Ch 142: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World

“Observing from afar brings new understanding.” Lu Yao slowly read the words on the paper, her fingertips tracing the cloud patterns. “This hint is really abstract.”

When was it ever not?

The system grumbled internally but dared not voice its thoughts.

Lu Yao picked up the unfinished bucket of fruit and stood up, turning back toward the fishing room. “The way this mission was completed is also strange. Why did it succeed just because I named the sea? If this sea originally had no name, why was such a mission issued? System, explain yourself. Where is the basic trust between a person and their system?”

The system had no choice but to respond. “…Uh.”

Lu Yao raised an eyebrow. “Uh?”

The system hesitated. “…Hmm.”

Lu Yao narrowed her eyes. “Hmm?”

The system finally relented. “…After analysis, there is no issue with the mission. Trash… I mean, Eden Sea originally did have a name.”

Lu Yao frowned. “Then how did I successfully rename it?”

The system hesitated before offering a theory. “I suspect that your power overrode the original name, erasing it and replacing it with the one you chose.”

Lu Yao paused. “My… power?”

The system explained, “You have already opened four stores in different worlds to accumulate the power needed to fulfill your wish. Simply put, it’s ‘wish power.’ The fact that this mission was completed in such an unusual way is likely related to the strength of your wish power.”

Lu Yao considered this. “Wish power? I’ve never heard of that before.”

The system hesitated again. “…Based on past patterns, a wish granter usually only develops such overwhelming strength when mission progress reaches 80 to 90 percent.”

This situation had caught even the system off guard.

It reconsidered everything carefully. Something unexpected must have happened during the time when the shop owner and the system had lost contact.

The pearl necklace and the waterdrop seals were proof, but it couldn’t ask questions. It had to pretend it was still in control.

Lu Yao accepted the explanation. Before entering the shop, she glanced back at the sea.

Eden Sea was the divine domain of the Deep Sea Goddess, surrounded by a special barrier that restricted the movement of Little Pet Cafe guests within its bounds.

After the cafe expanded to the surface, guests could now move freely above the water as well.

However, no matter which city a guest came from, once they surfaced, they would always see the familiar coastline of their hometown.

Each person saw a different coastline, but they could only look at it—they could never truly reach it. This added to the growing urban legends about the Little Pet Cafe.

Not far away, the seal guardians were guiding guests to pry open oysters under the reefs, search for sea snails, and catch sea hares.

As Lu Yao had expected, the waterdrop seals could handle most of the tasks required of ordinary staff.

They couldn’t speak, but they understood human language and followed orders with discipline.

They were not only capable of working as cafe assistants and protecting guests, but their presence alone provided comfort and healing. They were, without a doubt, the ultimate part-time worker seals.

Once she found a chef and a phone operator, the Little Pet Cafe would basically run itself.

Lu Yao held the small clue-filled slip of paper and descended the stairs, heading back to the main cafe to ask Ji Feiming about recruiting staff.

Passing by the jellyfish fields, she noticed the waterdrop seals playing around and stopped in her tracks.

Why were they playing during work hours?

Lu Yao leaned against the transparent barrier and watched them for a while, her expression slowly becoming more complicated.

The waterdrop seals were rolling around in the water, seemingly fighting over something—something pure white, slender, and stick-like.

It looked just like the strange bones she had been collecting.

She had felt that something was missing from this mission’s completion. It was these bones.

Lu Yao left the Little Pet Cafe and swam toward the jellyfish fields, intercepting the bone halfway.

The little seals blinked their round eyes at her, staring in confusion.

Lu Yao picked up the bone and examined it. It was indeed the same type she had been collecting. “Where did you find this?”

The nearest waterdrop seal let out a soft whimper. Lu Yao couldn’t understand, so she activated telepathic communication.

Waterdrop Seal: “Jellyfish Fields.”

Lu Yao shook the bone in her hand and asked again, “Do you like this a lot?”

