Ch 20: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World

The posters and ads on the streets, subways, and platforms, though seemingly inconspicuous, reportedly charge by the day. And the continuous loop of “viral” video ads on the subway must cost an astronomical amount.

Lu Yao had never dreamed that one day she’d be advertising her snack shop on the subway.

Shocked beyond belief, she blurted out her thoughts without realizing it.

Gao Yang didn’t laugh at her; instead, he patiently explained the process to her.

Covering all 13 districts with subway lines couldn’t have been accomplished by him alone in just five years. He had a highly professional team, all companions he had met in this world. They had the relevant expertise from their previous lives, and some even understood the broadcasting mechanisms of amusement parks and cinemas.

Filming an ad for the snack shop and airing it on all subway lines would be a large-scale project but also a very interesting one.

In the years spent laying subway lines, Gao Yang encountered and solved numerous problems daily, but he enjoyed it immensely. He thrived on the tense excitement of constantly facing challenges.

Once the subway lines were fully established and trains began running smoothly, his life became monotonous. His routine consisted of maintaining the trains and riding them to different places, only to find that the world was dull and melancholic.

After two years, he discovered the most fascinating place in this world—Lu Yao’s snack shop, possibly the only actual, physical shop in this world.

Gao Yang’s goal now was to personally help it become the world’s number one snack shop, just like when he decided to build the trains in this world. The idea filled him with excitement.

After hearing his detailed, well-structured plan, Lu Yao couldn’t help but applaud.

However, she picked up on something, “In the 13 districts, are there areas without open amusement parks or live broadcasts?”

Gao Yang nodded. “Yes, two districts: District J and District K. District J only has one amusement park, and District K doesn’t have any at all.”

Lu Yao was curious. “Why aren’t those two districts open?”

Gao Yang glanced at her cautiously and asked, “Have you ever been to an amusement park?”

Lu Yao shook her head.

“To explain, watching movies is a form of relaxation, playing games is another, and for us, amusement parks serve the same purpose. But everyone has their own preferred form of relaxation. Some people don’t like the amusement park experience. For a while, it seemed like the whole world was obsessed with amusement parks, and those who didn’t like them felt like they had nowhere to go. Eventually, they gathered together, carved out two districts, and restricted access to amusement parks there.”

The only amusement park in District J was exclusively for treating soul-loss patients, not open to the general public.

In a way, this world has a high degree of freedom. If someone doesn’t like something, they can simply create their own world without it.

However, this also meant that Lu Yao’s path to achieving the “widespread fame” goal through live broadcasts, and thus unlocking her ultimate mission, was partially blocked.

According to the Dream Fulfillment System’s rules, completing the ultimate mission would unlock the door to the next world.

But fortunately, a new path had just opened before her.

If Gao Yang’s plan succeeded, it would greatly accelerate her progress toward completing her mission.

Lu Yao decided to accept his plan. “Your advertising proposal is excellent. How much will it cost?”

Even though he had offered to promote the shop for free, Lu Yao didn’t like taking advantage of others or owing favors. In this world, the currency of exchange was time, and she believed she could afford it.

Gao Yang raised an eyebrow slightly, staring at Lu Yao for a moment, as if deep in thought. After a brief pause, he answered, “I said before, no payment is necessary. But if you feel uncomfortable about that, could you grant me one request? Don’t worry, it won’t be anything that puts you in a difficult position.”

This clearly meant he didn’t want any compensation in terms of time.

Lu Yao nodded. “Please, go ahead.”

Gao Yang: “I hope the snack shop will always reserve a table for me, no matter when I come, so I can dine here.”

The sharp-minded train conductor was so polite that Lu Yao couldn’t possibly refuse.

She nodded and added a time frame to the agreement: “As long as the snack shop exists, there will always be a table reserved for the train conductor.”

Gao Yang had no objections to this condition, though he was already pondering how to make sure Lu Yao could live a long time.

After confirming the agreement with Lu Yao, Gao Yang immediately left to gather his team. He wanted to shoot the ad, edit it into clips, and then distribute it across the subway lines in various districts.

In this world, there were no mobile phones or similar communication devices. However, Gao Yang worked with remarkable efficiency. In less than two hours, he returned to the snack shop with a young man and woman, each carrying large black briefcases that seemed to contain important equipment.

Gao Yang introduced them to Lu Yao.

The young man was named Xiao Qi, tall and thin, with a cold and distant expression. The young woman, Ren Min, had a round face and wore glasses, her demeanor just as serious and expressionless as Xiao Qi’s.

Gao Yang, fully aware of the personalities of his younger teammates, lightly patted Xiao Qi’s back and said to Lu Yao, “Shopkeeper, we’ll start with these two. I promise it’ll be great.”

