Astral Pet Store

IT’S THIS GUY AGAIN!! the creature thought to itself while its dog face twisted in despair.

“Arf! Roarf! Ahroooo!!”

Zhang Baoxing was stunned by the unusual reaction of his pet. He wondered if the Pyro Canine was too excited for the training session.

Man. It even got smarter. I gotta come here more often!

“Sit!” Zhang Baoxing tried comforting the agitated animal. “It’ll be your turn soon.”

The dog responded by puffing up its fur.

Zhang Baoxing looked embarrassed by the scene staged by his pet.

It was Su Ping who helped “calm” the dog down by staring at it.

*Whine*

The Pyro Canine shuddered uncontrollably as it remembered how it was impossible to escape from this human devil. It then put its head on the floor and covered its eyes with its two front paws.

“Next.” Su Ping looked at the queue again.

“Here, here!” It was the girl with a pointy jaw from the day before; she eagerly summoned her pet. “Mister Su, please take care of this little guy.”

Just like the Pyro Canine, her pet valiantly came out to protect its master, only to be on the verge of losing it completely.

When both its master and Su Ping “friendly” told it not to run away, it joined the trembling Pyro Canine with the same look of pure hopelessness.

The same thing was repeated until the last waiting customer was addressed. It seemed every pet had clearly remembered the terrible ordeal it went through.

As the customers politely bid farewell to Su Ping and left the shop, their pets tried running after them, only to either get sent back or be dragged back by Su Ping. Their last bit of hope had been mercilessly extinguished when their owners happily told them to obey.

When he was left alone, Su Ping dragged the pets to the back of the shop where the pet room was located and placed them in the vacant nursing pens. Or inside the nursing space, when the pens were filled.

Next, he organized the different pets into categories and summoned several dummies to start training them.

The last job was to call all the customers who should pick up their pets that day. Since Su Ping needed to go to the academy later, he asked those people to go there after school ended.

By the time he was ready to leave, it was only 9 in the morning. There was no need to hurry.

He soon arrived at the Phoenix Peak Academy on his bike. He glanced at the majestic statue of a Purple-tailed Divine Phoenix at the entrance before heading inside, but was stopped by a gate guard. Su Ping sure looked like another student, although, those who could afford to study there didn’t usually use bicycles to travel. Besides, the first class of the day had already started. Su Ping was late for that. “Your student ID, please,” the guard asked politely. Since he had nothing like that, Su Ping could only call Dong Mingsong to help him get inside.

Excited, the vice principal quickly phoned the guard to explain what was going on. Meanwhile, the guard looked at the student-like young man in front of him and couldn’t believe what he just heard.

“I—I’m truly sorry for that, Mister Su. Please come in!”

Su Ping didn’t say anything since the guard was only doing his job. He felt bad that what happened just then might have placed a stain on this man’s resume.

While still on his bike, he entered the academy and followed a shaded path for a while, before he realized that this place was bigger than he thought. He couldn’t find his way.

As he wondered whether he should jump onto a tree to get a better look of the surroundings, he heard someone with high-heels approaching and looked in that direction.

It was a rather beautiful lady who was walking toward him on a pair of eye-catching white legs. When looking up, he saw her wearing a khaki short skirt and a well-ironed black suit that suggested the professional demeanor of an office lady. Her red-rimmed glasses were also a nice touch that added to her professorly aura.

There was a problem though. She didn’t look exactly friendly.

This was why Su Ping didn’t ask her how to move around in these parts, for he feared that the lady was not someone he could carelessly talk to.

The woman soon reached him since they were using the same path. Then she gave him a big frown.

“Which class are you from? Classes are in session right now, why are you still loitering outside?” Cheng Shuanglin checked Su Ping’s casual wear and knitted her brows harder.

“Oh, well… I just came here today. May I know the way to the vice principal’s office?”

“A freshman? In that case, you should go to the director in charge of the class you’re assigned to. I happen to be a teacher responsible for the first-years. Which room are you heading to?”

Su Ping scratched his head. “I’m a new teacher, ma’am. Mister Dong Mingsong asked me to meet up with him first.”

“A teacher?” Just like the guards, Cheng Shuanglin didn’t seem to believe that someone like Su Ping could teach in the academy.

But she found no traces of lies, either.

I need to talk to the vice principal later; we should keep the standard for employment above the line, she thought. With unqualified teachers, our students will also be negatively affected.

“Ahem, I’m going there as well, follow me.” Cheng Shuanglin went ahead without looking back.

Delighted, Su Ping quickly kept up with her. But then he noticed that they were too slow this way.

“Uh, ma’am? Should I give you a lift?”

Cheng Shuanglin glanced at his cheap bicycle. “No, thanks.”

There were rich students in the academy who often offered her rides in brand new limousines, while she never bothered to look at them. Of course she wasn’t going to sit onthat sorry stuff.

Su Ping didn’t feel like pulling his bike on foot so he kept up with Cheng Shuanglin by riding in random ways. He started zigzagging along the narrow path and occasionally circling around Cheng Shuanglin so he didn’t need to slow down.

Cheng Shuanglin’s lips twitched when she saw Su Pings’ ridiculous behavior. What is the vice principal thinking, letting this man be a teacher of the academy??

It took them roughly ten minutes to reach a building Su Ping recognized, which was where Dong Mingsong usually stayed. The last time, he was taken there directly from the stadium, so he had no idea how to reach the place from the main gate.

“All right!” He smiled at Cheng Shuanglin and rode away. “Thanks for your help, miss. Toodles!”

Cheng Shuanglin frowned again and kept going without minding him.