Future Pet Shop

Chapter 112: The Courier Lost the Package

’Maybe something happened on the road to delay it?’ Shen Yibin stepped outside to look around every half hour, but he hadn’t seen any packages by noon.

He went to bed with an anxious heart. The moment he woke up in the morning, he immediately checked his phone, but there were no missed calls. Nobody had called him last night, and the Future Pet Shop hadn’t sent any messages either.

"Hey, did you ship my order or not? Why haven’t I received it yet?" Shen Yibin couldn’t stand it any longer and quickly sent a message to the Future Pet Shop.

"Huh? That’s impossible. I arranged for shipment right after we spoke yesterday. You should have received it within half an hour at most." The Future Pet Shop seemed a little surprised as well. "Hold on, let me check for you."

Shen Yibin was in no mood to make breakfast. He gave Sun Qian some change to buy some buns and soy milk from the shop next door for breakfast, while he himself sat numbly on the sofa, staring at his phone, terrified of missing a message.

Thankfully, the Future Pet Shop didn’t keep him waiting. A message soon came back. "Ah, my apologies. The delivery person was too busy yesterday and made a small mistake."

’That scared the hell out of me. As long as it wasn’t my fault, it’s fine.’ Shen Yibin quickly replied, "In that case, just have him deliver it again. I’m waiting in the shop right now."

"Um, that might be a little difficult. He’s actually already delivered the package to Yunzhong City. It’s just that when he entered the specific coordinates, he got one of the digits after the decimal point wrong. So, the pet was dropped off somewhere else. If you go look around Yunzhong City now, you should be able to find the pet quickly." The Future Pet Shop’s customer service was just that incredible—they’d made a mistake and were still making Shen Yibin fix it, clearly not subscribing to the ’customer is king’ philosophy.

"Dude, Yunzhong City is over three hundred square kilometers with a population of more than four million. How am I supposed to find it?" Shen Yibin was so angry he was at a loss for words. It would be one thing if the pet was a large animal like an elephant or a Rhino. But if it was a tiny creature like a spider or a hummingbird, this was an impossible task!

’Besides, the pet doesn’t have any identifying marks. I wouldn’t recognize it even if it walked right up to me. Are you sure this was the delivery person’s mistake and you’re not just messing with me?’

"I’ll send you an app. Use it to find the pet." The Future Pet Shop sent over a QR code. "This app can display the pet’s location. With this, you won’t have to worry about not being able to find it."

He scanned the QR code to download and install the app. A moment later, an app named "Pet Radar" appeared on Shen Yibin’s screen, right next to the "Pet Affinity Test" app.

He opened the app, and a map of Yunzhong City appeared, with four colored dots flashing on it. According to the legend, the red dot represented Shen Yibin’s own location; zooming in revealed that the dot turned into his profile picture. The green dot had Hah’Er’s picture, and its note read, "Purchased Pet."

The yellow one showed a parrot’s picture—that was obviously Cheeky—and its note read, "Sold Pet." The final dot was, without a doubt, the pet that had just been delivered to Yunzhong City, the one Shen Yibin had to retrieve himself. This dot was blue, and its note said, "Unsold Pet."

’Let’s see what kind of pet they sent this time.’ Shen Yibin curiously zoomed in on the dot, but unfortunately, it didn’t display a picture of the pet. All he could see was a large question mark.

’I guess its picture will only show up after I retrieve it, huh?’ After fiddling with it for a while, Shen Yibin started to get the hang of the app. ’You know, this app is actually pretty useful. If I ever get separated from Hah’Er or Cheeky, I won’t have to worry. I can just head toward their dots on the map to find them.’

’Let’s see where the delivery person tossed this poor new schmuck.’ Shen Yibin looked toward the location of the blue dot representing the "Unsold Pet."

’Holy crap, it’s all the way out in the mountains on the city outskirts! What kind of map was that delivery person using? How can being off by one decimal place lead to a difference of dozens of kilometers?’

’Looks like I’ll have to head out of the city to find it.’ Shen Yibin zoomed in on the map, trying to pinpoint a more precise location, but he immediately discovered a new problem. Once the map was magnified, he could faintly see that the unknown pet appeared to be moving.

’Did it get out of the delivery package?’ Shen Yibin was both worried and slightly relieved. He was worried because this would make the pet much harder to catch. He was relieved because it meant the pet wouldn’t suffocate in the package, and it also seemed he wouldn’t have to worry about someone else getting to it first, at least for the time being.

’If it’s on the move, it’s going to be hard to catch, isn’t it?’ Shen Yibin looked down at his own slight build. Even though he had been exercising with Hah’Er every day lately and had gotten a bit stronger, catching a wild animal was still asking a lot of him.

’Looks like I can’t go alone. But who should I take with me? Bai Yanni seems like a bad choice this time. I don’t know what kind of animal it is, after all. What if it’s a protected species like Hah’Er? How would I explain that to her?’

’Right, I’ll take Cheeky. He can fly, so at least he can help me keep an eye on the pet. Or maybe I should bring Hah’Er? He’s much better at climbing trees than I am. If the pet climbs a tree, Hah’Er can help get it down.’

And so, the decision was made. Shen Yibin turned his head. "Cheeky, do me a favor. How about coming out with me for a bit? And Hah’Er, you come with me too!"

"Mhm!" Hah’Er agreed readily.

"Not going. Don’t wanna move." Cheeky was lying comfortably on a throw pillow, mouth wide open as Sun Qian fed it jabuticaba. He looked just like the spoiled, useless son of a rich landlord.

’Damn it, have you seen how much fatter you’ve gotten since you first arrived? If you don’t get some exercise, you probably won’t even be able to fly anymore,’ Shen Yibin complained internally.

But he didn’t dare say it out loud. Instead, he had to force a smile and coax Cheeky. "It’s just a small favor. It won’t take much time. On the way back, we can stop by the supermarket and I’ll buy you some fruit."

"In that case... I suppose I can consider it." Cheeky finally lifted his body up slightly.

"Just go and help the boss. You mooch off him for food and drink every single day. Now that he needs you, you’re trying to bargain?" Sun Qian chimed in.

"Fine, okay. But you have to remember to buy me fruit," Cheeky finally agreed.

"Boss, where are you going today and what for? Is there anything I can do to help?" Sylvie looked at Shen Yibin with hopeful eyes. She hadn’t had a chance to explore Yunzhong City since she arrived and wanted to use this as an opportunity to get out.