Xiao Qi shot Gao Yang a sidelong glance and silently moved a little further away. Ren Min adjusted her glasses, squatted down, and began taking the equipment out of the briefcases.

Apart from the initial greetings when they introduced themselves, neither of them said another word.

Earlier in the day, when Gao Yang had returned to his office, excited about filming an ad for the snack shop and broadcasting it across all the subway lines, no one had shown much interest in the idea. They didn’t even bother asking for more details out of curiosity.

But nothing could stop Gao Yang once he had made up his mind. No one else wanted to participate, so Xiao Qi and Ren Min had been chosen. They weren’t interested in the backstory either; they just grabbed the equipment and followed along, treating it like any other job. They weren’t eager to make friends.

Gao Yang’s plan was to film at least three segments. He had already discussed the script with Lu Yao.

One segment would capture the snack shop’s operations on the first floor, another would show the café upstairs, and the third would focus on how the shop’s food helped cure soul-loss patients.

For the soul-loss segment, Gao Yang had a long conversation with the shop’s chef, Quan Shengju.

As a former soul-loss patient himself, Quan Shengju was fully supportive of promoting the snack shop’s food as a positive treatment for those suffering from the condition.

In recent years, more and more people had been affected by soul-loss. Many of the more severe cases refused to go to treatment centers, and most ended up disappearing alone in their homes.

If patients outside of the treatment centers knew about the snack shop, or if their friends did, their chances of survival would significantly increase.

Once they finalized the basic script, Gao Yang had Xiao Qi and Ren Min sit by the window, and he personally set up the camera for the shoot.

From the start, he hadn’t planned to carefully select actors for the ad. Anyone in the shop could naturally give their best reaction to the food, without needing to act. He wanted the raw, genuine reactions of customers being won over.

Since only the second floor was open during break time, they had the ground floor to themselves, free to film as they pleased.

Gao Yang turned to Lu Yao and said, “Shopkeeper, you can bring the noodles and snacks now.”

Xiao Qi and Ren Min weren’t too concerned about being on camera; they just didn’t know what was expected of them.

Gao Yang wanted to film them eating. Were they supposed to pretend to enjoy the food and praise the shop’s miraculous illusion techniques?

Xiao Qi remained impassive but had already resolved that he wouldn’t lie. He wouldn’t act and pretend the food was good—no matter what, he wasn’t going to give up his principles, even for the train conductor.

Ren Min, on the other hand, was more focused on finishing quickly so she could watch a game live stream she was interested in later that evening.

Lu Yao was still in the kitchen when Gao Yang requested that the food featured in the shots be made by her personally.

Although Quan Shengju’s culinary skills were impeccable, there was a subtle difference between his dishes and Lu Yao’s; her food appeared slightly more vibrant and flavorful. It was such a minor distinction that Lu Yao herself couldn’t detect it, but everyone else, including Quan Shengju, insisted that her cooking was superior.

Lu Yao thought they were just flattering her as the boss, so she didn’t pay much attention. However, she still honored Gao Yang’s request and personally prepared the noodles and snacks.

The table was soon filled with the newly launched noodles and the snack shop’s popular items, all beautifully arranged.

With three cameras already recording, Gao Yang held one more in his hands, aiming to capture every angle and detail.

Xiao Qi and Ren Min sat facing each other. As soon as the food was placed before them, they could sense something was off.

The food was steaming hot and looked freshly made, but more importantly, it emitted an incredibly tempting aroma.

Xiao Qi reached out to touch the rim of the white porcelain noodle bowl, then the chive and egg pancake on the plate. It was hot to the touch, and he quickly pulled his hand back, only to find himself reaching for it again. “Why is all the food so hot? Can we really eat this?”

Ren Min had a similar reaction. She picked up a spicy grilled wing and sniffed it.

The chicken skin was slightly charred and coated with thick spices, looking intense and smelling so good that it made her mouth water. Unable to resist, she took a bite. Her teeth easily sank through the tender skin, releasing a flood of rich, juicy flavors. The texture was soft, and the taste bold and fiery.

“Hiss—so spicy!”

Ren Min wiped her face, but kept eating, savoring the intense heat and flavor.

Across from her, Xiao Qi took a large bite of the chive and egg pancake, not even caring about the heat, and finished two in quick succession. He reached for another, but Ren Min swatted his hand away and took the plate. “That’s mine. I haven’t had any yet.”

Xiao Qi, though unsatisfied, didn’t argue. His eyes shifted to the roasted pork trotter in the center of the table.

The pork trotter had been slow-cooked and then roasted, its exterior a rich, dark brown, even deeper in color than the wings.

