"Mr. Shen, I feel I should give you a heads-up to avoid any dissatisfaction later on." Shen Yibin was ready to sign the contract, pay the deposit, and get the work started, but Li Zhen didn’t immediately produce the contract. After all, Shen Yibin was an old client, and it looked like there would be plenty of opportunities to work together in the future. Because of this, Li Zhen hoped for a long and fruitful partnership, which meant some things needed to be made clear. "We’ve never done this exact kind of job before. Based on the current plan, it will definitely reduce the noise, but your side will still be affected. Completely eliminating the noise... that’s just not something we can do."

"Yes, I understand that. I’m not asking you to eliminate it completely. Just reducing the noise to an acceptable level will be fine." Shen Yibin knew his request was rather unusual, so he understood Li Zhen’s position.

"Also, we’ll be assembling the soundproofing materials off-site first. However, bringing them next door and installing them will take time, and that will definitely create noise pollution. The same goes for the final removal. These two periods are unavoidable. We estimate that each of these steps will take a full day, so..." Installing soundproofing materials would, itself, generate noise. There was truly no way around it.

"No problem. I’ll just close the shop for those two days. It’ll be a good chance to give the girls a day off." Shen Yibin could accept a two-day disruption. The worst-case scenario was he’d have Maphario finish the chores on the Happy Farm early in the morning, then he would take him and Hah’Er out for the day and come back in the evening.

"Okay, we’ll notify you in advance of the specific construction dates. Other than that, there are no other issues." Seeing that Shen Yibin accepted these conditions, Li Zhen was finally able to relax. He left the contract and headed back. Shen Yibin immediately found his lawyer, Zhang Danxuan, and asked her to look it over. After confirming there were no problems, he signed his name on the contract.

Li Zhen then signed his name on the contract as well and stamped it with his company’s official seal. The matter was settled. Shen Yibin transferred the first payment to their company’s account, and Li Zhen immediately went back to organize his team and officially start the project.

Nothing much happened for the first two days. A few people just came in and out of the shop next door, carefully taking measurements. The work of processing and cutting the soundproofing materials was all done elsewhere.

When they were ready to begin the main installation, Shen Yibin closed the shop for the day to avoid the noise pollution. But once the renovation work officially started, despite the protection of the soundproofing materials, Shen Yibin’s store still experienced a certain level of disturbance. He, the four girls working in the store, and the customers coming and going felt slightly uncomfortable, but it wasn’t a major issue. Even Hah’Er, Maphario, and the other pets in the store were all acting normally.

However, the various plants in the Happy Farm had clearly started to wilt. They looked much more listless compared to the past few days. Shen Yibin didn’t know what to say. The people and animals were fine, but the plants were affected. ’Could it be that plants are even more sensitive to environmental changes than humans and animals?’

The moment these seedlings lost their vigor, Maphario became frantic. It scurried all over the farm, constantly busy. One moment it was watering the seedlings, the next it was mixing its own fertilizer for them. Then it pointed at the air conditioner in the corner and squeaked wildly at Shen Yibin, seeming to tell him to adjust the temperature to one the seedlings preferred.

But they had been watered enough, they had been fully fertilized, and the temperature had been set to the most suitable level. Every possible method had been tried, yet the plants remained droopy and listless, showing no signs of improvement whatsoever.

"They were perfectly fine just a few days ago. Why did they become like this right after the renovation started?" Shen Yibin was completely baffled. Everything in the store was the same as before; the only change was the noise from next door. But he found this truth a little hard to accept. ’Isn’t that a bit too much?’

"SQUEAK! SQUEAK!" Maphario climbed right onto Hah’Er’s shoulder. Its tiny paws pointed first toward the neighboring unit, then back at the listless plants in the farm. It seemed to be urging Shen Yibin to hurry up and make those people stop so its beloved plants could recover.

"Oh, come on. They’re already doing their best to reduce the noise. There’s really nothing else that can be done." If it were any other matter, Shen Yibin might have agreed to Maphario’s request without hesitation. But the renovation had already officially begun, and Hah’Er’s pool and new home were about to be finished. ’Wouldn’t stopping the work now lead to too great a loss?’

"SQUEAK! SQUEAK!" Maphario refused to accept this reason. In its eyes, nothing was more important than these seedlings, and it continued to protest to Shen Yibin.

"Once they finish the pool and the rockery over there, there will be space left by the water and on the hill for you to grow plants suited for slopes and marshland. Your farm will get bigger and bigger. For the sake of the future, can you try to think of another solution for now?" Shen Yibin continued to persuade, hoping Maphario would be patient for the sake of these future prospects.

This time, Maphario hesitated. On one hand were the seedlings that had already sprouted; on the other were the other plants it could grow in the future. It found the choice incredibly difficult. Hah’Er took the opportunity to comfort it, and with some effort, finally managed to coax Maphario into going back to the farm to continue thinking of a solution.

’Geez, this little guy is really having a tough time,’ Shen Yibin thought. ’Maybe I should go next door and ask Li Zhen if he has any extra soundproofing material. If I have to, I’ll ask him for some and build a wall around Maphario’s Happy Farm. Two lines of defense should be able to block out the noise, right? But if I do that, the store’s layout will look really ugly. It might spoil the mood for visiting customers.’

However, Li Zhen had already used up all the soundproofing material he had prepared. If Shen Yibin wanted more, they would have to place a new order, and it wouldn’t arrive right away. Shen Yibin had no choice but to return.

When he got back to the store, he saw that Maphario was nowhere to be seen in the farm. The sight gave Shen Yibin a scare. ’Don’t tell me the little guy went next door to protest! With a body that small, no one would notice him. If someone accidentally stepped on him, then...’

The thought made Shen Yibin sick with worry. He rushed over to Hah’Er, who was basking in the sun on the wooden bridge. ’You! How could you not keep a good eye on your godson! How am I supposed to trust you with him?’

"Hmph!" Hah’Er, however, wasn’t flustered at all. It lazily lifted a paw and pointed toward the front counter. Shen Yibin turned to look and saw Maphario lying perfectly safe on the countertop.

’Huh? What’s this little guy up to now?’ Shen Yibin was once again perplexed.