Future Pet Shop

Chapter 64: Early Promotion

’Finally, some peace and quiet.’ After a wonderful night’s sleep, Shen Yibin peeked through a corner of the curtains to find the street, which had been packed to the brim for the past two days, was now empty. He might not have to be so busy today.

It was probably because it was Monday again. Those people had to go to work or school; they didn’t have time to camp outside his door every day. Plus, Shen Yibin had repeatedly asked Li Yinchen to help keep the reporters at bay, which was why things had quieted down a bit.

"Hah’Er, Cheeky, time to get up! After we eat, I’ll take you to the park." ’After being cooped up in the house for two days, I can finally go out for some fresh air.’

"Mmm!" Hah’Er scrambled up, folded his blanket, climbed out of bed, slipped on his cotton slippers, and went to the bathroom to wash up.

"Ah, fresh air at last," Cheeky also remarked, before his tone shifted to criticism. "By the way, you’ve skipped your practice for two days. You’ll have to do a double session today to make up for it."

’You still haven’t forgotten about that? Am I going to have to pant like a dog by the lake again?’ The spark of joy that had just ignited was instantly extinguished. Just like that, Cheeky had ruthlessly shattered Shen Yibin’s good mood.

"Sigh, I was going to give you a Jibbasu for breakfast, but I guess I’ll forget about it now," Shen Yibin said as he lay back down. He didn’t feel like getting up at all anymore.

"Those are mine, mine, mine! They were bought for me!" Now it was Cheeky’s turn to get anxious. Shen Yibin had put all the fruit in the refrigerator, and there was no way Cheeky could open it.

"I don’t care. I feel like I haven’t gotten enough sleep, so I’m just going to sleep some more." Shen Yibin pulled the blanket over his head, blocking out Cheeky’s squawking.

"Mmph!" Cheeky didn’t have the strength to pull off the blanket, but Hah’Er was another story. After acting as the shop’s mascot for two days, he had grown impatient. Now that there was finally a chance to go out, how could he possibly let Shen Yibin sleep in? He climbed right onto Shen Yibin’s stomach, pulled the blanket away with his two paws, and stared at him with a pitiful expression.

’Alright, alright, that innocent look has me beat. I’ll get up.’ He got out of bed, washed his face, brushed his teeth, changed his clothes, made breakfast, cleaned the house, and fed the pets. Once all that was done, Shen Yibin headed out of the shop, leading Hah’Er by the hand with Cheeky perched on his shoulder, and walked toward the nearby park.

"Morning, Bin! Morning, Hah’Er! Oh, and morning to you too, Cheeky!" Acquaintances from the neighboring shops greeted them warmly. As soon as Shen Yibin and his companions disappeared around the corner, these same people huddled together, their tones thick with envy as they discussed how much money Shen Yibin stood to make from the talent show. The newly formed company had launched its promotional campaign just last night.

"Sigh, if it were me, I’d never sell that parrot. If you kept it at home, you could do anything and be better off than you are now." Of course, on this topic, they all thought Shen Yibin was an idiot.

"Morning, Nuomituan! Morning, everyone!" Arriving at the park, Shen Yibin had Hah’Er greet all the familiar faces. Then, just like the past few days, he took Hah’Er’s paw with his left hand, and Hah’Er in turn took Nuomituan’s. The trio then started their walk along the path circling the lake.

As for Cheeky, he flew up to a treetop to perform some Beijing Opera for the assembled seniors. This time, he switched from the *Empty City Strategy* to *Shajia Bang*. "Back in the day, when this old man’s unit just got started, we had barely a dozen men and seven or eight rifles! The Imperial Army chased me ’til my head was spinnin’! Thank goodness for Ah Qing Sao, she told me to hide myself inside a water vat..."

Cheeky’s transformation from the feather-fan-wielding Chancellor Zhuge, who repelled enemies with casual wit, to the bumbling reactionary Hu Chuan’kui instantly stirred distant memories for the seniors, and they couldn’t help but start humming along.

When the walk was over, Hah’Er went to a nearby tree to practice climbing. A dejected Shen Yibin once again began his HUFF-PUFF breathing exercises. However, he seemed to have forgotten that just last week, many of these same seniors had bought pets from his shop. Now, Golden Retrievers, Huskies, and Labradors had been brought to the park with them.

The moment they heard that familiar sound, the dogs immediately swarmed over. They sat in a circle around Shen Yibin, tongues lolling out, and began to imitate his heavy HUFF-PUFF panting, making Shen Yibin feel like all hope was lost.

His face burning with embarrassment, Shen Yibin stubbornly finished a double session of his exercises. He was far too mortified to stay in the park any longer, so he grabbed Hah’Er and Cheeky and fled back to the shop.

’Let me see how the promotion is going,’ Shen Yibin thought, sinking comfortably into the sofa. He pulled out his phone and logged into Weibo, only to see that they had already managed to turn the talent show into a trending topic, attracting countless shares and comments.

"I’ve just taken 10,000 points of critical damage. I’m a real, live human being, a singer who’s studied professionally for three years, and I can’t even sing as well as a parrot," someone commented dejectedly under the video of Cheeky’s performance.

"Begging the experts, can anyone tell me what style of music Master Cheeky actually likes? I need to start preparing." This person clearly intended to enter the talent show.

"I can play piano, violin, clarinet, and saxophone, but the rules say you can only perform one instrument. Which one should I pick?"

"I just finished registering on the host company’s official website, and my registration number is already past one hundred thousand! Please, God, let me pass the preliminary auditions. I’d be happy just to show my face at the main event! Even if I’m not chosen, I’ll be content just to see Master Cheeky in person." It seemed Cheeky now had some die-hard fans.

’A hundred thousand people? Didn’t the promotional plan just launch last night? And a hundred thousand people have already registered in such a short time?’ Shen Yibin couldn’t help but be impressed by Cheeky’s massive appeal and the company’s powerful marketing machine.

Scrolling down, he saw that many signed singers and musicians from live-streaming platforms had also declared their intent to seize this chance to win Master Cheeky’s favor. Meanwhile, the star streamers and gaming gurus who were once all the rage seemed to have lost their luster, fading into obscurity.

’This is so frustrating! Why on earth didn’t I learn a musical skill?’ These streamers were practically in tears, forced to watch helplessly as this golden opportunity landed in the laps of others.

"Mr. Shen, based on our projections, we should get at least two million registrations for the talent show within a week. We’re setting up preliminary audition stages in multiple cities to handle it. The first batch of contestants for the main event will arrive in Yunzhong City next Monday." It was a call from Li Yinchen, his voice brimming with excitement. ’Looks like the results of the promotion campaign even exceeded his expectations,’ Shen Yibin thought.