Xiao Qi reached out for it, and Ren Min looked over with a sharp gaze. “Half each!”

The plate of chive pancakes had four pieces, perfectly portioned for visual appeal. But everything else was a single serving, as per Gao Yang’s plan.

Xiao Qi rolled his eyes but carefully split the pork trotter in two, ensuring it was perfectly even. The meat tore apart with ease, revealing a glistening pink inside, with tender skin and juicy, flavorful meat.

The two of them devoured everything on the table, leaving only two bowls of noodles: one beef noodle soup and one bowl of minced pork and pea noodles.

Xiao Qi’s eyes darted between the two bowls, trying to decide which portion was larger. His hand slowly reached for the beef noodles with the broth.

Ren Min slammed her hand down, her expression serious. “Half and half!”

She wanted to taste both.

Xiao Qi agreed with a nod. Splitting them would be fair enough.

They carefully divided the noodles into two smaller bowls, each making sure to keep things as even as possible.

The dry minced pork noodles and the beef noodle soup each had their unique flavors, and the pair finished every last bit.

Had it not been for the cameras, Xiao Qi might have been tempted to lick the residual sauce from the bottom of the bowls.

But even with all that food, the two were still far from full.

Ren Min set her bowl down with a sigh, a bit lost in thought, and turned to the window. Her eyes widened suddenly as she leaned forward in surprise. “What’s with this window? Are those flowers real? They look like they’re about to bloom!”

Startled by her reaction, Xiao Qi followed her gaze. His eyes wandered over the scene outside before falling on the row of succulents on the windowsill.

The succulents, plump and vibrant, were planted in small pots by Lu Yao. In the sunlight, their green flesh glowed like little emeralds.

Xiao Qi couldn’t resist touching one, his eyes lighting up. “These are so cute!”

Their reactions were both direct and endearing, with just the right amount of subtlety. Gao Yang, satisfied, packed up the camera and called out, “That’s a wrap for this scene.”

Xiao Qi and Ren Min snapped back to reality, exchanging a glance before both turning to Lu Yao. “Boss, our performance wasn’t great. Could we maybe redo it with more food?”

Gao Yang, already busy packing up the equipment, interrupted their little scheme. “You both did great. Your boss I am very satisfied. We’ll head upstairs to shoot the next scene. You guys were in a rush to finish and leave, right? Can’t afford to waste too much of your time.”

Xiao Qi & Ren Min: “…”

The passive-aggressive train conductor was really a handful.

Recalling their earlier attitude, they were too embarrassed to push Lu Yao for more food. Resigned, they joined the others as they moved the equipment upstairs.

There were two tables of customers upstairs—Li Shasha, Chen Meiyue, and the brothers Du Chen and Du An.

Gao Yang assured them that clearing the space wasn’t necessary; they’d only film in the center.

Lu Yao retrieved a beautiful dessert box from the display case, carefully unwrapping it as she explained, “These desserts were specially prepared for the ad shoot. Even our staff wanted to star in this scene.”

When the box was opened, everyone’s eyes, including those of Gao Yang, Xiao Qi, Ren Min, and the two tables of customers, widened in awe.

Inside, four exquisite desserts were arranged neatly: a pale-yellow Mont Blanc, a vibrant green matcha mille-feuille, a pink strawberry mousse, and a delicate tiramisu. Each piece was small but intricately designed, far superior to the usual butter cookies sold in the shop. Just looking at them was a treat for the eyes.

Xiao Qi and Ren Min exchanged a glance before eagerly raising their hands. “Boss, we’ll take on this scene too!”

Bai Ming and Xiao Qie interrupted from the side, “Afternoon tea is usually reserved for staff, and we’ve even livestreamed it. We should be in this shot.”

At the next table, Du Chen, who had been brooding since losing the guard selection, couldn’t tear his eyes away from the desserts in Lu Yao’s hands.

Noticing the equipment around them, his experience as a guard in the park quickly made him realize what was happening. Thinking fast, he chimed in, “You’re filming customer reactions, right? We’d be perfect for that.”

He wasn’t entirely sure what the boss was up to, but it was clear that securing a spot in the ad meant getting a taste of those beautiful desserts.

Li Shasha and Chen Meiyue caught on and immediately raised their hands as well. “Exactly! We’re actual customers, so we can give the most authentic reactions. You should film us!”

Gao Yang rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then turned to Xiao Qi and Ren Min with a self-righteous tone. “Such hard work should be left to me. You two can handle the cameras.”

Xiao Qi & Ren Min: “…”

The conductor just wanted the desserts for himself.

Lu Yao: “…”

Wasn’t this just a box of desserts?

🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️