Chapter 597: The Upgrade Doesn't Seem Far Away

“Yeah.” Qi Jian had visited Shen Yibin’s home during the New Year, but this was his first time at the pet shop. He was completely stunned by the sheer number of customers. “Boss Shen, your business is… really something else!”

“Heh, today’s a special case. We’ve got a month’s worth of customers all showing up at once. It’ll be back to normal in a day or two.” Since Qi Jian had arrived, Shen Yibin put his work aside, leaving it for Xia Shixuan and the others to handle. He led Qi Jian to the second floor, sat down by the coffee table, and beckoned for Carmen to come over.

Carmen was quite well-behaved. It ran to Qi Jian’s side, gave him a little nudge, then lazily flopped down between the two of them. The sight made Qi Jian unable to resist patting its head. The more he looked at Carmen, the more he liked it.

“Bin, I have the money ready. When do you think Carmen can start working with us? The application for its official post has been approved by the higher-ups, and we’ve already prepared a place for it to live. We’re just waiting for Carmen to come over!” Qi Jian was a straightforward person. He didn’t beat around the bush with pleasantries and got straight to the point.

“Sigh, you’re leaving so soon. Remember to come back and visit when you get time off!” Every time it came to a farewell, Shen Yibin always felt a pang of reluctance. He also reached out and stroked Carmen’s head.

“AWOO~ AWOO~” Carmen seemed to understand what was about to happen. It scrambled up from the floor, walked over to Shen Yibin, and nudged its head against his calf. It looked like the little guy was reluctant to leave, too.

“Here, scan this QR code to transfer the payment!” ‘I’d better seal the deal quickly, or I won’t be able to bring myself to sell him. Good thing he’s just staying in Yunzhong City. I can go visit him at the search and rescue station when I’m free.’ Shen Yibin quickly opened his phone and displayed the payment QR code. The transaction amount was shown on it: Carmen’s price was 243,454.64. That was no small sum.

However, to Qi Jian, having Carmen meant the search and rescue team could potentially save more lives—and lives were priceless. Besides, he’d made his fortune from demolition compensation. Being able to spend a few hundred thousand to fulfill his dream was completely worth it. Therefore, without a second thought, he scanned Shen Yibin’s QR code and transferred the payment.

“Let’s go. I’ll take you to my place to pack up Carmen’s things, and I’ll treat you to dinner while we’re at it.” They hadn’t been upstairs for long before Shen Yibin and Qi Jian were already heading back down.

“Oh… alright, I’ll have to trouble you then, Mr. Shen!” Qi Jian saw how busy the shop was and wanted to decline dinner, but he couldn’t leave without Carmen’s things. After a moment of hesitation, he got up and followed Shen Yibin downstairs. Unlike when they came up, Carmen’s leash was now in Qi Jian’s hand.

“I’m heading out for a bit, so I won’t be back for dinner. I’m leaving the shop to you guys!” Shen Yibin instructed Xia Shixuan and the others, ignoring their reproachful looks. He led Qi Jian out of the shop. Qi Jian had brought a colleague this time, so he simply held Carmen and got into Shen Yibin’s car, which set off first. The colleague followed behind in the search and rescue team’s vehicle.

With Carmen giving directions, the journey was incredibly smooth. In no time at all, the group arrived at Shen Yibin’s estate. They went inside and packed up Carmen’s usual toys, clothes, and the knitted decorations from Li, handing them all to Qi Jian. Then Shen Yibin went to the kitchen to start cooking.

He specially made some of Carmen’s favorite pork ribs as a farewell meal. After a wonderful dinner, Shen Yibin personally drove it to the search and rescue station. He and Qi Jian set up its new living quarters together. While tidying up, Shen Yibin carefully explained Carmen’s habits to the search and rescue team members, especially its old quirk of loving to get stuck.

Perhaps because it had found an owner it liked, Carmen adapted to the new environment very quickly. It ran a few laps around the training grounds, bullied the other search and rescue dogs a bit, and then sauntered back to its own luxury kennel to sleep. Shen Yibin watched until it fell asleep before reluctantly leaving.

Back home, after helping Hah’Er and Xiaoliu with their baths and watching them climb into bed, Shen Yibin slowly walked out to the balcony. He sat down in a chair and took out his phone. After a long, busy day, he finally had time to tally up his gains.

Opening WeChat, he could see that the Future Pet Shop had already transferred his commission from Carmen’s sale to his account. His total accumulated commission had jumped up by a large amount.

Carmen’s price was 243,454.64. A twenty-five percent commission was 60,863.66. Adding the previously accumulated commission of 129,318, Shen Yibin’s total commission had now reached 190,181.66. He was only 9,818.34 short of the 200,000 total commission required for an upgrade!

Based on a twenty-five percent commission for each pet sold, as long as the next pet’s price exceeded 39,273.36, Shen Yibin would be able to upgrade!

‘An upgrade is just around the corner!’ Having calculated the number, Shen Yibin grew excited. ‘Just under forty thousand more, and I can raise my partnership level to Level 2 Business Partner!’ Considering the prices of the pets he’d sold recently, Shen Yibin was ninety percent confident he could hit the upgrade target within two months.

‘The last upgrade gave me an additional pet purchase slot, the Future Pet Shop raised my commission to twenty-five percent, and it even unlocked the pet store system, which let me buy amazing things like that feather wand and those two types of Pet Medicine. I wonder what surprises this next one will bring? Will I get another purchase slot? Or will they relax the purchasing requirements, like letting me choose the pet’s species myself?’ Shen Yibin couldn’t help but start daydreaming.

‘Right now I have Hah’Er and Xiaoliu, but this huge estate feels a bit empty with just a few pets. It’d be great if I could buy one more! If I really get the chance, what kind of pet should I get? One that flies, one that runs on the ground, one that climbs trees, or one that swims in the water?’

‘It would be even better if I could choose the species myself. All this running around has its own charm, but not knowing the species beforehand makes it easy to mistake the target. If I knew in advance, I wouldn’t have that problem.’

‘I wish I could buy the next pet from the Future Pet Shop right now!’ Shen Yibin’s finger subconsciously opened the chat window, but after a moment’s thought, he closed it again. ‘I still have things to take care of here. I probably can’t just pick up and leave whenever I want.’