Ch 204: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World

The sleeping hall was silent, with only the heavy, hurried sound of rain outside the window.

Qin Mingde stepped forward two steps, stopped by the curtain, and called out again, “Your Majesty?”

Emperor Wu returned to his senses, opened his mouth, and tried to speak. “Qin Mingde.”

Qin Mingde replied, “At your service.”

Emperor Wu asked, “What time is it?”

Qin Mingde answered, “A quarter past the second watch.”

Emperor Wu rose, and Qin Mingde entered to help him change clothes.

Thunder crashed and lightning flashed as the rain poured down harder.

Standing by the window, Emperor Wu quietly gazed into the rain, his expression deep and dark.

In the forty-ninth year of the Wu calendar, he had somehow returned to five years ago.

Why had this happened?

Could it be that the heavens also believed he had chosen the wrong person and thus brought him back through reincarnation?

Emperor Wu rested his hands on the window ledge, the raindrops pelting heavily against the backs of his hands, seeping a bone-chilling cold.

The image of the late Crown Prince appeared in his mind—the son most like him, the virtuous eldest son. Remembering him now brought waves of regret that were hard to suppress.

If the Crown Prince had not perished, would he have faced such a dilemma?

“Qin Mingde.”

“At your service.”

“Summon Deyi to the palace.”

Qin Mingde glanced at the rain curtain outside, sensing Emperor Wu’s gloomy mood. He dared not delay, bowed with his whisk, and stepped back. “I will go immediately.”

The wind and rain did not stop throughout the night, and it was the dead of night—neither leaving nor entering the palace was easy.

Wan Baozhu received the imperial order, and by the time she arrived by carriage, it was already dawn.

…

At daybreak, the rain had finally ceased, the eastern sun rose, the mist dispersed, and the air was remarkably fresh.

The residents near Song’an Street discovered that a massive screen had been newly installed on the second floor of the cinema, larger than the two advertisement screens on the first floor combined, nearly covering the entire second-floor view and looming over the cinema’s sign.

The screen was imposing and high enough to be visible from three to five streets away.

Some residents were puzzled. It had rained heavily all night—when had the screen been installed?

Moreover, the second floor had no awning. Was this screen somehow resistant to rain?

There were too many mysteries surrounding the cinema, and after pondering for a while, most people simply gave up on figuring it out.

At the moment, the screen remained pitch black, displaying nothing.

People were curious, wondering if this big screen would be different from the smaller one below.

Could it mean a new movie was coming soon?

When the cinema opened in the morning, the staff were surprised to see the new screen as well.

The owner had indeed mentioned a new large screen for the second floor yesterday.

They had assumed it would be similar in size to the ones on the first floor, not expecting it to be so massive.

Le Han and Rong Shenghua stepped out from their shops, hands tucked in their sleeves, watching the commotion. Remembering that Lu Yao had said this new screen was unlike the previous ones, they couldn’t help but feel intrigued.

The cinema and the shopping street had about a half-day time difference, but apart from Fu Chi, the three new post-production team members started work at the same time as the other staff, arriving in the morning.

As the cinema opened, the post-production team had yet to deliver the trailer for Moon Landing. With nothing else to do, Lu Yao decided to head to Rouge House in the morning to arrange the lipstick production.

In the break room, the staff enjoyed their breakfast. Lu Yao finished first and prepared to head out.

Gouzi arrived a bit late today and ran into Lu Yao at the main entrance, handing her a note.

Lu Yao paused, reached out to take it, and asked, “Who gave this to you?”

Gouzi replied, “I just ran into a kid who said he’s Chang Ming’s neighbor and was asked to deliver this on his behalf.”

Opening the note, Lu Yao saw Chang Ming’s neat handwriting.

He wrote that he had family matters to attend to and would take a day off.

Putting away the note, Lu Yao was troubled. “With Chang Ming off, there’s no one to check tickets on the second floor. And the hiring notice at the door has been up for days—why hasn’t anyone come in?”

After Qin San arrived, there hadn’t been any new hires, not even inquiries, which Lu Yao found odd, though she couldn’t pinpoint why.

