Ch 115: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World

Golden sunlight slanted through the window, casting a warm glow on the floor a foot away from the bed.

Lu Yao lay on her side in a light blue nightgown, nestled into her pillow with long, slow breaths. Her black hair framed her cheek, and a light orange blanket was draped loosely over her waist.

Three little furballs crawled up and down on her, their meows soft and sweet.

The kittens, trained by Tiger Cub, were surprisingly self-sufficient and didn’t usually roam around; at night, they could stay at the nail salon without needing to be caged.

With their cat tags, they had access to special spaces.

Tape, Sugar, and Pounce made it a habit to come every morning to wake Lu Yao. Their wake-up techniques included but were not limited to tugging her hair, licking her fingers, meowing, or treating her like a jungle gym, climbing all over her, rolling and playing.

Sometimes, when they got tired, they’d cuddle up and nap beside her for a little longer.

This morning, the three were unusually energetic.

Lu Yao’s brows furrowed as warmth and fuzziness settled on her neck, feeling like a heated, sticky patch, bringing a slight irritation.

She slowly opened her eyes and glanced downward.

As expected, Pounce had nestled himself against her neck, tail swishing back and forth as he earnestly licked her hair.

Reaching out, Lu Yao lifted the black-and-white “sesame dumpling” to the edge of the bed, turned over, and tried to fall back asleep.

Tape, seeming a bit tired from playing, was next to her pillow, slowly licking his paws.

Sugar, thinking she was awake, approached in tiny steps, rubbing his head against her cheek with a gentle meow.

Lu Yao held him close, gently petting him, and he stopped meowing, contentedly purring.

After a while, a damp, ticklish sensation came from her feet.

Along with a familiar, scratchy feeling, Lu Yao half-sat up, tightly curling her toes.

It was ticklish.

Pounce was licking her foot again.

The little one licked and muttered to himself, seemingly rambling on about something first thing in the morning.

With her drowsiness fully gone, Lu Yao, unable to scold him, sat there for a moment, suddenly remembering she hadn’t had a chance to test out the “Telepathy” skill yesterday—now was the perfect time to check what was going on in Pounce’s mind.

She leaned forward, grabbed Pounce, and held him in her hands.

“Telepathy” was an active skill; the first requirement was to touch the target, and the skill would only activate if the user genuinely wanted to hear the other’s thoughts.

Lu Yao focused on Pounce, trying to use “Telepathy”—but after several seconds, nothing happened.

Pounce squirmed, trying to jump from her grasp.

Unwilling to give up, Lu Yao kept petting him, thinking this skill better not be broken.

Why was there no reaction at all?

Pounce struggled a few more times, then gave up, settling down to lick Lu Yao’s fingers, letting out a soft meow here and there.

He really did have a remarkable level of patience.

Lu Yao smiled, finding the little kitten truly healing.

Suddenly, a proud, childish voice burst into her mind.

It was much like the system’s voice speaking in her head, but with a different tone.

She froze in surprise, delighted to realize that it seemed to be Pounce’s voice.

“Hmph, I’m the boss here! prprprpr~” Pounce kept licking Lu Yao’s fingers, intermittently proclaiming his “big boss” status.

Lu Yao: “…”

So, all this time, his obsession with licking her hair, toes, and hands was just to prove he was the boss.

Lu Yao recalled how he always loved to roll onto the floor whenever she passed by the pet shop, seizing every chance to nuzzle up to her.

She had thought Pounce was especially fond of her and just wanted to be close to her.

It likes me—one of life’s three big misconceptions.

Lu Yao laughed, holding Pounce as his thoughts were translated into human language and streamed directly into her mind.

“Lu Yao. Little underling. prprprpr~”

Oh dear, you’re going to run out of saliva, little guy. Take a break.

With a playful glint in her eyes, Lu Yao lifted Pounce, pretending to lean in and lick him.

Pounce: “!!!”

He froze in place, closing his eyes tightly.

Lu Yao was cracking up inside, amused at his reaction. After letting the frightened Pounce down, she turned to pet Sugar, who was rolling around playfully beside her.

Sugar stretched his paws out, rubbing his head against her hand as he rolled, then stood up to sniff her, eventually licking her hand too.