The waterdrop seal nodded. “It smells nice, very fragrant.”

Lu Yao sighed. “…Alright, extra dried fish for supper tonight, and I’ll get you new toys tomorrow. Can I have this bone in exchange?”

The waterdrop seal barely hesitated. Its dark, glossy eyes were filled with anticipation. “Have… one… just like Lu… Yao… give to Lu Yao… like little toys.”

“Thank you.” Lu Yao rubbed the little seal’s round, chubby belly before storing the bone in her personal inventory.

Back at the cafe, she headed straight to the kitchen and found Ji Feiming. “Xiao Ji.”

Ji Feiming was in the middle of preparing sashimi. The moment he heard her voice, he stopped what he was doing. “Boss.”

“Any progress on hiring staff?”

Ji Feiming nodded. “Yes, it’s settled—four people in total. But they’re in different cities and will arrive together in Yaoguang City in three days.”

Talking about this, Ji Feiming felt frustrated.

If he were still a divine emissary, things wouldn’t have turned out this way.

He had contacted his clan multiple times before getting a response, and in the end, only four people were willing to come.

Ji Feiming had spent the first half of his life in effortless ease, but only now was he beginning to understand what it meant to be met with indifference.

Lu Yao paused when she heard there were four people and then suggested, “They haven’t left yet, right? Then they don’t all need to come.”

Ji Feiming was startled.

Lu Yao continued, “I’m only hiring two people. There’s no need for all of them to come. How about this—I’ll chat with your clan members online first, and whoever is genuinely interested in working at the cafe can come.”

If she simply posted a job listing for shop assistants in a commercial district, there probably wouldn’t be much competition, and the position also required a strict confidentiality contract. Having people travel from different cities just for an in-person interview seemed unnecessarily formal, especially when there was no guarantee of hiring them.

She didn’t need highly skilled professionals—personality and character were her top priorities.

A brief conversation would be enough to get a rough impression.

Ji Feiming personally wanted all four of them to come to Yaoguang City. Only by meeting the shop owner in person would his clan members understand his efforts.

But during this contact with his clan, he had also learned that someone in his family had found a young child with potential to inherit a divine position. That child was in Tianshu City.

As a former divine emissary, he should be heading to Tianshu City to find an opportunity to serve the future deity. Yet, recently, Ji Feiming had started having strange thoughts.

Traveling between different worlds with the shop owner every day seemed far more interesting than being a divine emissary. He wanted to see where this street would eventually lead.

Perhaps because of this, his clan no longer treated him as they once did.

Still…

Ji Feiming couldn’t help but wonder—if that child in Tianshu City was truly meant to inherit the divine position, their path to ascension wouldn’t be an easy one.

He couldn’t say why, but his instincts as a former emissary told him something felt off.

“Xiao Ji? Hey, old man?” Lu Yao waved a hand in front of Ji Feiming’s face.

Ji Feiming snapped out of his thoughts, lowering his eyes to hide his momentary distraction. “Apologies, Boss.”

Lu Yao waved it off. “So, what do you think? I want to finalize everything for Little Pet Cafe soon since I’m preparing for my next store.”

Ji Feiming’s eyes flashed with barely restrained curiosity. “You’re opening another shop?”

Lu Yao nodded. “Mid-Autumn Festival is coming up. I’m planning to open no later than right after the festival. There’s a lot to do before then.”

Ji Feiming pushed aside his earlier thoughts and immediately sent Lu Yao the WeChat contacts of the four younger clan members.

A fifth shop. What kind of world would it be this time?

And what kind of business was the shop owner planning?

Ji Feiming was dying of curiosity but held back his questions.

Mid-Autumn wasn’t far off.

---

Tianji City.

In a dark room, a small screen flickered to life as a phone buzzed repeatedly.

Ji Zhixin pulled the blanket over her eyes, covering her ears to block out the noise.

But the phone refused to let up, the notification sound chiming over and over.

