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

"If you ask me, the wicked will get their just desserts," Qin Zhuyan said cheerfully. Business at the shop had been good lately, and she was smiling more often.

Lu Fang's previous batch of domestically produced pet snacks was a great success, and with the reputation that pets love to eat them, it quickly opened up the market in Tiancheng Community.

Now, whenever pet owners around Tiancheng Community think of buying snacks, they go to Nihao Pet Store for a satisfying shopping spree.

"I wonder if I can get my rent back." Lu Fang secretly gave Brother Li a thumbs up. As expected of the person in charge of Tiancheng Community, he really knows his stuff.

"It should be fine, right? Old Mrs. Zhang has listed all the houses in Tiancheng Community with real estate agencies these days, and yesterday she even hired a Taoist priest to exorcise ghosts."

"The Taoist priest said one thing when he came to the door: 'If you have a clear conscience, you have nothing to fear from ghosts knocking on your door.'"

"Grandma Zhang promptly terminated the leases for those tenants and returned their deposits. I reckon it'll be your turn soon." Qin Zhuyan usually enjoys listening to the gossips of the elderly people in the neighborhood, so she knows all too well about these kinds of things.

Speak of the devil, and he appears. No sooner had Qin Zhuyan finished speaking than Lu Fang's phone rang.

That's the Alipay payment notification sound.

Alipay payment received, 3,000 yuan.

He vented his anger and got his money back; Brother Li has done a great job this time.

The mainland side immediately decided to switch the cat food they were paying protection fees to the freeze-dried version, and also to open three more cans to reward them properly.

Now that the money's here, shouldn't I look for a new place...?

Thinking of this, he looked up at Qin Zhuyan not far away with a slightly guilty conscience.

Seemingly noticing Lu Fang's gaze, she said generously, "It's alright, there's no rush about the house. You focus on getting the shop running smoothly! Once we've made some money, I'll find you a good place!"

"Okay!" Lu Fang replied enthusiastically.

"By the way, what are your plans for the shelves next?" Qin Zhuyan looked at him curiously. After the two explosive sales of the gray mouse toy and domestic pet snacks, she was looking forward to what kind of surprise Lu Fang would give her next.

The mainland side clearly had a plan in mind.

"Sister Qin, you see, we used to rely mainly on pet grooming income, which, to be honest, wasn't much." Lu Fang pulled over a whiteboard in the shop used to record appointments and started drawing on it with a marker.

"The main problem is that the store's location isn't very good; it's quite far from both the back and front doors, so we basically rely on regular customers to make a living."

Qin Zhuyan, who was standing to the side, nodded: "There's nothing we can do, this is the only area where the rent is cheaper."

"However, recently, selling mouse toys and domestic snacks has brought us a considerable number of new customers." Lu Fang wrote down two figures: "Our store's membership has also increased from the initial twelve to thirty-seven, which has also increased our revenue from pet grooming."

"Most importantly," Lu Fang said, tapping the whiteboard, "the revenue from the shelving section has caught up, and now both sections each account for fifty percent of our revenue."

Qin Zhuyan seemed to be deep in thought; this was similar to the situation she had observed.

"So the path our store needs to take next is very clear: drive traffic to the shelves, convert customers who come to the store into pet grooming customers, and finally win them over with our sincerity and make them our store's valued VIPs."

"I think it's feasible!" Before Qin Zhuyan could finish speaking, a series of footsteps came from outside the door.

"Brother Fang, Brother Fang! Something terrible has happened!"

The speaker was none other than Xu Yi from Meiji Pet Hospital.

The little girl came running up, panting, and pushed open the door, her face covered in sweat.

"Aren't you going to work today?" Lu Fang stared at Xu Yi, who was dressed in sportswear, somewhat puzzled.

"I'm off today." Xu Yi greeted Qin Zhuyan first, then took a paper cup, filled it with water from the water dispenser, and drank it all in one gulp.

"What terrible thing has happened?" Qin Zhuyan took a bottle of iced cola from the refrigerator in the inner room and handed it to her, asking as she pressed for an answer.

"Thank you, Sister Qin." Xu Yi took the iced cola, took a big gulp, and then continued, "Is there a domestic snack that's been selling really well lately?"

"Yes, Lu Fang picked it, and it's brought a lot of customers to our store," Qin Zhuyan praised.

"I don't know who found out the source of this brand, but now pet shops and pet hospitals around Tiancheng Community are all getting supplies from them, and your customers are definitely going to be diverted."

Of course, the news was spread by Cui Ding. How could he accept that Nihao Pet Shop would monopolize the pet snack business near Tiancheng Community?

Now that Lu Fang has helped them select the brands, all they need to do is follow suit and purchase the goods accordingly. Relying on their large number of loyal customers, they can naturally win back all the customers that Lu Fang has attracted.

"These guys!" Qin Zhuyan frowned. She didn't expect them to be so shameless. These pet snacks were carefully selected by Lu Fang after a lot of hard work organizing a tasting event, but those guys ended up getting a share of the profits.

"Is that all?" Lu Fang looked as if he had expected this, showing no sign of worry whatsoever.

"What else could it be!" Seeing that Lu Fang still looked calm and collected, Xu Yi started to get anxious for him: "Let me tell you, Cui Ding did it on purpose. I saw him meeting with the owner of a nearby pet hospital in the conference room with his own eyes, and he was even holding that domestic pet snack in his hand."

"To be honest, I was worried they wouldn't stock up." Lu Fang sat down confidently, a sly glint in his eyes.

"What do you mean?" Xu Yi's eyes widened, clearly confused by Lu Fang's explanation: "What do you mean you're afraid they won't stock up! That's stealing your business!"

"I have a question for you: why did they choose to source these goods?"

"It's very simple. Because you went through all that trouble to organize a tasting event, everyone knows that cats and dogs love this brand of pet snacks. You can make money from it, right?" Xu Yi glanced at Lu Fang, clearly dissatisfied with this simple question.

"That's right, they think this brand of pet snacks sells well, right?" Lu Fang said.

"Are you out of your mind from anger?" Xu Yi sometimes really wanted to open Lu Fang's head and see what was inside. They were in such a critical situation, yet he was still pretending to be serious.

"What if, and I mean just what, the pets in the neighborhood only accept the same pet treats sold from our Hello Pet Store, and they won't eat them if they're sold elsewhere?"

"How is that possible?" Qin Zhuyan, who had been listening for so long, finally couldn't hold back anymore. Lu Fang's words were getting more and more far-fetched. There was only one brand of pet snacks. How could the pets in our community tell where they were bought?

Is it possible to selectively avoid eating?

Arabian Nights!