…Sugar, do you want to be the boss as well?

Who would’ve guessed, with how sweet he is? He has a hidden side too.

The telepathy skill had a slight delay, taking a few seconds to activate.

Sure enough, after a moment, a different childish voice sounded in Lu Yao’s mind.

Sugar’s voice wasn’t like Pounce’s; while Pounce sounded like a mischievous little boy, Sugar’s voice was soft and gentle, like a refined young gentleman.

“I like big sister.”

!!!

Lu Yao’s heart melted; he was so precious.

I like you too, little darling.

It turns out when cats lick humans’ hands, they each have their own reasons.

The experience was surreal.

Lu Yao stroked Sugar a few more times, then reached for the still-sleeping Tape.

What could this little sleepyhead be thinking about?

After a few minutes, she didn’t hear any thoughts from Tape.

It seemed that kittens’ minds were blank while they slept.

Glancing at the time, she realized it was almost twenty minutes later than usual and quickly got up to wash up.

Ji Feiming had already brought breakfast, and the four adult cats had been sent to the pet shop.

As they ate, Lu Yao’s gaze landed briefly on Harold, Si Jin, and Tina.

She wondered if her animal telepathy would work on dragons?

Harold set down his bowl, frowning slightly as his deep blue eyes looked over at her. “What’s up?”

Lu Yao: “Oh, nothing. Hurry and finish your food—you’ll be late to Dragon Valley.”

“If I weren’t waiting for you to have breakfast, I’d never be late.” Harold grumbled, dissatisfied.

Lu Yao’s schedule was always packed; she almost always returned to the nail salon to rest only late at night.

At some point, the salon’s non-human staff had developed the habit of waiting to have breakfast with her, as if it were a daily ritual.

It was tough reading dragons’ minds anyway.

Besides, Harold wore his feelings on his face; she didn’t need telepathy to understand him.

After breakfast, Lu Yao returned to her room to collect the kittens. It was time for work.

The three were tightly curled up together beside her pillow, still sound asleep.

Tape hadn’t woken up at all.

Like human babies, kittens loved eating, sleeping, and being adorable.

Carrying the pet carrier, Lu Yao couldn’t wait to get to the pet shop.

She wanted to know what the big cats were thinking, especially Queen Erxin.

By the time Lu Yao arrived, there were already customers in the shop.

The four adult cats were busy “working,” and as soon as the three kittens appeared, customers eager for some kitty time immediately gathered around.

Tape, Sugar, and Pounce gradually woke up, rolled over, and yawned in place.

The customers looked entranced, their expressions melting with affection.

Since they were all on duty, Lu Yao figured she wouldn’t be able to tune into their thoughts for the time being.

She decided to check on the kitchen, where Ji Feiming would be helping after finishing his delivery.

He was looking after customers in the main hall, while Qingmei was busy in the kitchen.

Qingmei’s cooking skills were slightly better than Ji Feiming’s, and with high-quality seafood available, she didn’t need to use complicated techniques. While the owner wasn’t around, she took care of the customers’ orders.

When Lu Yao walked in, Qingmei was slicing fish, with freshly caught sea urchins soaking in the sink.

“Shop owner, the tank water seems a bit different from the seawater outside.” Qingmei mentioned that while catching fish in the morning, she felt that the tank water was oddly pristine, despite it supposedly being drawn directly from the sea.

Standing by the tank, Lu Yao blinked. “Why do I feel like they’ve grown a lot bigger?”

Last night, she had poured a small amount of nutrient solution into the tank to purify the water quality.

Before using it, she tested the nutrient solution several times in a small bucket.

The system confirmed that the solution could purify seawater and had no adverse effects on fish, so she decided to use a little in the tank.

Qingmei nodded, “So it wasn’t just my imagination.”

Lu Yao called up the system, “What’s going on? The fish won’t start mutating, right?”

After a moment, the system responded: 【…You added too much nutrient solution; the fish overindulged.】

Lu Yao: “…Are you sure it’s okay?”

System: 【After changing the water, add just one drop every three days. It will purify the water and provide nutrition for the fish.】

Reassured, Lu Yao picked up a slice of fish from the cutting board to taste. It was fresh, sweet, and crisp, with an even better texture than before.

