"Ouch! Hah’Er, give me a hand." When practice was over and it was time to head back, Shen Yibin’s butt hurt so much he could barely walk. He had to lean on Hah’Er just to limp back to his room. Luckily, Xia Shixuan had gone home for the day. If she’d run into him on the way, there’s no telling how she would have made fun of him.
He couldn’t just go to sleep when he got back to his bedroom. Shen Yibin was covered in fruit juice and pulp, and his whole body was so sticky he couldn’t possibly sleep. On top of that, the pain in his rear made even taking a shower difficult. Fortunately, they had installed a bathtub in his bedroom during the last renovation. After filling it with water and enjoying a comfortable soak for a while, Shen Yibin finally felt a bit better.
But when he dried off and got into bed, he could only sleep on his stomach. ’Please, someone give me something to do,’ he thought. ’Otherwise, we’ll probably have to continue this tomorrow, and I really don’t think I can take it anymore.’ Shen Yibin felt like he was back when he first started working out with Shi Gaofei in the park. It had been just as painful back then.
The next day, something did come up, but it didn’t give Shen Yibin much of a break. Early in the morning, Xu Ye and Bai Yanni arrived at the store. Everyone brought along the newly brewed Monkey Wine and drove to his mountain villa for a day of fun. Once they were in the mountains, Xiaoliu and Hah’Er went wild, running all over the place. Fearing they might get into trouble, Shen Yibin quickly took Cheeky and chased after them. They spent the entire day running through the mountains, an amount of exercise that was even more intense than his sword practice with Xiaoliu.
Thankfully, Maphario stayed behaved, sitting on the table and nibbling on various nuts, saving Shen Yibin from extra worry. Otherwise, he would have been even more stressed. Xiaoliu and Hah’Er were large enough that he could spot them easily, but if Maphario ran off, he would be hard to find even with his pet radar.
After a full day of fun, everyone returned to the store. Once dinner was over, Shen Yibin drove Bai Yanni home. When he got back to the store, he saw Hah’Er, Xiaoliu, Cheeky, and Maphario all staring at him in unison, as if they had been waiting for him. Shen Yibin tried to look for someone to rescue him, but Xia Shixuan had taken Li Shiqing and the others out to party. Sun Qian had had a wonderful time today, and after drinking some Monkey Wine, she was struck with a burst of inspiration. She had already shut her door to focus on her composing. It seemed no one was coming to save him.
With a THWACK, Xiaoliu tossed the bamboo branch in front of Shen Yibin. Hah’Er held up the fruit basket. The four of them then herded Shen Yibin toward their usual spot. It looked like practice was back on for tonight.
"Hmph!" Hah’Er grunted as Shen Yibin stood ready on the lawn, holding the bamboo branch. An orange immediately came flying at Shen Yibin’s head. He swung the branch and knocked it away, but before he could feel happy about it, Cheeky began its dive-bombing runs. The two of them took turns attacking, running Shen Yibin ragged. Maphario, scrambling around to pick up the fruit, was also having trouble keeping up. It was only when Xiaoliu helped by using its bamboo branch to push the smashed fruit into one pile that things got a little easier for the squirrel.
Only after they had gone through three entire baskets of fruit did Xiaoliu let Shen Yibin go back and rest. However, Shen Yibin had been hit fewer times today than yesterday, so it seemed he was making some progress.
And so, for the next period of time, Shen Yibin found himself in a living hell. Every morning, he would wake up and drag Hah’Er out for a few laps around the lake to exercise. Back at the store, he would have to follow Xiaoliu to the poolside for more training, where he would endure a bombardment of fruit. At times like these, Shen Yibin felt as pathetic as a zombie in *Plants vs. Zombies* facing a Melon-pult.
Training at the park twice a day, on top of two sword practice sessions, left Shen Yibin running himself ragged with no time for anything else. Although his accuracy was constantly improving, Xiaoliu wasn’t one to slack off. Whenever Shen Yibin’s success rate at blocking exceeded fifty percent, it would increase the difficulty. First, it had Hah’Er and Cheeky attack in turns, then it had them attack together. In the end, it would even join in itself. The three of them would surround Shen Yibin and give him a sound thrashing. After every practice session, Shen Yibin had to lie in the bathtub for a long time just to recover.
Just as Shen Yibin was on the verge of collapse, a savior finally appeared. Director Kong called to inform him that the scenery at the major outdoor locations in Yunzhong City had now changed to his satisfaction. This change had occurred much earlier than anticipated, so they could now begin the third and final phase of filming.
Hearing this good news, Shen Yibin was so emotional he could have cried. He could finally escape this miserable life, at least for a while! After toughing it out for two more days, Director Kong arrived in Yunzhong City with his large crew. The two parties met at the airport and then went to a hotel to begin discussing the work arrangements for the next phase.
"Bin, how are things coming along with Sun Qian?" Director Kong asked first. The filming schedule was now well under control, John Farrell’s special effects production was proceeding step-by-step, various promotional plans were already underway, and a preliminary agreement had been reached with major global cinema chains. The only thing left to resolve was the theme song.
"It’s going pretty smoothly. Sun Qian has come up with several high-quality songs, but she’s still not completely satisfied. She wants to keep refining them," Shen Yibin replied. Sun Qian and Cheeky had performed for them at the store a few times, and as far as Shen Yibin could tell, the songs were no worse than many timeless classics.
"That’s good!" Director Kong nodded. "I estimate the final phase of shooting will only take about ten days. It would be great if she could give me the final version before we finish filming."
"Yes, that shouldn’t be a problem." ’Ten days?’ Shen Yibin stroked his chin and began to ponder. ’Xiaoliu has been at the store for quite a while now. It seems I’ll have to officially purchase it within these ten days. That’s not a huge issue. Xiaoliu’s affinity with me is already over eighty, so all I need to do is pay for it.’
’But the schedule after that is going to be tight,’ he thought. ’Once filming is complete, Director Kong is going to take the main cast and crew on a promotional tour around the world. Even though I’ve already put in a request to minimize Hah’Er’s travel, the four trips to Shanghai, Japan, Europe, and the United States are unavoidable.’
’None of those four places are close. The time on the road plus the time for promotions will really add up. Factoring in all the other little things, it’s going to eat up at least a month of my time.’
’By that calculation, over the next two months or so, I’ll have less than a month of free time at most. And I still have to find the seventh pet and a suitable owner for it. Time is going to be really tight!’