Ch 21: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World

Seeing the commotion caused by a few pastries, Lu Yao quickly spoke up, “Actually, I bought… prepared several boxes. There’s enough for everyone.”

She had specifically gone out at noon to buy these pastries, from a dessert shop that Qi Chen had recommended. Fearing that there might be retakes during filming, one box wouldn’t suffice. She also remembered Xiao Qie’s longing look and decided to buy a few extra boxes.

Recently, her nail business had been doing well, with two or three clients every other day. Since she started doing manicures in the afternoons, the staff hadn’t had afternoon tea for a while. Though the pastries were expensive, it wasn’t too much of a burden as an occasional treat.

Bai Ming and Xiao Qie quietly retreated from the “battlefield,” having nearly bared their claws and teeth in their eagerness.

Gao Yang, realizing his lapse in composure, composed himself and suggested, “Let’s go with these four customers.”

He turned to explain to Li Shasha and the others that they were filming a promotional ad for the snack shop, and participants would need to show their faces, with the final ad being displayed on all subway lines throughout the region. Du Chen and Du An agreed without hesitation.

Having been a guard at the amusement park, Du Chen had often entered games and was used to appearing on livestreams. In the game world, people showed their truest selves, as if all their disguises had been stripped away. For the thrill, Du Chen had also entered games without using disguises, so he had no fear of being on camera.

Du An, on the other hand, couldn’t resist the sight of the dessert box in Lu Yao’s hands.

Li Shasha and Chen Meiyue hesitated for a moment but couldn’t resist the temptation of the desserts either, so they agreed to participate in the shoot.

The focus of this afternoon tea scene was on enjoying a relaxing time. The four customers sat facing each other, sipping coffee and indulging in pastries.

Du An couldn’t take his eyes off the Mont Blanc on the table. The pale-yellow dessert, shaped like a bundle of threads, was dusted with fine powdered sugar and topped with a roasted chestnut. Its cuteness made his heart melt.

He had seen the snack shop staff enjoying this dessert during afternoon tea on a livestream, and he had been salivating at the sight. Never did he imagine he’d have the chance to eat it himself.

Carefully, he lifted a small silver spoon and scooped up a bit of the chestnut paste, revealing the creamy filling beneath. After a moment’s pause, he scooped a bit deeper, taking both the cream and chestnut paste together into his mouth. The moment the rich, sweet flavor spread across his tongue, it melted almost instantly.

The earthy, rich flavor of the chestnut, combined with the light, smooth texture of the cream, created a perfect balance. Du An felt as if his whole body had become lighter, his mood as soft and relaxed as a cloud.

Li Shasha, watching Du An’s blissful expression, couldn’t help but laugh. He was so lost in the dessert.

She knew the sweets would be delicious, but under the scrutiny of the camera, she tried to hold back a bit. After all, this ad would be shown across the region, and she didn’t want to leave behind an embarrassing, high-definition moment.

With that in mind, she carefully scooped up a bit of the tiramisu. Before it even reached her mouth, the rich aroma of coffee liqueur and cocoa powder captured her senses.

Unable to resist, she leaned in and took a deep breath.

The bitterness of the coffee and cocoa mixed together, forming an unusually enticing scent. As the cocoa powder melted on her tongue, the bitter flavor hadn’t fully faded before the soft, creamy mascarpone cheese and coffee-soaked ladyfingers took over, delivering a perfectly balanced blend of sweet and slightly crunchy textures.

Li Shasha’s eyes brightened, her legs under the table stretching out in unconscious delight, her shoulders rising and slowly relaxing again. It was just too good!

Chen Meiyue, on the other hand, was savoring the matcha mille-feuille. The soft, layered pastry, lightly coated with cream, had thin layers interspersed with a bit of sweet red bean paste, and the surface was dusted with a fresh green layer of matcha powder.

The tea had a rich, full-bodied flavor—fragrant without being bitter—perfectly balancing the sweetness of the cream and honeyed red beans. Paired with coffee, it was the ideal afternoon tea.

Du Chen had chosen the strawberry mousse. The pink, plump dessert was topped with a swirl of cream and crowned with a juicy, vibrant strawberry. The fresh fruit burst with flavor, while the mousse itself was soft and delicate, somewhere between jelly and ice cream. As he took a bite, the sweetness, combined with the intense strawberry aroma, filled his mouth. He leaned back in his chair with a satisfied sigh.

Bliss.

The four customers were so immersed in the joy of their afternoon tea that they didn’t notice how quiet the room had become. Everyone else, apart from Lu Yao, was subconsciously swallowing, their eyes filled with longing as if the deliciousness had become tangible.

Thankfully, the scene was finally finished.

Afterward, Lu Yao approached Du Chen and the others, offering to compensate them for appearing in the ad. They refused, thanking her instead for giving them such a perfect afternoon.

As they left the snack shop, Du Chen suddenly said, “Let’s move to District A.”

Du An immediately agreed without hesitation.

