Daily Life in the Pet Shop Ch. 201

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"Good, good, good. Hearing that, I feel relieved." The old beggar reached into the bag he carried with him and pulled out Xiao Yuan's household registration. "This is Xiao Yuan's household registration. I've heard people say there's also some kind of guardianship paperwork, but we country folk don't really understand that stuff. If you really decide to adopt him later and need any documents, come find me. I'll take you to the village chief."

Fang Yi took the booklet and casually asked the old beggar about himself too. The man said he had both a son and a daughter, but their situations weren't great, and they didn't really want to take care of him. He felt like staying at home was boring anyway, so he came out here. He'd worn himself out when he was younger, and now that his health was bad and he couldn't work, begging was the only way he could survive.

After hearing that, Fang Yi respected him even more. For an old man with absolutely nothing, to still be willing to take care of Xiao Yuan—that was rare.

"Xiao Yuan, come here." The old beggar pulled Xiao Yuan over and told him to go with Fang Yi, and that from now on, he needed to listen to him. Xiao Yuan looked totally confused, and it wasn't until the old beggar finished talking that he started crying and asked if he didn't want him anymore.

The old beggar spent a long time coaxing him before Xiao Yuan finally stopped crying. With teary red eyes, he said he didn't want to leave the old beggar.

"Forget it, just come with me," Fang Yi finally said, heart softening as he saw Xiao Yuan crying so miserably. "We're short a doorman at the shop anyway. Big brother, why don't you come work for me and help watch the place?"

But the old beggar shook his head. It was already rare enough for Fang Yi to be willing to take care of Xiao Yuan. He was just an old man who couldn't do anything—if he went too, he'd just be a burden. If one day Fang Yi got fed up and kicked him out, he might throw Xiao Yuan out too. That wouldn't be worth it.

Fang Yi tried persuading him for a long while, and with Xiao Xing tagging along and pleading as well, the old beggar finally agreed to come back with them. Xiao Yuan was over the moon the whole way back. He asked Fang Yi if that meant he and his uncle would finally have a bed to sleep in, and even promised that from now on, he'd give all the money he begged to Fang Yi.

"Brother, this is..." Fang Yue said when she saw them return. She'd already been thinking about suggesting Fang Yi adopt Xiao Yuan when she found out the boy was an orphan—after all, it wasn't every day you met such a sweet, animal-loving kid. But she hadn't brought it up, worried Du Qianze wouldn't be okay with it. Who would've thought Fang Yi would go out for a bit and come back not just with the kid, but with the old man too? What was going on?

"I remember there's an empty room downstairs. Go get someone to clean it up and order some basic furniture. This gentleman here is someone I just hired—he'll help us look after the place," Fang Yi said, giving Fang Yue a subtle look.

"Oh, got it. I'll get on it right away." The shop was already full of dogs, and there was even a massive Tibetan Mastiff in the backyard—there was absolutely no need for extra security. But when Fang Yue heard Fang Yi say that, she immediately understood what he meant and quickly went off to make some calls and arrange the room.

"Big brother, take a seat here for a bit. I'll get you a glass of water," Fang Yi said.

The old beggar took the glass of water Fang Yi handed him, poured it into his own bowl, and then drank it all in one go.

Fang Yue brought over some fruit for them to eat, then pulled Fang Yi aside and asked what was going on. She wasn't the least bit surprised that he brought Xiao Yuan back—but why had he brought a grown man too?

Fang Yi told Fang Yue the general situation. Fang Yue didn't react for a while, her eyes turning red. She said that if they were going to take care of them, then just do it—it was just a matter of ordering a few more meal boxes. That old man seemed like a pretty decent person too. If Fang Yi really ended up adopting Xiao Yuan in the future, Xiao Yuan would definitely be grateful to him for this.

A few days later, Xiao Xing had recovered. It knew it wasn't going to die and didn't try to sneak away anymore. It stuck to Xiao Yuan like glue every day. But Xiao Yuan kept taking it out to beg with him, and every time, Fang Yue had to go fetch them back.

After getting scolded by Fang Yue, Xiao Yuan started finding things to do around the pet shop on his own. In just a couple of days, he was following behind Ao Ranqi, helping him out. But the thing he did most was scratch the dogs and cats. Xiao Yuan had a gentle personality and a light touch, so the animals in the yard all loved coming to him when they needed a scratch.

One day, Fang Yi gave Xiao Yuan a thorough cleaning, then took him to visit Du Qianze, who happened to be filming nearby. He'd mentioned Xiao Yuan to Du Qianze before, but only in passing—just said he'd picked up a little beggar.

When Fang Yi arrived, Du Qianze was still filming, so Hai Yang came to meet them.

"Damn, where'd this kid come from?" Hai Yang was startled when he saw Xiao Yuan. Du Qianze had only been gone a few days, and Fang Yi already had a kid in tow. Was this his secret love child?

"Picked him up," Fang Yi said casually as he got out of the car, carrying Xiao Xing.

"Qianze was so happy when he heard you were coming. He even booked a restaurant," Hai Yang said as they walked. "Did you tell him you were bringing a kid along?" From the way he kept probing, it was obvious Hai Yang didn't buy the story that this child was just a random stray Fang Yi picked up.

"Alright, stop asking. I'll explain everything to Qianze," Fang Yi said, a bit puzzled that Du Qianze hadn't told Hai Yang anything about this.

When they got to the set, Du Qianze was still in the middle of a shoot. Fang Yi stayed to watch. Today's scene was a rough one—Du Qianze had to play a character getting beaten up. A group of ten or so extras were surrounding him and pretending to beat him down. Their acting wasn't great, so they kept reshooting the same take over and over. Fang Yi watched them redo it again and again, his heart clenching. Even if they weren't hitting hard, after that many takes, it had to hurt.

"They don't even put something down to cushion him when he falls?" Fang Yi asked, clearly annoyed.

"They can't," Hai Yang said, handing a drink to Xiao Yuan. "He doesn't fall all at once. He kneels and collapses slowly. They need to get his full body in the shot, so if there's anything underneath, it'll ruin the scene."

All credit goes to the original author
Feel free to pinpoint us if there are any grammar error or typos
Please don't use Guazi's translation to re-translate in other languages

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