Finally, everything was in order. Shen Yibin looked around the clean, tidy showroom, overjoyed. After more than a month of hard work, the renovations were complete. Now, all he had to do was tell the suppliers to deliver the animals, and his pet shop could officially open for business.
Shen Yibin had always loved animals. Growing up, he'd take his family dog out for walks in his free time. After graduating from college, he worked for two years, saved up a little money, and decided to open his own pet shop. It had been a long search, but he finally found the current storefront. The space was over two hundred square meters, spread across two floors. The first floor, the main retail space, was about one hundred square meters and now spotless. Facing the main entrance was where he'd spend most of his time: a simple reception desk with a computer. When things were slow, he could browse the web or play games to pass the time.
To the right was where he planned to keep the pets, though it was currently empty. He still needed to contact his suppliers and have them deliver the cats, dogs, and other animals. To the left were two sofas for customers to rest and discuss business. The staircase was against the wall on the right, and the space behind it hadn't gone to waste either; he had partitioned it off to create a small storage room for miscellaneous supplies.
The second floor served as his living quarters. It was a two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment, fully equipped with a kitchen, bathroom, and balcony. This conveniently saved him from having to rent a separate place.
Life is getting more and more stressful these days, and it's easy to feel lonely in the city. For many, getting a pet has become one of the best ways to combat that loneliness and lift their spirits. Shen Yibin's shop was located on a bustling commercial street in Yunzhong City. Judging by the steady flow of customers in and out of the neighboring stores, business was booming. This made Shen Yibin very optimistic about his own financial prospects. 'With my knowledge of the pet market,' he thought, 'there's no way I'll do worse than them, right?'
He gave the shop one last look-over. Finding nothing amiss, Shen Yibin hummed a tune contentedly and headed upstairs. He'd forgotten his phone when he came down earlier. It was time to get it and tell the suppliers to ship the animals. Tomorrow was the grand opening.
He picked up his phone from the bed and saw a flood of WeChat messages. Most were from classmates and friends, congratulating him. Shen Yibin replied to each one, inviting them to come by for the grand opening and liven the place up. Only after he finished did he finally have a moment to contact his supplier.
'Huh, why can't I find him in my WeChat contacts? Did he change his name?' Shen Yibin scrolled through his entire list but couldn't find the guy. He was about to open his phone's contact list to call him when he saw a new post on his Moments feed. He tapped on it out of habit and saw a picture of two incredibly cute kittens. The caption underneath read something like, "Two new kittens just arrived. Interested shop owners, please message me."
'Future Pet Shop? So he did change his name. No wonder I couldn't find him earlier.' Other than that one supplier, none of Shen Yibin's WeChat contacts were in the pet business. Well, no need to call now. He tapped open the chat window and started typing. "My shop's renovations are done. You can send over the animals we agreed on."
"Sure. Give me an address, and I'll have them delivered right away." The reply was surprisingly fast.
"Here's the address: No. 221 Baiyun Street, Yunzhong City." Shen Yibin typed, then sent his location and phone number through WeChat as well, just in case. "I'm having my grand opening tomorrow, so please don't be late."
"Got the address. Don't you worry. You'll have your delivery in half an hour, tops." The person replied, adding a smiley face emoji for emphasis.
"Alright, I'll be waiting in the shop. Call me when you get here." With that, Shen Yibin grabbed his phone and clattered downstairs. He brewed himself a cup of tea and sat at the desk, chatting leisurely with friends while he waited. He even snapped a few photos of his new store and posted them to his WeChat Moments as a pre-opening announcement. "Grand opening tomorrow! Cute pets arriving any minute now. All are welcome!"
"Bin, you really opened a pet shop? I'll definitely come check it out tomorrow! Can you give me a sneak peek? What kind of cool pets will you have?" The ad was already working. The message was from Qiao Wenqi, a girl from his college days.
'Heh, looks like this pet shop was the right call after all.' Shen Yibin was secretly delighted. 'Even Qiao Wenqi, who's barely said a few words to me since graduation, is asking about it.' He quickly typed back, "It's a secret for now. You'll just have to come and see. I guarantee you an unexpected surprise."
'City life really is lonely,' he mused. It wasn't just girls like Qiao Wenqi messaging him one after another; even the guys from his class were asking if he had any dogs suitable for joining them on their nightly runs.
'If the pets in this delivery are good quality, I might have a great first day tomorrow!' Shen Yibin couldn't help but daydream. Just then, his phone rang. The caller ID was a completely unfamiliar number.
'That's probably the delivery guy.' A glance at the time showed that exactly half an hour had passed. He answered immediately. "Hello? Are you here with the pet delivery?"
"Yep. I'm at your door. I have other deliveries to make, so I just left the box outside." And with that, the person on the other end impatiently hung up.
"Hello? Hello!" 'What kind of delivery person just leaves? You ran off before I could even inspect the delivery! What am I supposed to do if the animals are sick or injured? Who do I even call?' Shen Yibin panicked and threw open the shop door. But the delivery person was long gone. All that remained was a large white box blocking the entrance.
The box was sealed up tight, with only small air holes punched in the top. It was impossible to see what was inside. After a moment's hesitation, Shen Yibin decided to drag the box inside first. "Who transports animals like this? It's sealed so tight. It must be pitch black in there. Won't the poor things be terrified!" he grumbled, squatting down to pull the heavy box over the threshold. "Holy shit, what the hell is in here? Why is it so heavy?"
It took all his strength to drag the box into the middle of the shop. Wiping the sweat from his brow, Shen Yibin grabbed a box cutter from behind the counter and sliced it open. When he saw the animal inside, he froze.
It was round, fluffy, and covered in patches of black and white fur. It was so cute it was almost unreal. 'What in the world... It's a panda... Holy shit! A panda!' By the time the reality of what he was seeing sank in, Shen Yibin was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
He couldn't believe it. They had actually sent him a panda! 'A Panda is a nationally protected animal!' he thought frantically. 'I just wanted to open a pet shop, not go to jail!'
He scrambled to shut the main door and pull down the blinds, then raced back to the desk and snatched up his phone. He found the contact for the Future Pet Shop. "Hey! What's the big idea sending me a panda?"