shiba Inu back to his room, took out the pill, and held it to the dog's mouth. He was still a bit hesitant. 'Dogs usually don't eat things from strangers, do they? How am I going to trick him into taking this pill?'

And yet... this guy didn't hesitate for a second. He sniffed the pill, caught its fragrance, and immediately flicked out his tongue, gulping it down! This left Shen Yibin speechless. 'Damn it,' he thought, 'if you were supposed to be a guard dog, a burglar could just toss you a drugged piece of bread and you'd be knocked out instantly, wouldn't you?'

THUD! Before Shen Yibin could even finish his lament, the medicine kicked in. The Shiba Inu keeled over and hit the floor, already snoring loudly. Shen Yibin was once again at a loss for words. He carried the dog over to its prepared bed, then called Hah'Er and Xiaoliu over to get some sleep himself.

The first thing he did upon waking was to check on the dog in its bed. However, the animal was still snoring loud enough to shake the heavens, showing no signs of getting up. It was impossible to tell whether the medicine hadn't worn off yet or if he was just an incredibly heavy sleeper.

As he was mulling this over, Sakai Kaori came by to invite Shen Yibin out for a local specialty breakfast. Shen Yibin had no choice but to leave the dog for now and head out with Hah'Er and the others. 'He's already taken the medicine, so there's no fear of him running off. Worst case, I'll just bring him back some food when we're done,' he figured.

After breakfast, they stopped by a pet store to buy him a collar, leash, muzzle, and other necessities. He would inevitably be taking this dog out on walks, and while Shen Yibin doubted the dog would ever bite anyone, these precautions were a must. He might know the dog was harmless, but pedestrians wouldn't, and scaring people was not an option. It was a fundamental rule of responsible pet ownership, one that Shen Yibin, as a pet store owner himself, was obligated to follow.

"He should be awake by now, right?" Shen Yibin wondered aloud. Carrying the new leash and collar, along with some breakfast for the dog, he and Sakai Kaori's group returned to the villa. Just as they reached the entrance and were about to head inside, he spotted a familiar face peeking out from a hole in the decorative brickwork of the outer wall.

"He's stuck again!" Sakai Kaori exclaimed, putting a hand to her forehead. There, in an opening in the outer wall, the Shiba Inu was staring back at them with that same dumb look on its face.

At that moment, a poem surfaced in Shen Yibin's mind: "Pity the footprints on the mossy green, I gently knock, but the wooden gate remains unseen. The garden's full splendor cannot be contained..." but his brain auto-corrected the famous last line: "...a single Shiba's head pokes out from the wall."

'It seems the medicine did nothing to cure his habit of getting stuck!'