With a heavy sigh, Ji Zhixin finally picked up her phone. In the chat named “Ji Zhi,” messages were flooding in nonstop.

It was a private chat group for the direct descendants of the Ji family’s “Zhi” generation, separate from the larger family group. There were only ten members.

Ji Zhixin rarely spoke in the group chat, and the others were usually busy as well. Aside from New Year’s and religious festival periods, the chat was almost completely silent.

But today, it was unusually noisy.

Ji Zhixin unlocked the screen and saw the group flooded with complaints.

Ji Zhixiang: Help! What is Uncle Ming even thinking? Who else got invited to that interview?

Ji Zhile: Defeated.JPG

Ji Zhile: Just finished talking with the boss. I can’t believe it—it’s a pet shop hiring a phone operator, and Uncle Ming actually told my mom it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity…

Ji Zhixiang: To be honest, the boss seems nice. She explained the job and salary in detail. I just don’t get what Uncle Ming is thinking. Why would he introduce a job like this to the family?

Ji Zhile: My mom said the clan didn’t even want to let people go at first. Uncle Ming kept pressuring the clan leader until they finally picked a few unlucky ones like us for the interview. Then somehow, the boss agreed to chat with us online first. Thank god—otherwise, we would’ve wasted a trip for nothing.

Ji Zhiqing: Help! I just got a friend request. The note says ‘Lu Yao from Little Pet Cafe.’ What should I do? What should I do?

Ji Zhixiang: Just accept it. Uncle Ming introduced her, after all. The boss is easygoing. Even if you refuse, she won’t push you.

Ji Zhile: I think there’s something weird about her. How hard is it to find a phone operator? No idea how she even convinced Uncle Ming.

Ji Zhixun: What are you guys talking about?

Ji Zhile: Xunxun, how’s it going? Did you meet the young heir?

Ji Zhixun: No, the heir has only met Uncle Feichen so far. Uncle Ming just came to see me, said someone would add me later and told me to be polite. Do you guys know what it’s about?

Ji Zhile: Uncle Ming is insane!!! Does he not know you went to Tianshu City with Uncle Feichen?

Ji Zhixiang: Xunxun, it’s the job Uncle Ming recommended. The person adding you should be the pet shop owner.

Ji Zhixun: ???

Ji Zhiqing: I overheard my mom on the phone yesterday. She said Uncle Ming found a delivery job in Yaoguang City, refuses to come back, and even settled down there…

The group chat went strangely silent for a few minutes.

Ji Zhixiang: Zhiqing, how did your chat with the boss go?

Ji Zhiqing: Huh? I turned it down. I had already taken leave to go home, so now I’m just taking a couple of days off, haha.

Ji Zhixiang: Did the boss contact Xunxun yet?

Ji Zhixun: She added me but hasn’t messaged. Zhixin just asked me about it, so I passed it to him.

Ji Zhile: Why is Zhixin asking about this?

The conversation stopped there.

In Ji Zhixin’s pitch-dark room, the sound of a key turning in the lock echoed from outside. Someone stepped into the entryway, changed their shoes, and set down groceries they had bought after work. After going to the bedroom to change clothes, they headed to the bathroom to wash their face and hands before returning and pushing open his door.

Ji Feirong stood at the doorway, reaching out to switch on the light. “Zhixin, are you hungry? I bought chicken wings and crab. How about crab stew for dinner?”

Ji Zhixin leaned against the bed, gripping the sheets as he tried to move into his wheelchair. But his legs felt as heavy as iron, completely unresponsive.

His shoulders slumped. “Mom, I found a job.”

Ji Feirong froze, then quickly walked to the bedside. “What are you talking about? In your condition, how could you work? Are you being stubborn again? How many times have I told you not to overthink things…”

“Mom!” Ji Zhixin frowned slightly, holding back many words that nearly slipped out. In the end, he swallowed them all and forced himself to stay calm. “Uncle Ming introduced this job. Only the ‘Zhi’ generation in the family knows about it. I’ve already contacted the boss. The job is in Yaoguang City. I’m leaving tomorrow.”

