Astral Pet Store (WN)

Su Ping: “(⊙ˍ⊙)…”

Soon, Li Qingru brought over the food; Su Ping was surprised to find that there were quite a lot of dishes left. What was more, there was actually meat left in his share.

Su Ping glanced at Su Lingyue, who snorted and looked away.

Ah, she knows how to be a good girl once in a while?

Still, Su Ping wasn’t going to test his sister’s patience; he started eating without saying another word.

When Li Qingru sat down again, Su Lingyue continued with her earlier plea. “Mom, it’s true. Help me out. You have no idea how popular the Lightning Rat is right now. Its potential has been severely underestimated. Apart from that particular pet star in our school, I heard that there’s also a third-rank Lightning Rat in Nanxiang Academy who defeated a fourth-rank Flora Trapper. Everybody is right. These rats are hidden jewels!”

*Cough*

Su Ping choked on his food. He quickly downed a glass of water to recover.

“Come on, I tried to be nice today. I won’t take all your stuff.” Su Lingyue rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, right.”

Su Ping noticed that his sister was probably talking about a real “genius rat” since he didn’t remember helping a second one.

“But this isn’t a common occurrence, dear. No matter how outstanding Lightning Rats are, they’re still low-rank pets. Their bloodline potential is limited.” Li Qingru was an adult and a beginner-level trainer. She was more rational about this matter. “What we can learn from this is that, as long as one is talented and has good aptitude, even a Lightning Rat would be able to display astonishing abilities. This also applies to your Phantom Flame Beast.

“There’s no need for you to buy a Lightning Rat and spend more time and resources to nurture it. One or two strong pets are enough for you. Focus on the Mirage Flame Beast for now, and it will repay you.”

Su Ping didn’t expect his mother to speak like this, although he totally agreed. “You’re right, mom.”

Su Lingyue shot him a murderous look, then she looked at Li Qingru with a completely different expression.

“But mom! Did you know that the teachers in the academy are constantly asking students about their Lightning Rats to see whether they are doing a good job? If I don’t have one, how am I supposed to answer?”

Li Qingru was surprised by this. “What? That’s not right. There are so many Astral Pets out there. They can’t snub other pets just because of a Lightning Rat becoming famous.”

Su Ping easily saw through the girl’s excuse but didn’t point it out directly. “Agreed. If every teacher is that stupid, that academy will close down in no time.”

“Can’t you keep your mouth shut??” Su Lingyue used that devilish look at Su Ping again. In fact, she would look just like a devil if something bloody were painted on her face.

Isn’t she always smart when playing pranks? Su Ping thought to himself, I see. She’s not so good at lying. Well, at least she knows how to bide her time. The rat problem started almost a week ago, and she’s only asking now.

She’s still a girl after all. All the general opinions and media will get to her eventually.

Nevertheless, her dogged persuasion bore fruit in the end; Li Qingru agreed to Su Lingyue’s request. Lightning Rats were not expensive. Five thousand was enough to buy an adult one. Breeders didn’t usually sell them to make profit straightaway. Instead, pet food was the biggest part of their revenue.

Li Qingru was mainly worried that an additional pet would distract Su Lingyue. But seeing how determined she was, Li Qingru had to comply.

Su Lingyue almost danced in joy. Then she remembered something. “Oh right, Mom, are you going to watch the exhibition match tomorrow?”

Li Qingru had heard of this. She shook her head. “I’m not feeling well, dear, so I won’t be going.”

Su Ping gave his mother a worried look. He knew the reason for her condition. There was one time when she kept someone’s pet in the shop as requested. However, the pet was still feral and had not been subdued by a contract. Without its master nearby, it lost control and attacked Li Qingru when she wasn’t paying attention. Fortunately, she reacted quickly enough to keep her life. But the incident left an ailment that prevented her from working for extended periods of time.

The owner of the problematic pet didn’t pay any compensation. Instead, he accused Li Qingru of not taking care of the pet which caused it to go wild. The dispute underwent a large amount of judicial procedures and also involved a lot of running around. In the end, Li Qingru received a few hundred thousand as the final result.

Such an amount was rather pointless compared to a person’s long term health. However, there was nothing else she could do.

Su Ping remembered seeing some rare medicines in the settler’s vault that could even help people regrow lost limbs. There was bound to be something he could use for his mother. But good medicine was extremely costly. He might need millions of merit points.

Damn it. Maybe I need to go on a settler mission again, Su Ping thought to himself. If he remembered this matter earlier, he could have saved up the points.

Su Lingyue’s eyes dimmed a little when she heard Li Qingru’s words, but soon recovered her smile. “I’ll ask my classmates to help me take a video then, so you can watch it later.”

“Sure.” Li Qingru smiled back.

Su Lingyue left her seat to go upstairs. On her way, there was a brief and somber scowl as she glanced at her mother’s injured leg.

Seeing this, Su Ping felt something click in his mind. Though he didn’t say anything.

The next morning.

Su Ping had a night of peaceful sleep and there were no spooky pranks in the morning. Su Lingyue was already having breakfast when he went downstairs.

A few girls stood at the door and called Su Lingyue’s name. They were the girls from last time.

While on her way out, Su Lingyue tossed a small card on the table. “Here, a ticket. You can take a look if you want, or throw it away. I don’t care.”

She left with her friends before Su Ping could say anything.

Li Qingru left the kitchen and saw what just happened; she said, “If you’re not busy with the shop, you can go see your sister and cheer for her. Being her brother means that you should stand for her and keep her safe.”

Su Ping almost rolled his eyes. Keeping her safe? It’s more like stopping her from hurting other people.

All things said, he was planning on going to the academy anyway. He put the ticket away and left for work on his bike.

He studied a full day at the shop, and just like usual, not a single customer showed up.

He prepared the printed fliers in the afternoon. When it was almost four o’clock, two bright-looking girls appeared at the entrance of the store—Su Yanying and her friend Lan Lele, whom he had agreed to meet the day before.

“Hey dude, do you really want us to hand out flyers for you?” Lan Lele was at a loss when she saw the thick stack of handouts in Su Ping’s arms.

“Why else would I ask you to come?”

“You—” Lan Lele felt angered again. She always did when she visited the store.

Su Yanying quickly tried to smooth things over. “It’s okay, I promised. Lele, my beautiful friend, you agreed to help me. Pretty please?”

Lan Lele spat in disdain but still took the papers.

“It’s almost time. Let’s go.” Su Ping checked the clock and went to lock the door, while the two girls called for a taxi.