Future Pet Shop

Chapter 199: Starting the Renovation

"Bin, you should come to the recording session tomorrow, too. You can also see how popular music is actually produced," Director Kong invited.

"Maybe next time. I haven’t been in the store for a few days, and my staff are exhausted. Besides, I have a ton of things to take care of." Shen Yibin didn’t have the time. Tomorrow, Sun Qian was going to record the theme song, leaving only Sylvie and Sakai Kaori in the store, which wasn’t enough. He had to step in and help. What’s more, he had scheduled a meeting with someone.

"You’ve really worked hard recently, Bin. In that case, I’m afraid we’ll only see each other again after the promotional video is finished." Director Kong also understood the principle that more haste means less speed. The results they had achieved so far were basically enough to satisfy him. The next time he came, he would definitely make the final preparations to finalize the matter completely.

After saying their goodbyes, Shen Yibin returned to the store with Hah’Er. Meanwhile, with Cheeky’s help, Sun Qian had gotten herself into peak condition. He believed that once she was in the recording studio, she would surely be able to deliver a performance far better than her previous two attempts.

The next morning, Shen Yibin handed the car keys directly to Sun Qian. "You met Director Kong last time, so I won’t drive you over. Just give me a call if anything comes up."

"Thank you, Boss." Sun Qian took the keys. She wasn’t too worried. From their last meeting, she had a faint feeling that Director Kong needed something from Shen Yibin. If that was the case, then no one should try to sabotage this recording session. Even if someone did, she could handle minor problems herself.

"Good luck, Sun!" Sylvie and Sakai Kaori both made fists to cheer her on. Sun Qian waved, got into Shen Yibin’s Wuling Hongguang with Cheeky, and stepped on the gas, heading for the agreed-upon location.

Sakai Kaori and Sylvie began efficiently sweeping the floor and wiping the stains off the coffee tables and chairs. In no time, they were ready to open for the day.

Shen Yibin, along with Hah’Er and Egg, started feeding the pets in the store. ’Quite a few pets have been sold recently. Looks like it won’t be long before I need to restock from Bao, right? But maybe there’s no need to rush? All sorts of things have been piling up lately, and everyone seems a bit tired. Maybe after the remaining ten or so pets are sold, I should take a few days off and take the girls out for a trip?’

’The three of them will be leaving soon anyway, so this could be a farewell trip for them. Last time, Xu Ye mentioned visiting his family’s mountain villa. This is the perfect chance to take him up on that offer.’ Shen Yibin happily made his decision. "You’ve all been exhausted lately, right? Once the last few pets are sold, I’ll take you all out for a trip!"

’Hmm, maybe I can invite Officer Bai and Qiao Wenqi too? The more, the merrier. As for the timing, it would be best to go before the Dragon Boat Festival. Who knows what kind of opportunities Sun Qian will get after her performance? Someone might invite her to perform somewhere else the very next day.’

"I was just about to say, if you didn’t give me a vacation soon, I was going to file a complaint against you," Sylvie said, pleasantly surprised. "Are we going swimming at Yunshui River again this time?"

"Swimming? In that case, I guess I’ll have to buy a swimsuit, huh?" Sakai Kaori tilted her head and mused. ’If I had known, I would have brought my school swimsuit from home.’

"We’re not going to Yunshui River this time. We’re going to Xu Ye’s mountain villa. But I think there’s a small lake there, so we can probably still go swimming." ’I’ve got to remember to buy a couple bottles of Nutrient Express before we go.’

"Alright, everyone can spend the next couple of days thinking about fun activities. For today, I’ll help you two with the customers so we can find good homes for these little cuties sooner." Shen Yibin clapped his hands, straightened his clothes, and looked ready to get to work.

However, the very first person to walk through the door disrupted his plans, forcing Shen Yibin to once again leave the store’s affairs to Sylvie and Sakai Kaori while he sat down on the sofa to chat with the visitor.

"Mr. Shen, all the design blueprints are complete. We also have the construction crew ready. Just give the word, and we can start work immediately," said Li Zhen from the renovation company, handing a thick stack of blueprints to Shen Yibin.

"Let me see." Shen Yibin took the blueprints. He was most concerned about the bamboo forest and recreational facilities planned for Hah’Er. After looking them over carefully several times and finding no issues, Shen Yibin put the blueprints down with a satisfied nod. He casually scratched Egg’s belly. ’Sigh, what a fun place this will be. Too bad you probably won’t get much of a chance to enjoy it.’

"Except for the innermost storage room, Mrs. Wang has cleared out the rest of the space. You can start construction tomorrow. By the way, if you add more workers, can the construction period be shortened?" Shen Yibin asked.

"Of course, but if we do that, the cost will exceed your budget." Li Zhen took out a pen and paper and began to calculate for Shen Yibin the number of additional workers, the new budget, and the time that could be saved. He finally concluded, "By adding one more team of workers, we can finish ten days earlier, but the cost will also increase by fifteen percent."

"Can’t it be any faster?" ’Ten days... I can easily earn back the extra fifteen percent cost in that time and then some,’ but Shen Yibin was still a little dissatisfied.

"Mr. Shen, this is already the limit. You see, the store only has so much space. Even if you add more people, they won’t have room to work, right? Besides, our company strictly follows standard construction procedures. There are strict time requirements for each process, and these can’t be shortened. If we were forced to shorten them, the quality of the project would definitely suffer." Li Zhen drew on his professional expertise to give Shen Yibin a proper lesson.

"Also, you specifically requested that all renovation materials be purely natural and pollution-free. That increases the difficulty of the work. Sourcing the materials, processing them, and installing them all take time. Being able to shorten the schedule by ten days is already quite an achievement." Shen Yibin didn’t want Hah’Er or the other pets in the store to have health problems because of the renovation materials, and for that, he was willing to spend more.

"Alright, let’s do as you say. Start the construction first thing tomorrow morning." Shen Yibin had only been asking casually anyway; on matters like this, he was willing to respect the other party’s professional opinion.

And so, the renovation plans were settled. Li Zhen hurried off to prepare for the start of construction. Shen Yibin stood up again, ready to help Sylvie and Sakai Kaori with customers, and then... he was interrupted by something else yet again.