Ji Feirong clenched her hands at her waist, relaxing and tightening her grip repeatedly. “I’ve told you so many times, why won’t you listen? What more do you want from me? In your condition, what kind of work can you even do? No matter where you go, you’ll just be a burden…”

“The boss said I have a good personality and that I’m a perfect fit for the job.”

Ji Zhixin pretended not to see the pain and regret in Ji Feirong’s eyes, keeping his tone steady.

Ji Feirong turned and left the room. Ji Zhixin heard her making a call.

It was probably to Ji Feiming.

A few minutes later, Ji Feirong returned. Her expression had softened a little. “Just treat it as a trip to relax. Stay there for ten days or so. When you’ve had enough fun, I’ll come pick you up.”

“Mom, please help me pack a few sets of clothes.” Ji Zhixin remained calm from start to finish.

His legs were weak, making it impossible for him to go anywhere alone.

He wasn’t sure why he had asked Ji Zhixun for that contact information—he just felt tired of staying here, like he wanted to escape. Any excuse would do.

But he hadn’t lied. The young woman on the other end of the screen had indeed said he had a good personality and was well-suited for a phone operator job.

He just didn’t know how she would react when she saw his legs.

A faint sense of guilt crept in, but he didn’t want to examine or analyze it.

He knew better than anyone—Ji Zhixin was a mess of a person.

---

Ji Feiming only found out that Lu Yao had chosen Ji Zhixin when he got a call from Ji Feirong. But he had never recommended this junior.

He wasn’t sure if Lu Yao knew about Ji Zhixin’s condition. After hesitating for a while, he dialed her number.

“Hello, what’s up?” The shop owner’s voice carried a hint of amusement, and in the background, he could hear Harold arguing with someone.

Ji Feiming clenched the armrest of the sofa with his free hand. “Boss, it’s me.”

“I know, caller ID exists.”

“I heard you picked Zhixin.”

“Oh, right. Your other younger clan members weren’t quite suited for the job. Ji Zhixin approached me on his own. We talked for a few minutes—he seemed like a good fit and was willing to come.” Lu Yao’s words were carefully chosen.

The Ji family, having once served the divine, was nothing if not decisive and composed. They left no room for criticism, which almost made her give up.

In the end, she agreed to take Ji Zhixin not just because he was more suitable than the others, but because of his eyes—they were too similar to the reclusive fish she had met in Eden Sea.

Besides, picking at least one person would be a way to give Ji Feiming an answer.

From her tone, Ji Feiming immediately knew something had gone wrong.

The Ji clan was always proud. The shop owner had likely expected things wouldn’t go smoothly from the start.

His emotions were in turmoil. “Boss, I’m sorry. There’s something you might not know about Zhixin. He was once the most promising member of the ‘Zhi’ generation. But five years ago, something happened. Since then, his legs have been weak, and he can’t walk properly.”

There was a brief silence on the other end. Then he heard Lu Yao say, “Ambrose, Edward, this mooncake design is way too extravagant—rejected.”

The next moment, her voice was back, close and clear. “Got it. How about we go pick him up at the airport tomorrow?”

Ji Feiming was caught off guard. “Huh?”

Lu Yao continued, “Tomorrow, I want to visit a dessert shop in the city. We can pick up Ji Zhixin on the way. What do you think?”

Ji Feiming didn’t understand the shop owner’s thought process, but one thing was clear—she didn’t care that Ji Zhixin’s legs didn’t work. The weight pressing on his heart slowly eased.

He lowered his voice. “Alright. Thank you.”

After ending the call, Ji Feiming sat in silence for a long time.

Life had its ups and downs too quickly. He hadn’t even fully processed it, yet now the younger generation was already brushing him off.

Being a divine emissary… wasn’t all that meaningful after all.

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