Chapter 300: Chapter 300: Maphario the Boat Tracker
"SQUEAK! SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK!" Seeing Shen Yibin fail to react for some time, Maphario grew even more anxious. It kept stretching out its paw to touch the phone screen. ’I wonder if it learned that trick from Hah’Er, who’s always playing with the tablet.’ Unfortunately, no amount of tapping could recharge the phone’s battery.
’Hmm, maybe I should get the tablet?’ Shen Yibin considered this for a moment before dismissing the idea. ’Maphario is already struggling to drag the phone; how could it possibly drag a tablet?’
"Shi Xuan, can I borrow your phone?" Shen Yibin cast a pleading look at Xia Shixuan, hoping she would come to his rescue at this critical moment.
"Sorry, can’t. I’m getting off work soon, and I’m sure a bunch of people will be calling to ask me out tonight. I’m afraid Maphario wouldn’t get to use it for long!" Xia Shixuan shrugged, indicating that while she wanted to help, she couldn’t.
Shen Yibin then turned his gaze to Gao Shu. ’Uh, on second thought, never mind. This girl’s phone is even older than mine.’ Most of the money she earned went to her two younger sisters who were still in school, so she couldn’t bring herself to buy a new phone. Shen Yibin didn’t have the heart to ask to borrow it. ’If it got broken, I can’t imagine how heartbroken she’d be.’
As for Li Shiqing and Xie Nannan, they were both off today. Li Shiqing had gone to a reunion with her classmates, and Xie Nannan was on a shopping spree at the department store. Neither of them was in the shop, so even if Shen Yibin wanted to borrow a phone, there was no one around to ask.
He scratched his head, wracking his brain, but couldn’t think of anywhere to borrow a phone from. Even if he ordered one online right now, the earliest it would arrive was tomorrow. Driving out to buy one would take at least an hour. Either way, Maphario couldn’t wait that long.
’Uh, what if I hook up a power bank?’ he thought. ’But that would add to the weight. Would Maphario be able to drag it?’ Shen Yibin hesitated, but seeing Maphario’s growing anxiety, he cast his worries aside and decided to give it a try. He dashed upstairs, found his own power bank, and plugged it into the phone. Then he hit the play button, and the music of Bandari once again began to drift among the tender sprouts.
"SQUEAK! SQUEAK!" Maphario finally calmed down. It happily slung the phone strap over its shoulder again and continued to slowly inch forward, dragging the phone. One step, two steps, one step, two steps... then, the music suddenly stopped again. The pulling from those few steps had yanked the charging cable out. With the phone once again out of power, it naturally couldn’t play music.
Having seen Shen Yibin’s demonstration, Maphario quickly understood the problem. It hurried back and painstakingly plugged the charging cable in again, then squeaked a few times at Shen Yibin. Shen Yibin quickly helped it by pressing play, and the music started up once more.
Maphario slung the phone strap over its shoulder for a third time. One step, two steps, one step, two steps... and then, the charging cable got yanked out again. Shen Yibin’s phone was just too old; the charging port had been loose for a long time. It simply couldn’t support the weight of the large power bank being dragged along. You really couldn’t blame Maphario.
After these two experiences, Maphario seemed to understand that dragging the power bank behind the phone, connected only by the cable, wasn’t going to work. It circled the phone and power bank a few times, then painstakingly pushed the power bank over so it was side-by-side with the phone. Next, it placed its two front paws under the power bank and tried to lift it with all its might.
"Here, let me help you!" Shen Yibin didn’t dare let it continue. If the power bank fell and landed on it, Maphario would surely end up with broken bones. So, he took the power bank, connected the cable, and started the music. Finally, he gently placed the power bank on top of the phone. Now there was no need to worry about the cable being pulled out.
But this created a new problem. With the phone and power bank stacked together, the weight had at least doubled. Could Maphario still pull it?
"Hmph~" Hah’Er seemed to have noticed the problem as well. It finally deigned to get up and lend its godson a hand. Hah’Er waddled over to Maphario, hooked the phone strap with its paw, and prepared to drag the phone and power bank forward. Now all Maphario had to do was take care of directing the speed and path; Hah’Er would handle the pulling!
"SQUEAK! SQUEAK!" But Maphario wasn’t having it. It was hard to tell if he was complaining that Hah’Er hadn’t helped sooner or if he just had no confidence in Hah’Er’s ability to control the speed and direction, but he insisted on snatching the phone strap back from Hah’Er’s paw. He absolutely refused to let Hah’Er take over. Shen Yibin shrugged, at a loss for words. ’Isn’t this little guy just making things harder for himself?’
Hah’Er had no choice but to step aside. It watched as Maphario slung the phone strap over his shoulder and, leaning forward like an ancient boat tracker, used all his strength to try and drag the phone and power bank. But alas, the combo only moved less than five centimeters before Maphario’s strength gave out. The poor thing flopped onto the ground with a PLOP, panting heavily. He had no energy left to get back up. The combined weight of the phone and power bank was clearly beyond what he could handle.
"Hey, wait a second. I’ll go get you some wheels." Since the little guy refused help but didn’t have the strength to pull the phone and power bank himself, Shen Yibin had to find another solution for him. Luckily, Mr. Hou had given them plenty of toys, so scavenging a few wheels wasn’t a problem.
Shen Yibin quickly dismantled a small toy car, taking its chassis and wheels and attaching them to the bottom of the phone. ’This should save him some effort, right?’
Sure enough, with the help of the wheels, Maphario’s next attempt was a success. He managed to pull the phone and power bank. He excitedly nodded at Shen Yibin, then resumed pulling the phone along his unfinished route.
Watching him pull the phone, Shen Yibin was reminded of the time he had pulled Hah’Er on a skateboard around the lake. ’Sigh,’ he thought, ’we’re a couple of miserable laborers, him and I.’
After they had circled every single sprout in the nursery area, Shen Yibin moved the phone and power bank into the sandpit. Fortunately, he had already mixed plenty of soil, dead branches, and fallen leaves into the sand, otherwise, the wheels would never have been able to roll on the surface.
After another half-hour spent circling the watermelon and peanut seedlings, Maphario finally stopped to rest. Shen Yibin quickly brought him a cup of water before hurrying off to make food for all the animals.
Exhausted, Maphario crawled into his nest and went to sleep right after his meal. After ordering a new phone online, Shen Yibin also drifted off into dreamland.
「Early the next morning」
Shen Yibin woke up and washed his face. Instead of making breakfast first as he usually did, he went downstairs. He wanted to see if the music had caused any changes in the seedlings.
