There's a chat group for pets in my neighborhood.

It's no wonder Qin Zhuyan reacted so strongly.

Before Lu Fang arrived, Hello Pet Shop had been operating at a loss.

There are many pet-owning families in Tiancheng Community, and there are also quite a few pet hospitals and pet shops in the surrounding area.

Qin Zhuyan's shop is in a bad location, on a back street in the residential area, where not many people pass by.

If it weren't for her serious and responsible attitude towards pets, Hello Pet Shop would have gone out of business long ago.

All of Qin Zhuyan's hard-earned savings over the years will be poured into this.

The decision to accept Lu Fang's offer to work was largely based on the rent reduction, which meant spending less money to hire one more person and hoping to revive the business.

To be honest, she didn't have high hopes to begin with; she was just trying anything as a last resort.

What she didn't expect was that this big boy in front of her would bring her one surprise after another.

They actually managed to save the pet shop from the brink of closing down.

That's why she couldn't control her emotions for a moment.

Lu Fang looked down at Qin Zhuyan in his arms, a playful smile on his face: "Then I'll really bring it up."

For some reason, looking at the smile on Lu Fang's lips, Qin Zhuyan, who hadn't thought much of it before, suddenly panicked. She subconsciously let go of his hand and stammered, "It can't go too far."

"What unreasonable demands can I make?" Now it was Lu Fang's turn to press the issue step by step.

"How should I know you! Tell me or not, or the benefits will be canceled!" Qin Zhuyan put her hands on her hips, trying to regain her dignity as the landlady.

However, at 1.6 meters tall, Lu Fang, who is 1.8 meters tall, looked far too weak in presence.

"Then I'll bring it up." Lu Fang looked Qin Zhuyan up and down, making the latter involuntarily cross her arms over her chest.

"Never mind, I haven't thought about it yet. Let me think it over first." He scratched his head, temporarily letting Qin Zhuyan, whose face was already bright red, go. "But, manager, could we get an advance on part of the salary?"

"What do you need an advance on your salary for?" Qin Zhuyan coughed twice, trying to cover up her panic.

"We're really struggling to make ends meet. You see, I've been doing well lately, so I'll give you an advance." This wasn't an excuse from Lu Fang. He hadn't been to work for a while, and his already meager savings were even more strained.

Not to mention that he had already paid for Charlie's medicine a few days earlier, so he couldn't let that young girl Xu Yi pay for it.

He's really out of food these past few days, eating nothing but plain noodles every day. He's so hungry he's practically ready to become a monk.

More importantly, he needed the money to do something, something that would affect the future of the pet shop and his own future.

"It's not impossible. I'll give you an advance of 1,000 yuan of your salary." Qin Zhuyan was an easy-going person. She had seen how hard Lu Fang had worked these past few days. With that in mind, she took out a stack of 100-yuan bills from her pocket, counted them briefly, and handed them to Lu Fang.

"We'll deduct it from your salary later!"

"Alright, long live Sister Qin!" Lu Fang's eyes lit up as he took the money.

Tonight, I absolutely have to have a barbecue and get my revenge by spending money!

But before he could even be happy for two seconds, his phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket.

He took out his phone, which displayed the words "landlord".

That's strange. It's not rent payment day. Why is the landlord suddenly contacting me?

He had barely answered the phone when a loud voice yelled, "Lu Fang, you little brat, where are you?!"

"Landlady, I'm at work." Lu Fang was a little surprised: "Why did you suddenly think of calling me?"

"Why did I suddenly think of calling you?!" The landlady's voice on the other end of the phone was shrill and high-pitched. "Lu Fang, when I rented this place to you, I made a deal with you: no pets allowed in this house. Have you forgotten all that?!"

"I've never had a pet before..." Lu Fang answered subconsciously, but the next second he realized that he had brought Charlie home so that Charlie could have a good environment to heal.

But Charlie is currently recovering from his injury and doesn't go out. He's usually well-behaved and doesn't bark, so how did the landlady suddenly find out?

"You even said that if my neighbor hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known. He says he sees an orange cat crawling into your house every afternoon, and you still claim it's not yours?! Let me tell you, this isn't over! Besides, you breached the contract first, so I won't refund a single penny of your deposit!"

Before Lu could even offer an explanation, the landlady had already hung up the phone.

No, Lu Fang had planned everything meticulously, but he never expected the problem to stem from the orange cat that was visiting.

"What's wrong?" Qin Zhuyan asked with concern, looking at Lu Fang's bitter expression.

"It's nothing, it's almost time to get off work. I have something to take care of at home, so I'll head back first!" Lu Fang didn't have time to say anything more. He had to hurry back to his rented apartment, otherwise, given his landlady's personality, she might really throw all his things out.

"Alright, you can go ahead and do your work. I'll take care of these things." Qin Zhuyan nodded. "If there's anything I can do to help, remember to call me."

"Alright!"

Lu Fang took off his work clothes and rushed out in one swift step.

When he rushed up to the third floor, he immediately saw that the security door of his rented room was wide open.

Lu Fang's heart sank, and he quickly stepped across the threshold.

In the cramped living room, the landlady was sitting imposingly on the only single sofa.

Her already harsh face was now stretched long, her lips tightly pursed, and she was clutching a perfume-soaked tissue to cover her mouth and nose, her face full of disgust.

On an old blanket in the corner, Charlie, his legs still bandaged, was huddled up, shivering, and making uneasy whimpers.

The woman suddenly burst into the room, let out a piercing scream upon seeing it, and then grabbed the clothes rack pole and pushed it into a corner of the room.

"Landlady, how dare you bring the spare key into my room?" Lu Fang asked, panting heavily and frowning. He quickly walked up to Charlie and held it behind him.

"Do I need to ask you for permission to enter my own house?" Upon hearing this, the landlady's shrill voice instantly rose eight octaves, sounding as harsh as fingernails scraping a blackboard.

"If I hadn't come in, I wouldn't have known you'd turned my house into a den of beasts! Lu Fang, what did you promise me when you rented this place? I gave you a discount, and you guaranteed you would never keep any pets. It was all written down in black and white."

"You're something else! Not only do you keep a stray cat that comes over every day, but you also have this mangy, half-dead dog hiding in your house!"

"Landlady, let me explain. This dog is seriously injured. I'm a veterinarian, and I only brought it back to treat its wounds temporarily. I'll give it away once it's healed. It's definitely not a long-term caretaker, and it can't move at all, so it won't cause any damage to your house."

Lu Fang tried his best to suppress his anger and reason with her.