’Ugh, I’ll just ask tomorrow. It feels a bit forward to ask the Future Pet Shop for a new pet right away, doesn’t it? I’ll take Egg, Hah’Er, and Cheeky out for a spin tomorrow, and then get a new pet after we co back.’ Shen Yibin hesitated for a long while before finally deciding against it.
The next day, he took the crew out for another romp. Hah’Er and Egg had a fishing contest in the shallows of the river, while Cheeky flew back and forth through the bushes, bringing Sun Qian fresh wild fruits and beautiful flowers. Every now and then, it would fly over to the riverbank to mock Hah’Er and Egg. As for Shen Yibin, he sat with Sakai Kaori and Sun Qian, watching the three of them roughhouse while making idle chitchat.
In the afternoon, he returned to the shop with the fish Hah’Er and Egg had caught and cooked everyone a delicious, hearty dinner. After eating, Shen Yibin picked up his phone again, opened the chat window, and started typing. "Hey, you can send the fourth pet over now. Oh, right, can I pick which one it is this ti? Also, you have to have a serious talk with the delivery company. We can’t have a repeat of last ti’s incident."
’Please, just give a cute, well-behaved pet this ti. Egg and Cheeky really put through the wringer when they first arrived. And I really don’t want a repeat of that arduous trek through the mountains, either,’ Shen Yibin prayed.
"Those conditions... are obviously not going to be t. All right, I’ve received your ssage. Just wait a bit. The delivery company will have your item delivered shortly." The Future Pet Shop replied in its sa old tone.
’Looks like their attitude isn’t going to change until I level up. I guess I’ll just have to keep trying.’ Shen Yibin shrugged helplessly and tossed his phone onto the sofa. He offered up a silent prayer, hoping that this ti, the delivery company would bring the pet to his doorstep on ti and without any detours.
And so, Shen Yibin sat there on the sofa like a fool, his eyes glued to the door. He hoped to catch the delivery person in the act this ti. ’I’m going to see just what a courier who can travel through ti and space looks like!’
Unfortunately, Shen Yibin’s stakeout was completely useless. Half an hour later, his phone rang. He hurriedly answered. "Your package has been delivered to your door. Co and get it." Just like before, the caller hung up as soon as they finished the sentence.
Shen Yibin’s eyes darted to the shop entrance. A dium-sized package had appeared in a spot that had been completely empty just a mont before. He hadn’t seen how it got there at all.
"Hah’Er, go drag the package back," Shen Yibin commanded. He was no longer in a hurry to retrieve it himself. Instead, he dashed over to the computer. ’The security cara should have caught sothing from this angle!’ He wanted to check the surveillance footage and see if he could find any trace of the mysterious courier.
"Damn it, there’s nothing!" He pulled up the surveillance footage and watched it over and over, but each ti all he saw was a montary distortion in the feed—as if the cara had suddenly malfunctioned—before the package abruptly appeared on screen. There were no clues whatsoever.
’Whatever. Twenty-second-century black-ops tech is really beyond . Future Pet Shop, you win.’ Frustrated, Shen Yibin stepped away from the computer, took the package from Hah’Er, and prepared to open it to see just what kind of pet had arrived this ti.
’Huh? This package seems a lot lighter than the others. Hah’Er is a chubby furball who weighs a ton, so we won’t even count him, but this is even lighter than the box Cheeky ca in. What on earth kind of pet is in here?’
Shen Yibin easily lifted the package with a single hand. A box this light could probably only hold a miniature pet, like a hamster, a hummingbird, a small snake, a little lizard, or a pygmy marmoset.
’A little lizard or a pygmy marmoset wouldn’t be so bad. Girls love pets like that. A small chaleon would be even better! I could have Sylvie wear a colorful outfit and watch the little chaleon crawl all over her, its skin shifting colors as it moves across the different fabrics. Wouldn’t that be a fun sight?’
’Damn it, I can’t keep thinking about this, or I’m going to get jealous of the chaleon. A pygmy marmoset would be great, too. It could hide in Sylvie’s cleavage... huh. Now that I think about it, being a pygmy marmoset sounds even better than being a chaleon, doesn’t it?’ Shen Yibin was lost in his fantasy, montarily unable to pull himself out.
"Bin, is that another new pet being delivered?" Seeing the package, Sylvie seed to recall her journey with Shen Yibin into the mountains to find Egg. The box Egg had been in looked identical to this one.
"Yeah, it just arrived." Shen Yibin snapped out of his daydream and nonchalantly wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth.
"Oh? What is it this ti?" Sylvie crouched down, curiously inspecting the package. "Hurry and open it! The shop’s been so quiet lately. A new pet should liven things up a bit, don’t you think?"
"I don’t know yet. They didn’t say what it was when they sent it." ’I’m dying to know, too!’ With that, Shen Yibin took out a box cutter and carefully sliced through the packing tape along the box’s seam.
"Uh... why is there another box inside?" Shen Yibin and Sylvie both leaned in to look as he opened the box, only to be t with disappointnt. Inside the large box was a slightly smaller one, wrapped just as securely as the first.
’Might as well,’ Shen Yibin grumbled as he cut the tape on the second box. ’Since I opened the first one, I’ll just keep going. Sealing it up this tight... aren’t they afraid the pet inside will suffocate? There’s no way it can breathe in there.’
"There’s another one!" The second box opened to reveal yet another, slightly smaller cardboard box inside, just like before.
"Bin, is your supplier Russian or sothing?" Sylvie asked. "Is he shipping you a pet or a Matryoshka doll?" The way a large box contained a smaller box, which contained an even smaller box, was exactly like the famous Russian nesting dolls.
This ti, Shen Yibin didn’t even bother to comnt. He just opened the third box, which, to absolutely no one’s surprise, contained a fourth box.
He opened one box after another until, finally, upon opening the ninth box, the contents were revealed. When he saw what was inside, Shen Yibin froze. This wasn’t a pet at all.
’Damn it! We agreed you were sending a pet, but you sent *this*? Don’t tell the delivery company ssed up again! How can couriers still be this unreliable in the twenty-second century?!’
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