Gouzi suggested, “Why not have Sister Qiqi cover for a day? I can handle the snack bar by myself.”

“Excuse me, is there a hiring notice here?” a bright female voice interjected nearby.

Lu Yao looked up and saw a young man and woman, both appearing in their teens, standing at the bottom of the steps.

She patted Gouzi, asking him to go back inside and finish his breakfast, then turned to chat with the young man and woman.

The young man introduced himself as Shui Shan, and the young woman as Ming Shi.

They claimed to be from West Market and said they had come after hearing about the hiring notice.

Both looked sharp and articulate, seeming competent, literate, and able to do basic calculations.

Lu Yao felt they weren’t entirely truthful, but sensing no ill intent, she signed them on for a seven-day trial contract to fill the vacancy.

After finishing her meal, Die Qi emerged from the break room to see Shui Shan and Ming Shi seated across from Lu Yao, barely controlling her expression.

With Jin Lu and Qi Wu not yet back, how had the third and fourth come along?

Noticing Die Qi, Lu Yao called out, “Qiqi, Chang Ming took the day off. This is Ming Shi and Shui Shan. I interviewed them and signed them on a trial contract. You and Ku Ba will have to help train them today. I’ll need you to oversee the second floor in the morning as well, since I’ll be heading out.”

Before leaving, Lu Yao took out her phone and sent a voice message to the work group chat, reminding Fu Chi to follow up on the Moon Landing trailer and briefly mentioned Shui Shan and Ming Shi.

Die Qi watched Lu Yao exit Song’an Street, then turned and grabbed Shui Shan and Ming Shi, her gaze wary. “What are you two up to?”

Ming Shi looked innocent. “The Pavilion Master sent us on a mission.”

Die Qi was doubtful.

Shui Shan added, “Really. Recently, several clients have requested investigations on the cinema, and since there haven’t been any updates from you, the Pavilion Master sent us to the capital.”

Die Qi covered her face. “… So what’s happening back at the Pavilion?”

Ming Shi replied, “Yi Yi and Tai Er just returned to the Pavilion to cover for us.”

Dieqi: “…”

Strangely enough, the Pavilion’s top assassins were almost entirely drawn into the cinema.

Shui Shan added with pride, “We’ve been careful, and luck is on our side. As soon as we arrived, we saw they were hiring, and we didn’t give anything away during the manager’s interview.”

Ming Shi nodded in agreement.

Ku Ba and Ye Xiao emerged from the break room, and upon seeing Shui Shan and Ming Shi, they exchanged greetings and heard that the two had been hired by Lu Yao for the cinema.

Ye Xiao maintained his usual silence.

Ming Shi greeted him with enthusiasm, but he only nodded in response.

Ku Ba, however, was bold, patting his chest and assuring them he’d look after them at the cinema.

Die Qi issued a strict order, warning them not to reveal to the assistant manager or the other staff that they knew each other.

Later in the morning, Jin Lu and Qiwu returned from the North Market’s food stalls for breakfast, dumbfounded. They had begged Die Qi for days to allow them to join the cinema staff, only to be denied.

Now Shui Shan and Ming Shi had taken advantage, leaving them seething.

…

Lu Yao had visited Rouge House a few days prior and met Su Su.

Today, Su Su was on door duty, and upon hearing Lu Yao’s voice, she opened the door immediately. “Master, have you had breakfast?”

Last time, after Lu Yao explained the basics of modern lipstick production and gave Su Su and Madam Xu an introduction to basic sterilization and disinfection techniques, Su Su had insisted on becoming her apprentice.

Though Lu Yao had tried to decline, saying she was also a novice, both Madam Xu and Su Su felt they had gained valuable knowledge from her and insisted on the apprenticeship.

From then on, Su Su treated Lu Yao with the same respect she showed Madam Xu.

Lu Yao, recalling her time training apprentices in a nail salon, found the process familiar and accepted.

She did, however, have Su Su sign a confidentiality agreement first before formally taking her as an apprentice.

As a result, Lu Yao would rush to finish her duties at the shopping street during the day, then stay up late researching beauty-related knowledge to prepare for her apprentice’s training.