Li Shasha and Chen Meiyue were also discussing moving. They already lived in District A, but a bit too far from the 99th floor. Now, they were planning to move closer.

Once the customers had left, Lu Yao brought out another batch of pastries to share with her staff and Gao Yang’s team.

Xiao Qi and Ren Min’s attitude toward Lu Yao had shifted from aloof and indifferent to warm and enthusiastic—all thanks to a single Mont Blanc pastry. Reflecting on their earlier behavior, they felt a bit embarrassed and awkward. They should have realized that a snack shop worthy of the conductor’s admiration was anything but ordinary.

They chatted with Lu Yao as they enjoyed their desserts and coffee, inwardly grateful for the chance to come along for this task.

Quan Shengju sat by the window upstairs, savoring his piece of tiramisu, taking small bites and eating slowly. In his previous life, he had worked hard, earning a decent salary, but his large family had depended on him. With parents unable to work and younger siblings to support, he could never justify spending on such indulgences.

He never imagined that in this world, he’d have the chance to taste such delicacies.

The bittersweet flavor reminded him of his previous life—mostly bitter, with only a hint of sweetness. Now, he hoped that, like the dessert, his future would hold more sweetness than bitterness.

As afternoon tea wound down, Gao Yang took several special set meals prepared by Lu Yao, intending to visit the E District sanatorium. He wanted to film a transformation scene, capturing the before-and-after states of the patients who had eaten the snack shop’s food—a much more powerful message than any empty advertisement.

Lu Yao walked him to the door and casually mentioned, “We’re celebrating our new chef’s official hire tonight with a staff dinner. If you’d like, you can join us for the meal.”

Gao Yang’s eyebrows lifted in interest, and he quickly responded, “Of course! What’s on the menu?”

The familiarity in his tone was obvious.

Lu Yao smiled. “Boiled fish in hot chili oil and maybe some grilled skewers on the side.”

Xiao Qi and Ren Min popped their heads out from behind Gao Yang, blinking wide-eyed at Lu Yao. “Boss, we’d love to join too!”

Feigning hesitation, Lu Yao furrowed her brow, “One more person is fine, but three? That’s a big difference.”

The two pleaded pitifully, “We don’t eat much, really!”

Lu Yao waved them off with a smile. “Alright then. We’ll start around six-thirty.”

Xiao Qi and Ren Min quickly grabbed Gao Yang and practically raced down the stairs, eager not to miss dinner.

…

Once the guests had left, Qi Chen came downstairs and handed Lu Yao a slip of paper he’d crafted using illusion magic. It listed a few ingredients.

“I’m thinking of capitalizing on the video ad’s momentum by introducing a few new desserts. These ingredients aren’t too expensive. Do you think you could make it work?” Qi Chen asked, somewhat apprehensively.

He knew Lu Yao’s financial situation was tight. The money Bai Ming and the others had collected from the amusement park still sat on the kitchen shelf, untouched. But the opportunity presented by this advertisement was too good to pass up. Even though the population in this world was less than a tenth of what it had been before, it was still a vast potential market.

If his amusement park had ever had the opportunity for such a partnership before, Qi Chen would have been thrilled beyond belief, laughing in his sleep at the thought.

Lu Yao might not yet grasp the magnitude of this promotion for the snack shop, but he did. Launching new products during the promotion period was basic marketing strategy, and he didn’t want to waste this golden opportunity.

Besides, when they filmed upstairs, the expressions of happiness on the customers’ faces as they enjoyed the exquisite pastries had made Qi Chen a little envious. He, too, wanted to create pastries like that, not just simple cream cookies.

Lu Yao had experience with baking, so after glancing at the ingredients list, she had a rough idea. “We can buy them, but it’ll have to be limited,” she said.

Qi Chen, who was like a child eagerly asking for a toy, couldn’t believe his luck at first, then burst into excitement. “Great!”

…

The filming at the sanatorium was a big success. Shui Ninghua, upon hearing the conductor’s purpose, was more than willing to cooperate. With the patients’ consent to appear on camera, the filming process went smoother than silk.

After finishing, the conductor and his team returned to the snack shop for a celebratory meal.

Later that night, after feeling stuffed, they headed back to the office to work on editing the footage immediately. Xiao Qi and Ren Min, having enjoyed the staff meal, became even more respectful toward Lu Yao—she was basically their future provider. They were eager to get the short video out quickly. The trio worked for three days and nights straight and finally finished the clip.

Xiao Qi delivered a copy to the snack shop, while other copies were distributed to every district’s train stations.

Three days later, Dreamland’s first-ever video advertisement debuted across all thirteen districts, playing on every train route with great fanfare.

…

Mo Cheng and Yu Cai ran a small company called “Idle Thoughts and Daydreams Agency.” Their main business was, quite literally, idling and daydreaming at scheduled times each day. Occasionally, they’d allow clients showing early signs of soul-loss syndrome to join them, helping to release stress and alleviate symptoms.

