Shen Yibin did a quick calculation in his head. The first rent payment was 150,000 yuan, and with the security deposit, renovation costs, and other expenses, he would need to come up with at least a million yuan in one go. But his current savings were less than 100,000 yuan. Where was he supposed to find the other 900,000? Thinking of the 35 million he had donated earlier just made his chest tighten.

If he had kept even a fraction of that money for himself back then, it would have been more than enough to cover this expense. But now, he had to figure it out on his own.

’Should I borrow money again? It’s only been a few days since I paid back Xu Ye and the others. Wouldn’t it be a bit awkward to ask again? Besides, even if I did, I’d probably only be able to borrow two or three hundred thousand, which is still a long way from a million.’

’Or maybe crowdfunding? I bet a few adorable pictures of Hah’Er would get plenty of people to donate, right? But that method seems a bit shameless, and I just can’t bring myself to do it.’

"Bin, take your time and think it over. You’ve still got a month, anyway. Just let me know when you’ve made up your mind," Mrs. Wang said, perhaps noticing Shen Yibin’s predicament. She got up to leave, but not without adding a reminder, "I’ll come back after dinner. You absolutely have to lend us Egg."

"Sure. It loves to dance anyway, so what’s the difference where?" ’Better for it to dance in the square than to be bouncing on my bed in the middle of the night, right?’ Shen Yibin readily agreed.

Today, only Shen Yibin and Sylvie were in the store to serve customers, but the flow of patrons didn’t slow down at all. Shen Yibin was so busy he could barely find a moment to sit down for a sip of water, let alone ponder how to raise the money.

"Boss, today’s revenue is 23,750 yuan," Sylvie reported to Shen Yibin after they closed up shop.

"Mm, got it. You go rest for a bit. I’ll go make dinner." Shen Yibin nodded. ’Business has been getting better and better lately. From today’s income of over twenty thousand, after deducting costs like inventory, wages, commissions, utilities, and rent, the net profit is already over four thousand yuan. At this rate, this month’s profit should exceed one hundred thousand.’

’If I could expand the store and hire two more employees to help out, sales would definitely multiply several times over. It probably wouldn’t even take half a year to earn back the one-million-yuan investment. But how am I supposed to scrape that million together?’

*Sigh*. ’I’ll stop thinking about it. Better to fill my stomach first. Zoning out on the sofa isn’t going to solve the money problem.’ After mulling it over for a moment, Shen Yibin got up and went upstairs to cook. The snake meat Mrs. Wang had brought over this morning was still in the kitchen; if he didn’t deal with it today, it wouldn’t be fresh anymore.

After dinner, Shen Yibin still had no time to think about money. He had just put down his bowl and chopsticks when Mrs. Wang came knocking. The moment she entered the store, Mrs. Wang greeted Egg first. "Egg, how was the snake meat? Did you like it? If you did, I’ll bring you a few more tomorrow."

"Egg loved it! It finished a whole big pot. But there’s no need to bring more tomorrow. I bought some bullfrogs to give Egg a change of pace. Even the most delicious food gets tiring if you eat it every day, right?" ’Snake meat isn’t cheap,’ Shen Yibin thought. ’How could I let Mrs. Wang bring it over for him all the time?’

"That’s true. Well, what else does Egg like to eat? I can bring some over the day after tomorrow?" Mrs. Wang was still being incredibly courteous. It took Shen Yibin a long while of politely refusing before he could get her to give up her plan of becoming the store’s long-term food supplier.

"Egg, you’ve had enough rest, haven’t you? Once you’re ready, let’s go for a stroll. We’re going to the same place as yesterday to dance." Since she was being so nice, Shen Yibin couldn’t really refuse to let Egg go out, could he? He tidied up the room a bit, and then took Sylvie, Hah’Er, and Egg out with Mrs. Wang. As for Cheeky, he had gone with Sun Qian to her best friend’s place for the day.

"Egg, you’re here!"

"Egg, we were waiting for you!" The moment they arrived at the square in front of Baiyun District, dozens of aunties and grandmas swarmed over, greeting him enthusiastically. They surrounded Egg like stars around the moon, ushering it to the very front. They had even built a small stage for Egg to dance on today; it looked like they had really put in some effort.

Sylvie also joined their ranks, and the aunties were delighted to have a foreign girl join their group. They even pushed her to the most conspicuous spot, standing at the very front of the line with Mrs. Wang.

"...The chrysanthemums in the flowerbeds can’t compare to your beauty, your smile makes them wither in shame. Your watery tenderness is tightly surrounded, blooming with the sweetness of love. Look at the chrysanthemums bursting all over the mountain, blooming in the season of our love..." As the music started, Shen Yibin cringed so hard he felt a phantom pain. ’Why is their choice of song always so bizarrely cursed?’ he wondered. ’The secondhand embarrassment is giving me cancer.’

But you had to admit, these women genuinely loved this pastime. ’It’s better than being cooped up in a stuffy room playing mahjong, right? It doesn’t cost much, and you get some exercise. The benefits are practically endless.’

When the song ended, Mrs. Wang didn’t rush to start the next one. Instead, she hurried to the front of the stage to go over the recent moves with Egg. She would strike a pose, and Egg would shake its head and demonstrate the correct posture. Mrs. Wang would then adjust her form based on Egg’s demonstration. Once one move was corrected, they would move on to the next. She then passed these key points on to the other aunties and grandmas.

"Alright, let’s do it again! We won’t practice too much tonight, let’s just focus on mastering this one song," Mrs. Wang announced, beginning to direct them back into formation.

"I heard that group from Cyan Cloud Street has a retired teacher from a dance academy choreographing for them. That’s why they always manage to one-up us. But now that we have Egg, we don’t have to be afraid of them anymore," the fruit and vegetable shop owner’s wife said with full confidence. Based on her many years of square dancing experience, the dance moves taught by Egg were far superior to anything from Cyan Cloud Street.

The practice continued for two full hours until the district’s property management came over to rush them. Only then did they reluctantly depart, repeatedly reminding Egg to be on time tomorrow, as they still had several more songs they hadn’t practiced yet.

"Mrs. Zhao, shall we go?" Mrs. Wang said, walking over to her neighbor.

"I think my earring is missing," Mrs. Zhao said anxiously.