“Yep, it’s fine and still delicious,” Lu Yao said, nodding in satisfaction and reassuring Qingmei. “The tank water is indeed different from seawater—it’s filtered to remove impurities, and the nutrient solution is added to enrich it. The fish feed is specially formulated, so it’s normal for them to grow plumper. No need to worry.”

Seeing her eat the sashimi without hesitation, Qingmei was halfway reassured.

She tried a piece herself, her eyes lighting up at the sweetness and crunch—it lifted her spirits instantly.

These fish were indeed fine.

Lu Yao then cracked open a sea urchin, cleaned it, and scooped out a large portion with a small wooden spoon.

Golden yellow in color, it was rich and creamy, with a delicate sweetness—slightly tastier than yesterday’s batch.

Just then, a commotion erupted outside, with someone screaming.

Lu Yao put down her spoon and ran out.

Customers and the shop’s furry assistants clung tightly to each other, staring upward in terror, as if they’d seen something horrifying.

Lu Yao looked up, her pupils contracting, heart racing, as a chill ran from her feet to her spine.

The sea creature above was massive, nearly comparable in size to Little Black Dragon’s true form.

And here in the water, the overwhelming sense of its presence was enough to induce despair.

After a brief shock, Lu Yao studied it closely.

It appeared to be an adult humpback whale. She secretly let out a breath of relief.

Humpback whales, though huge, belong to the baleen family; they have no teeth and feed mostly on small fish and shrimp, making them far gentler than the notorious orcas.

The humpback whale was singing a soft, echoing song, as if it were simply passing through this area to feed.

Feeling more at ease, Lu Yao called out to the customers, assuring them there was no need to panic—the whale would swim by soon.

The adult humpback whale, over ten meters long, cast a giant shadow over the shop as it glided slowly overhead.

Qingmei came out from the kitchen, looking up at the whale as it turned and began to swim back toward the shop, and said in a surprised voice, “It’s the same one, here again.”

Lu Yao was busy calming the guests and didn’t quite catch that. “What did you say?”

Qingmei walked over to explain, “This is the same visitor that came yesterday. It lingered outside for a long time, waiting, but left quietly when you didn’t return.”

She had mentioned this before, but Lu Yao had assumed it was just a regular customer stopping by for some kitty time.

Lu Yao asked, “…How do you know it was looking for me? Can you understand what it’s saying?”

Qingmei shook her head, “It came early yesterday, and there weren’t many customers. It kept circling outside, and after watching for a while, I thought its behavior was similar to that of the orca who sometimes visits the shop.”

Sure enough, the humpback whale slowly turned and began approaching the shop again. As it drew near, it started singing.

Lu Yao sensed that Qingmei’s guess might be right.

But the whale had no fishing nets, plastic, or ropes entangling it, so it was unclear what it needed help with.

Lu Yao quickly changed into her diving suit, preparing to go out.

The customers, seeing the shop owner ready to venture out, were all stunned—this was on a whole new level.

Even though humans weren’t on the humpback whale’s menu, its size was intimidating; a mere brush against it in the water could easily cause serious injury.

Lu Yao opened the shop door and slowly swam out.

The humpback whale quickly noticed her, swimming close and stopping right in front of her, letting out a gentle “Oooh—”

These deep-sea giants were surprisingly good at these soft, cooing sounds.

Lu Yao circled around it, finding no visible injuries, with no clue as to what this massive sea creature wanted.

“Oooh—oooh—” The humpback whale looked at her kindly, its gaze seemingly full of wisdom.

It almost seemed to be communicating with her.

An idea struck Lu Yao, and she slowly extended her hand as if wanting to touch it.

The whale gently swayed its tail, not moving away, continuing its song-like sounds.

Whether it was her imagination or not, Lu Yao thought she detected a hint of happiness in its call.

Her fingers touched the whale’s massive, smooth skin, and a wave of excitement ran through her. Silently, she used her telepathy skill on it.

Not entirely sure it would work, she waited about ten seconds, and then a magnetic, gentle voice sounded in her mind.

Its speech was slow and rhythmic, with a strangely captivating cadence.

Lu Yao finally understood why it had come.

🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️

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