Wen Yuan glanced out the window. It was already dark. He looked over at Bald Qiang and Gao Lujie and saw the two of them had already set their work aside and were getting ready to go upstairs. Yup, they had learned to eat on schedule. The moment it was time, they would automatically stop working and head upstairs to find Shen Yibin and enjoy the delicious meals he cooked with tender shoots and leaves.
’Since they’ve stopped working, I guess there’s no need for me to stay.’ "Alright, I’ll be going then. What time do you open tomorrow?" Wen Yuan asked, turning around. He was actually still a bit puzzled. ’Aren’t beavers nocturnal? Why are these two working during the day?’ Of course, this was a good thing for him. If the pair of them worked at night, he wouldn’t be able to come in for a close-up observation.
"We open at eight, but these two probably won’t be here until nine," Xia Shixuan replied. Bald Qiang and Gao Lujie had learned to go to the park with Shen Yibin for their morning exercise and would only come back to work after they were done.
"Great, I’ll come by at eight then." With that, Wen Yuan stuffed his camera into his bag, turned, and left the store. He planned to find a hotel to rest and take the opportunity to organize the photos he had just taken. ’This is all great material for sparking my creativity.’
After he left, Xia Shixuan closed up the shop and went upstairs to the second floor to eat. Shen Yibin asked curiously, "What’s his deal? Is he a reporter? I saw him squatting by the pool for a good hour or two!"
"I don’t know. I doubt he’s a reporter. If he were, he definitely would have been all over Hah’Er, instead of just focusing on those two," Xia Shixuan answered instinctively. The shop had its fair share of reporters causing trouble, but Wen Yuan gave her a completely different impression.
"Let’s not worry about him. As long as he isn’t causing trouble, it’s fine. Let’s eat!" The topic ended there. Shen Yibin placed a helping of bean sprouts into both Bald Qiang’s and Gao Lujie’s food bowls. ’These are technically tender shoots,’ he thought, ’I wonder if they’ll like them.’
Bald Qiang and Gao Lujie immediately began to dig in, apparently giving the bean sprouts a high rating. Shen Yibin couldn’t help but laugh. It seemed he’d found another food they liked. ’At this rate, they’ll be as fat as Hah’Er soon. I wonder if the lodge they’re building will still fit them by then.’
After dinner, they sat on the terrace for a while before going downstairs to feed the other pets and take them out for a stroll. Afterward, everyone went their separate ways to rest. Xiaoliu climbed into the hammock in the large tree, Bald Qiang led Gao Lujie back to their unfinished lodge in the pool, and Shen Yibin returned to his bedroom with Hah’Er and Maphario. The girls also went to their own rooms, and the shop grew quiet.
The next morning, after breakfast, Shen Yibin took Hah’Er, Bald Qiang, and the others to the park for their workout. When it was time to open the shop, he found Wen Yuan already waiting outside. Shen Yibin gave him a nod of greeting and then continued jogging toward the park with his large entourage. After a moment of hesitation, Wen Yuan chose to go into the shop to examine the beavers’ lodge, worried that Bald Qiang and Gao Lujie might have done more construction work the previous night.
"Bin, where’d you find these two giant rats? Goodness, how’d they get so big and fat? How much must they eat?" Upon arriving at the park, the familiar old folks immediately gathered around to greet them, with Bald Qiang and Gao Lujie becoming the center of attention.
Bald Qiang was a little calmer, staying by Shen Yibin’s feet and sizing up the crowd. Gao Lujie was more timid, so frightened that she quickly ducked behind Bald Qiang. ’Beavers are timid animals, after all.’
"Oh, these are beavers. I just brought them back from overseas. They..." Shen Yibin started telling them the story of Bald Qiang and Gao Lujie. It wasn’t the first time he’d brought the pair to the park, but these old folks weren’t there every day, so he’d given this introduction many times before.
"Alright, Xiaoliu, you play with these two over here. And everyone, if you could help me out and make sure they don’t chew on the trees, I’d appreciate it. I’m taking Hah’Er for a couple of laps." Shen Yibin left Xiaoliu and the beaver couple in the area where the seniors exercised and started jogging around the lake, dragging Hah’Er along. With runs in the morning and evening, plus Xiaoliu’s Swordsmanship lessons in between, Shen Yibin’s schedule was getting pretty packed.
"Don’t you worry, Bin! With us here, nothing will go wrong," the old folks replied enthusiastically. "By the way, what do they like to eat? Do they eat steamed buns? I just bought these, they’re still hot!"
"No, no, it’s alright. They just had breakfast before we left—mustard green buns. They don’t eat steamed buns." Shen Yibin quickly thanked them for their kind offer, went on to explain the beavers’ dietary restrictions, and only then did he start his run with Hah’Er.
"Ah, if I’d known, I would have bought a chive pocket instead. They probably would have liked that," an old man said, shaking his head in regret. It looked like there would be no feeding the beavers today. So, they just took out some fruit and eagerly offered it to Xiaoliu instead. Monkeys love fruit, you can’t go wrong there, right? And so, Xiaoliu managed to score another wave of free food.
After a bit of a commotion, everyone gradually warmed up to the two little critters. They started their own exercises while keeping an eye on them. Some began practicing Tai Chi, while others unsheathed a Tai Chi Sword. Hmm, Xiaoliu had been staring at the one with the sword for a long time, looking like it wanted to go down and cross blades with him.
Others were engaged in all sorts of exercises: playing with Chinese yo-yos, doing the Yangge dance, running, and stretching. Once they were warmed up, some people even took out badminton rackets and table tennis paddles to make use of the park’s public courts and tables.
At first, Bald Qiang and Gao Lujie were still a little timid, but as time went on, they grew bolder. The people’s activities piqued their curiosity, so Bald Qiang led his mate on a leisurely stroll through the crowd. They would watch the swordplay for a moment, then the dancing. If they saw something particularly interesting, they would even try to mimic the movements. ’This is so much more fun than our monotonous life on the Sokovia River!’
’Huh, what are those two doing?’ Before they knew it, Bald Qiang and Gao Lujie had wandered over to a table tennis table where two elderly men were in the middle of a heated match, paddles swinging.
’This looks pretty fun,’ Bald Qiang thought, flicking his tail. He felt the paddle looked a lot like his own tail, so he decided to stay put, craning his neck to get a better look.
"Nice shot!" The point was decided. The old man in red failed to block an angled shot, and the table tennis ball came flying toward Bald Qiang.
Bald Qiang instinctively turned sideways, whipped his tail around, and gave the ball a mighty whack. With a loud SMACK, the table tennis ball was sent flying back onto the table. The two elderly players stared, their eyes nearly popping out of their heads.
’It can do that?’ After a moment of stunned silence, the man in red extended an invitation. "Hey, how about you play for a bit?"