To replicate the feeling of a real job, they rented an office in District D’s central area. Every morning, they would take the subway to work at 8:30 a.m., spend the day idling at the office, and then clock out at 5 p.m. sharp.

In the beginning, it really did feel like a regular job—leaving early, coming home late, feeling tired but fulfilled.

But after a few months, people began quitting.

At its peak, their company had almost a hundred employees, but now fewer than twenty remained. Even worse, Mo Cheng and Yu Cai themselves were starting to feel bored. The topics of conversation had been rehashed countless times, and every game had been played to exhaustion. Even the daily commute on the subway, once filled with interesting sights, had started to follow a monotonous rhythm.

When the train first launched, it had caused a sensation. People would line up for hours, eager to experience it. Even if they were crammed inside like sardines, they were happy. Riding the train to a different district was new and exciting, something to brag about to friends for days.

But now, most passengers sat in silence, looking bored.

In the endless stretch of time, everything eventually became tiresome.

As the train doors opened, Yu Cai and Mo Cheng entered as usual, casually finding seats. Since this was the train’s starting point, the car was empty.

Yu Cai sat down, preparing to zone out, when her gaze swept across the walls and caught a bright new color. Surprised, she looked up, her expression slightly stunned.

The train walls were now adorned with new wallpaper: pink flowering trees grew along a riverbank, with tranquil blue waters below. It evoked a sense of springtime—a season long absent from their world.

Yu Cai’s mood lifted slightly.

This world had no seasons; spring, summer, fall, and winter all felt the same.

At that moment, the train began to move, and many passengers folded their arms, ready to take a nap.

Suddenly, the small screens on both sides of the carriage lit up.

What’s going on?

A live broadcast?

A look of confusion appeared in the passengers’ eyes.

The screens on the train had never been used before—they had always thought they were just for show.

After a brief blue screen, an image appeared.

Yu Cai, initially just curious, instinctively stared at the screen, wondering if the amusement park had partnered with the train conductor to broadcast something, and whether even the trains would start hosting live streams.

If that was the case, she thought, she might stop riding the train altogether.

Yu Cai wasn’t a fan of the overly intense entertainment provided by the amusement parks.

She watched with a critical eye for about a minute before she found herself sitting up straighter, unable to take her eyes off the small screen. To her surprise, it was a food program.

The reactions of the people around her were much the same. Some were even more excited than she was, unconsciously licking their lips, impatiently tapping their feet. Others kept asking their companions, “Are they eating? Where is this? Is it a game or real life? Can we go there too?”

One companion pushed the other aside, grumbling, “How should I know? Don’t block my view.”

On the screen, two young people finished sharing all the food on the table. The girl with glasses suddenly leaned over to the window, her voice filled with excitement: “What’s going on with this window? Are those flowers real? They look like they’re about to bloom.”

The next second, everyone on the train saw what the girl was seeing.

It was a river, quietly flowing, with banks lined with flowering trees, their pink hues overwhelming.

The camera slowly zoomed back, focusing on a row of small, plump succulents on the windowsill. The young man in the video exclaimed with delight, “These are so cute!”

Yu Cai’s heart skipped a beat, and the train car erupted with murmurs. The scenery through the window looked exactly like the new wallpaper in the train, but the video’s view was even more breathtaking.

Countless people were now wondering: where was this place? Was it a game or a real location?

The scene then shifted to a new setting.

The familiar window reappeared, but this time, two men and two women sat around a table. From their expressions, they didn’t seem to know each other well, as if they were strangers suddenly brought together.

A server appeared and placed four cups of what looked like coffee, along with four exquisitely crafted desserts.

…

“What the heck! Where is this? Is this a game? Which amusement park is it? I’m going right now!”

“Holy crap! That looks so good! That tiramisu looks amazing!”

“The strawberry burst with juice! I can’t take this anymore!!!”

As the train stopped at the station, more passengers rushed in, only to be immediately drawn to the glowing screens on both sides of the car.

The four people on-screen finished their desserts, and the scene shifted once again.

A person was shown taking food from a mysterious small shop to visit a friend in a sanatorium who was suffering from soul-loss syndrome.

The patient’s eyes were dull, and even through the screen, one could feel the heavy, lifeless aura surrounding him, as if he were on the brink of death.

The caretaker handed him a food box, and the patient’s gaze flickered slightly before he accepted it and took a bite. His eyes lit up immediately, and he continued to eat, one bite after another.

As the box emptied, the deathly aura around him gradually dissipated.

At last, he clutched the empty food box, repeatedly asking, “Is there more? Really, no more?”

Suddenly, someone in the train car said, “I think I know where this is!”

No one paid attention to him. Countless pairs of eyes were glued to the small screens.

In the final shot, the camera pulled back to reveal a distant view of a small shop. A line of golden words slowly appeared from the upper right corner:

“Congratulations! You’ve discovered the Little Canteen at the Edge of the World.”

🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️