"Co on, this is the aged Pu’erh I’ve been saving at my shop. It’s good for warming your stomach and detoxification. Give it a try." Mrs. Wang was the first to rush forward. To get on Egg’s good side, she had brought out the best things she had stashed away.
"Drink mine! This is Tongmu Golden Monkey Tea. It’ll wake you up and get rid of your fatigue. We’ve got more dancing to do, and a little of this will give you a boost!" another woman said, not to be outdone.
’Hey, are you people serious? This is premium tea that costs over a thousand yuan for just a few ounces! Even I can’t afford to drink this stuff, and you’re just giving it to a Raccoon Cat?’
"Were the bamboo shoots this afternoon tasty? What else do you like to eat? I’ll have my husband pick it up for you tomorrow morning." The owner of the fruit and vegetable shop hadn’t brought any fancy drinks, but she refused to miss this golden opportunity to cozy up to Egg.
"Co try the beef jerky I bought for my grandson. It’s made from high-quality imported Argentinian beef, guaranteed to be delicious." This woman was even offering up the snacks she’d bought for her own grandson.
"I’ve got so chicken feet I bought for my husband’s evening drink. Want to chew on one?" It looked like this woman’s husband was just going to be drinking tonight; his snacks had been offered up to Egg by his wife.
Egg clutched a chicken foot and stared blankly at them, completely at a loss. ’I just ca out to dance a little, how did I cause such a huge commotion?’
Shen Yibin couldn’t figure it out either. He hurried over with Bai Yanni and Hah’Er in tow. "Egg, you ran off the second I wasn’t looking! Co on, let’s go back and rest."
"It’s not going anywhere!" The words had barely left his mouth when dozens of furious glares shot in his direction. When Mrs. Wang recognized Shen Yibin, she hurried over. "Bin! Is this a pet from your shop? What kind of animal is it? How co we’ve never seen it before?"
Before Shen Yibin could answer, she plowed on, "Its dancing is incredible, though! So much better than mine. We have a plaza dancing competition next month—you have to let us learn from it!"
"That’s right! With us here, we guarantee we’ll take great care of it. There’s only an hour left. When we’re done, I’ll personally escort it back to you. You can rest assured," the owner of the fruit and vegetable shop chid in.
"Yeah, boss! It’s still too early for bed, just let us dance a little longer, please?" Sylvie had now turned traitor, too. She was becoming completely captivated by this joyful form of entertainnt.
’Great. If I dare to refuse, I’ll be lucky to make it back to the shop alive today. The sheer volu of spit from these young won, young wives, plump aunties, and old ladies would be enough to drown .’ Shen Yibin could only swallow his objections. "Uh, alright, you... you all carry on. I’ll just be waiting on the side..."
"Alright, ladies, let’s start the next song! Everyone, do your best to follow this... Hey, Bin, what kind of animal is this, anyway? What’s its na?" Mrs. Wang had clearly and willingly ceded her position as lead dancer to Egg.
"It’s a Japanese Raccoon Cat. You can just call it Egg." ’Seems like in the eyes of these plaza dancing ladies, a dancing Egg is even more popular than Hah’Er.’
"Alright! Now that we have Egg to guide us, we have to practice even harder! Let’s win the championship next month and show that crew from Construction Road and Cyan Cloud Street what we’re made of!" Mrs. Wang continued to rally the troops. They had only taken third place in the last competition, and she was still bitter about it.
With that, the crowd reluctantly spread out and fell back into formation. The next song started to play. "The girls of *Water Margin* are a beautiful sight, but little Jin Lian is pure delight. Da Lang’s heart breaks from love’s cruel art, Erlang flees from a cri of the heart. But for Lian, it’s plain to see, only Xin is a real man, truly..."
The mont the music started, Egg instantly perked up. It imdiately began to clap its paws, pat its belly, and dance to the beat. The moves seed to be completely improvised, but they matched the music perfectly. As Mrs. Wang mimicked them, she was secretly overjoyed. ’With these brand-new moves, we’ll definitely win the next competition!’
’What in the world is this song? Hearing those lyrics, I’m ready to fall to my knees in surrender. I thought these plaza dancing ladies were all behind the tis, but who would’ve thought they were the real pioneers of fashion? I’ve never even heard a viral hit like this before!’
"Um, there’s a coffee shop over there. Should we go have a seat?" ’They said there’s still an hour to go; we can’t just stand here the whole ti, right?’ Shen Yibin suggested to Bai Yanni.
Inside the coffee shop, he ordered a coffee for himself and Bai Yanni and two juices for Hah’Er and Cheeky. Then the whole group watched Egg’s gastar performance through the glass window.
They had said one hour, but when the ti was up, nobody wanted to leave. Today’s dancing session had been just too satisfying. They were captivated by every single one of Egg’s movents and insisted on keeping it for more than half an hour longer before finally calling it a night.
And by the looks of it, if the building managent hadn’t co out to remind them that it was getting late and they would disturb the other residents, they probably would have kept dancing all night.
"Bin, I’ll co to your shop to pick up Egg after dinner tomorrow. What does it like to eat? I’ll bring so over." From the look on Mrs. Wang’s face, Shen Yibin was sure she would smash his shop to pieces if he dared to refuse.
"That’s right! What does Egg like to eat? I’ll have my husband stock up on it tomorrow morning," the owner of the fruit and vegetable shop chid in. "I rember you bought grass carp today, didn’t you?"
"Um, Egg likes to eat snakes." ’Let’s see you get your hands on *that*,’ he thought.
"Snakes? What kind of snakes? My second maternal uncle’s nephew’s male cousin’s neighbor happens to run a snake farm! They have everything—cobras, kraits, vipers... I’ll have a few sent over for you tomorrow!" How could a small problem like this possibly stump the endlessly resourceful plaza dancing ladies? An impeccably-connected woman imdiately stepped forward with a solution.
’Fine, you all win.’ Shen Yibin muttered a few vague replies and beat a hasty retreat with Egg. At this rate, if Egg wanted the moon, it seed like this group of won could probably contact NASA and organize another lunar mission just to get it.
That night, whether because it had danced its fill or because there wasn’t a full moon, Egg didn’t cause any trouble, allowing Shen Yibin to get a good night’s sleep for once.
When Shen Yibin woke up the next day, he ate breakfast as usual and took his pets out for a walk. All along the way, young won, young wives, plump aunties, and old ladies kept coming up to greet Egg and press all sorts of snacks on it. In no ti at all, Shen Yibin’s arms were overflowing.
Watching Egg strut around with its head held high and chest puffed out, looking imnsely proud, Shen Yibin was reminded of Haonan collecting protection fees in Causeway Bay. With this kind of swagger, Egg was practically the top dog of Baiyun Street. It could walk down the street completely sideways, and no one would dare get in its way.
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