Time always slipped by unnoticed, leaving the marks of the years on all things, and no one could avoid or erase them.
It felt as though only a moment had passed, yet a week had already gone by.
The day the Contract Beast named Huo Huo had arranged to visit had arrived.
Early that morning, Xu Ran opened the shop doors, but set a sign outside announcing that they were closed for the day. When customers came to ask, he told them with an apologetic smile that they would not be receiving any other customers today.
Today, the Starfire Foster Shop was open for one special customer.
For once, the three little ones were in no hurry to enter the Training Area and begin their daily eight hours of training. Instead, they stayed with Xu Ran in the shop on the first floor, waiting for that customer to arrive.
Besides the three little ones, the round, soccer-ball-sized Velvet Sparrow lounged at the other corner of Purple Cloud's favorite shop counter, its little claws resting on the surface as the morning sunlight streamed through the door onto its silky, gleaming down.
Its little claws shifted, and the Velvet Sparrow turned to glance at Xu Ran. Its voice naturally appeared in the minds of every living being in the shop.
"Chirp?" (When are they coming?)
"They should be here soon." Xu Ran glanced at the clock on the wall, then at the Velvet Sparrow.
Because of his decision to take in the Velvet Sparrow a week ago, the Starfire Foster Shop had gained an outgoing little resident.
Unlike the other boarding residents, the Velvet Sparrow was very curious about the outside world. Every day, it spent five or six hours wandering outside before returning in time for meals.
Considering that the Velvet