Future Pet Shop

Chapter 78: Almost Caused a Car Accident

"Hah’Er, be a good boy and come down, quick! I’ll make you something delicious when we get back!" Shen Yibin continued to plead. If it didn’t come down soon, they were going to be late.

"Ngh~" Hah’Er continued to shake its head and climbed a little higher. It looked as if it had made up its mind to stay put and wasn’t coming down. ’This little guy probably hasn’t had his fill of tree-climbing and doesn’t want to go back yet,’ Shen Yibin figured.

"Hah’Er, I’ll pour you some beer later," Shen Yibin said, left with no other choice but to play his trump card. ’There’s no way you can resist the temptation of beer.’

"Hmm?" Upon hearing the word "beer," Hah’Er hesitated. It loosened its paws, ready to descend, but ultimately resisted the temptation. It shook its head firmly, hugged the branch tighter, and even turned its head away from Shen Yibin.

’Are you for real? You’re really just going to stay up there?’ Shen Yibin was at his wit’s end. He looked all around but couldn’t think of any way to coax Hah’Er down. ’Even beer didn’t work. Other methods will be even more useless. It’s not like I can go to the Sichuan Giant Panda Base and steal a female panda for him.’

"Officer Bai, can you hold my bag?" ’Right, guess I’ll have to go up there and drag you down myself.’ Shen Yibin handed his bag to Bai Yanni, spat into his palms, then wrapped his arms around the large tree and began to shimmy his way up.

It had to be said, his tree-climbing skills were a far cry from Hah’Er’s. He was already gasping for breath by the time he reached the first branch. He straddled it, sat down, and continued to yell, "Hah’Er, quick... come on down! I’ll take you out to play again next week!"

"Ngh~~" Hah’Er looked at him, then at the setting sun in the west, seemingly confused as to why they had to go back so early. There was still some time before dark.

’I have to keep climbing.’ Hah’Er was usually so well-behaved, but when it got into one of its little moods, it gave Shen Yibin a real headache. He carefully grabbed one branch after another, slowly climbing upward. By the time he was right below Hah’Er, his face was beaded with sweat.

’Holy crap, it’s so high!’ Looking down at the stones and the small path below, Shen Yibin’s acrophobia kicked in again. ’This is at least twelve or thirteen meters up! A fall from here would leave me crippled, if not dead.’ He hugged the tree trunk even tighter. ’I have to get Hah’Er down, and fast. Every minute I stay up here is another minute of danger.’

"Hah’Er, you’ve been up here long enough. It’s time to go down now, okay?" Shen Yibin said, hugging a branch with one arm while reaching for Hah’Er’s hind leg with the other. Throughout the whole process, he didn’t dare to look down even once.

"Ngh~ Ngh~" Not only did Hah’Er refuse to come down, it grunted a couple of times and seemed ready to climb even higher, making the treetop sway violently. This absolutely terrified Shen Yibin.

"Don’t move! Don’t move!" Shen Yibin, nearly pissing himself in fear, hastily shouted at Hah’Er to stop. Gritting his teeth, he summoned his courage, shot out his right hand, and finally grabbed hold of the panda’s hind leg.

"Good boy. If we don’t go back now, we’ll be late. If I’m late, I have to pay them a huge sum of money. After paying that, I won’t be able to afford you anymore, and I’ll probably have no choice but to send you to the zoo," he said, half-joking and half-serious, as he gently pulled Hah’Er down. According to the contract, a situation like this would indeed mean he’d have to pay up.

"Ngh~ Ngh~" Hah’Er’s resolve finally softened. It absolutely did not want to leave Shen Yibin for some zoo. It cast a longing glance at the treetop; it could have climbed higher, but it seemed it had to give up now.

Seeing Hah’Er loosen its grip on the branch and begin to slowly climb down, Shen Yibin finally breathed a sigh of relief. He’d finally managed to coax this little master down.

But the thought of the ten-plus-meter descent made his legs turn to jelly. ’Please, please, please don’t let anything go wrong!’

Fortunately, the descent was uneventful. The worst of it was two holes poked in his clothes by branches and a few small scratches on the backs of his hands from leaves. Only when both his feet were firmly on the ground did Shen Yibin finally, truly relax.

"Ngh! Ngh!" Hah’Er was now about two meters from the ground. However, it didn’t seem to intend to hug the trunk and slide down like Shen Yibin. Instead, it looked restless, as if eager to jump down and into Shen Yibin’s arms.

"Whoa, don’t! My arms are still a bit shaky, I don’t think I can catch..." Before Shen Yibin could finish, Hah’Er had already leaped. He scrambled to open his arms, bracing for impact.

THUD! All of Hah’Er’s weight wasn’t just for show. It knocked Shen Yibin to the ground yet again, and the two of them rolled into a heap on the grass at the base of the tree. Fortunately, no real harm was done.

"Oh, you little rascal." Shen Yibin tapped Hah’Er on the nose, wanting to scold it but unable to bring himself to say the words. ’Sigh, he must have been going stir-crazy in the shop. It’s only natural for him to get a little overexcited when he finally gets to go out. Isn’t it just like when I was in elementary school and couldn’t help but cause mischief on school field trips?’ Shen Yibin consoled himself.

"Alright, let’s head back. I’ll take you out again next week, and we’ll go somewhere farther away." ’Dammit,’ he thought, ’next time, I’m definitely picking a place with no big trees.’

After brushing the leaves off Hah’Er, the group set off on the road back. Once in the car, Hah’Er was again in the passenger seat, with Bai Yanni and Cheeky in the back.

"Gusts of evening wind stir the soughing pines, ringing these chimes, a sound from heaven’s height..." Facing the breeze from the open window, Cheeky began to sing again. The traffic on the highway was starting to pick up by this point, and Cheeky’s song drifted through the window to the passengers in the adjacent cars.

"Hey bro, nice sound system! What brand is it?" The song’s perfect clarity quickly caught the attention of the driver in the car driving alongside them. He rolled down his window and yelled over.

Before Shen Yibin could answer, the driver glanced over and saw Hah’Er in the passenger seat. ’A panda! Sitting in the passenger seat?!’ The driver’s brain couldn’t keep up; for a second, he completely forgot to steer the car.

"Watch out!" Shen Yibin and Bai Yanni shouted in unison, finally snapping the driver out of his shock and averting a car accident.

The other driver was no longer in the mood to ask about the sound system. He just slowed down, fumbled for his phone, and looked like he was about to call the police.

"Hah’Er, you’d better go sit in the back," Shen Yibin said after pulling over and unbuckling his seatbelt. ’We got lucky this time. What if the next driver isn’t as quick to react? If there’s an accident, how would they even assign liability? I’d probably get slapped with full responsibility.’

Hah’Er was shuffled into the back seat. Bai Yanni didn’t move to the front, instead staying in the back to happily ruffle Hah’Er’s fur, much to Shen Yibin’s slight disappointment.

’Huh? Why is there a police car here?’ Nearing the toll station, Shen Yibin noticed something seemed off up ahead. Before he could react, a police officer leaned out of a squad car window with a megaphone. "You, in the car ahead! Pull over for an inspection."