’One week, it’s off to New York to see the Golden Gate Bridge. The next, I’ll jet over to Golden State to watch the Splash Brothers dominate the court. The week after that, I can take in the most beautiful sights in Amsterdam... Er, maybe I should forget that last one? If I went, would I have any energy left for marathons?’ Shen Yibin couldn’t help but fall into a fantasy.
Alas, it was nothing more than a fantasy. Putting aside the mountain of paperwork required to take a panda abroad—he’d only managed to take Hah’Er to Africa last time thanks to Sylvie’s endorsement—there was a more pressing matter. Shi Gaofei had been with him for a long time now, and the three-month deadline was fast approaching. Yet Shen Yibin still hadn’t found a guest with an affinity high enough to meet the purchase requirement. That was the most urgent task at hand. As for traveling abroad, well, he had money now. If worse came to worst, he could just pay to take Hah’Er on a trip himself later on!
Reluctantly closing the emails, Shen Yibin settled lazily into a seat at the very edge of the terrace. He sipped his tea, a goofy grin on his face as he watched Hah’Er and Shi Gaofei romp and play amidst the bamboo trees. ’Ah, if only days like this could last forever,’ he mused. ’But alas, Shi Gaofei has to leave eventually.’
As it turned out, someone left before Shi Gaofei: Sun Qian and Cheeky. The Star City Strawberry Music Festival was approaching, and the two of them had to head to Star City early to prepare. And so, Cheeky reluctantly left the tree it had grown accustomed to, flew onto Sun Qian’s shoulder, and followed her to say goodbye to Hah’Er and Shi Gaofei before getting into Shen Yibin’s car together.
"I won’t be able to make it to your performance this time, but once the location for the next one is set, remember to let me know in advance." After dropping them off at the airport and giving them a few last-minute reminders, he watched their figures disappear through the security checkpoint. He had no idea when or in what city they would meet again.
It was true that Shen Yibin was a bit tied down lately. The store had just recently reopened, and aside from Xie Nannan, the other employees—Xia Shixuan, Gao Shu, and Li Shiqing—weren’t experienced enough. They could handle routine matters just fine, but if any emergencies came up, Shen Yibin needed to be there to deal with them immediately. Until they were more seasoned, Shen Yibin didn’t dare leave for any length of time. He was now relying entirely on this store to support Hah’Er, so he couldn’t risk letting its reputation suffer.
"Hah’Er, time to get up and exercise." When Shi Gaofei first arrived, Shen Yibin had been extremely resistant to the twice-daily workouts. But as he kept at it, especially after winning first place in the marathon, Shen Yibin found that he was gradually starting to like this kind of training. Now, if he didn’t get his two sessions in, he’d even feel a bit off.
"Nnngh~" Hah’Er, on the other hand, seemed to have lost interest in his skateboard lately. Every day, Shen Yibin had to call him to get him out of bed. He would lazily cruise around the park once, then flop onto the lawn and play dead. The task of running with Shi Gaofei once again fell to Shen Yibin. In contrast, Hah’Er would immediately perk up the moment he got back to the store.
One moment he’d be scrambling up and down the slide, the next he’d be pushing Shi Gaofei high on the swing, and then they’d be competing to climb trees. And Shi Gaofei seemed to love this place too. It simply dug a hole in the ground and started sleeping in it every night, no longer going to Shen Yibin’s bedroom.
’From now on, I’ll have to be careful when I wander through the bamboo grove. I’d hate to accidentally step in Shi Gaofei’s burrow. A twisted ankle would be the least of my worries; if I make it angry and it comes after me, I won’t stand a chance.’
Another business day came to an end. After tallying up the sales data, Li Shiqing and Xie Nannan decided to go out and browse the mall. Gao Shu went back to her room to call her two younger sisters. Xia Shixuan took a call, then got in her car and left, off to who-knows-where to have some fun. And so, Shen Yibin was left all alone on the terrace.
Shen Yibin propped his feet up on the railing, leaned back comfortably in his chair, and continued scrolling through Weibo on his tablet. His private messages were now almost entirely filled with collaboration requests. Many companies were offering huge endorsement fees for Hah’Er, but Shen Yibin wasn’t short on cash right now and naturally didn’t want to overwork Hah’Er. Besides, who knew if there were problems with these products? If something went wrong, it would be Hah’Er’s reputation on the line, and he wasn’t willing to take that risk.
’Director Kong’s movie, on the other hand, might be worth considering. Although the pet store was making enough to cover expenses, I still want to acquire the adjacent storefront as soon as possible. I want to build a swimming pool for Hah’Er, giving him a place to cool off when the weather gets hot and an extra spot to play.’
’But just a simple swimming pool seems a little boring, doesn’t it? What if I made it an indoor pond? I could even put some fish and shrimp in there for Hah’Er to catch for fun. But would that cause hygiene problems?’ As he thought about it, Shen Yibin started to feel conflicted. ’A renovation company should have a suitable solution for that, right?’
Just as Shen Yibin was happily lost in his fantasy, the phone on the coffee table suddenly rang. He picked it up and saw it was a call from Bai Yanni. ’Huh? Isn’t Shi Gaofei’s training session with the K-9 unit scheduled for the day after tomorrow? Why is she calling me today?’
"Hello, Officer Bai." Shen Yibin didn’t think much of it and answered the call.
"Bin, can we reschedule Shi Gaofei’s training time? We have a very important person who wants to visit tomorrow." The two of them were familiar enough with each other that there was no need for formalities, so Bai Yanni stated her request directly.
"Sure. I’ll come pick you up downstairs tomorrow morning." Shen Yibin trusted Bai Yanni completely. He knew she must have a good reason for such a request, so they settled the matter in just a few words.
The next morning, Shen Yibin drove with Hah’Er and Shi Gaofei to Bai Yanni’s apartment building. After picking her up, they all headed to the Yunzhong City K-9 Unit. When they arrived, Shen Yibin saw that in addition to the few familiar trainers, there was also a female military officer with short hair and a heroic, dashing air about her. The only thing was, her uniform had no rank insignia, so it was impossible to tell her position.
"Bin, this is an officer from the provincial military district’s special operations brigade," Bai Yanni whispered. "Don’t let her looks fool you; she’s a woman, but I hear she’s won first place in numerous military skills competitions and has a lot of merits to her name." As for what those merits were, Bai Yanni didn’t know; they were probably military secrets.
’Wow, a legendary Soldier King?’ Shen Yibin secretly sized up the female officer, but he couldn’t discern much. He just noted that her skin was a little tanned and that she seemed particularly sharp and energetic. As for how formidable her combat abilities were, he couldn’t be sure.
Just then, the female officer noticed Shen Yibin. She walked over with a precise, military gait and said, "My apologies. I was the one who requested the change in training time."
"It’s no problem. And how should I address you?"
"You can just call me by my codename, Hong Mian."