Lu Yao entered the courtyard. “I’ve already eaten. Are you still having breakfast?”

Su Su nodded.

Madam Xu, possibly having heard Lu Yao’s voice, also came out of her room.

After greeting her, Lu Yao walked toward a side room. “You continue eating; I’ll go take a look inside.”

The backyard of Rouge House was spacious, with plenty of empty rooms for just the mother and son to live in.

Previously, the two rooms next to the wing room served as storage, housing materials for making rouge and finished products.

During Lu Yao’s last visit, they agreed to set up three of the empty side rooms—one for mixing ingredients, another as a sterilization room, and the last one for packaging.

In the mixing room, two new five-layer wooden racks and two large cabinets with many drawers were installed to store raw materials, along with various small containers used for experiments.

The sterilization room had a small earthen kiln built in, with a nearby stove for heating water, primarily for high-temperature sterilization.

Additionally, Lu Yao used Great Wu Dynasty’s distilled spirits to produce alcohol at a suitable concentration for sterilization.

Whenever she distilled spirits and experimented with preparing sterilizing alcohol, she made sure to have Su Su by her side.

Lu Yao considered using modern sterilization equipment for convenience but quickly abandoned the idea.

Exploring the world, seeking knowledge, and even discovering oneself is an intriguing journey.

Rather than jumping to the most efficient solution, nurturing an inquisitive and hands-on apprentice seemed like a journey in itself.

Lu Yao broke down modern concepts into simpler, ancient terms that Su Su could easily understand.

They decided to make the first lipstick following the cinema’s style—a twistable, retractable tube design.

This design was compact and novel, unlike anything the citizens of Great Wu Dynasty had seen, and would be eye-catching.

The mechanism behind the lipstick tube was simple; they planned to carve the base from wood and make the outer shell from porcelain.

Lu Yao and Madam Xu worked together on the design, creating two sizes—a 1.5-gram mini sample tube and a 3.2-gram full-size tube.

The full-size tube would feature floral patterns based on color shades, while the mini tube would be plain white porcelain without patterns.

After discussing the details of the packaging, Madam Xu headed out to a kiln factory to order the lipstick tubes.

Rouge House already collaborated with the kiln factory to produce small jars for rouge and scented powders.

Lu Yao, meanwhile, took Su Su to West Market to visit a familiar carpenter and order samples of the lipstick bases.

After negotiating the terms, the two returned to Rouge House to begin working on lipstick shades.

Since this was a collaboration with the cinema, Lu Yao planned to associate the lipstick shades with the heroines from films shown at the cinema, intending to use this concept for marketing.

Time passed quickly as they became absorbed in their work. Eventually, Madam Xu returned from outside the city, bringing along two craftsmen.

The back gate of Rouge House was open, and Madam Xu called Lu Yao over to the entrance.

Lu Yao greeted the craftsmen and turned to Madam Xu, wondering what this was about.

Madam Xu nodded to the older craftsman, who carefully took a cloth-wrapped bundle from his coat, opened its corners, and revealed a piece of porcelain.

To be precise, it was a semi-transparent porcelain piece that resembled glass.

Madam Xu explained, “I wasn’t just there to place an order—I noticed the master craftsmen were firing this type of porcelain, so I thought I’d bring a piece for you to see.”

The kiln masters mentioned they had seen a strange wall in the city that was as clear as jade, solid enough that even a stone couldn’t damage it. It left such a strong impression that, upon returning to the kiln, they couldn’t resist trying to replicate it.

However, they hadn’t yet managed to create an equivalent item, and all they had were these half-finished samples.

Lu Yao replied, “…So, you were the ones throwing stones at my cinema’s windows.”

The master and his apprentice: “…”

Lu Yao’s calm gaze, without a hint of reproach, only heightened their embarrassment.

The master craftsman and his apprentice hung their heads, astonished at the coincidence that the new client was the cinema’s owner.

After a moment of awkward silence, the master craftsman offered an apology, even pledging to gift Lu Yao a hundred full-sized lipstick cases as a gesture of his regret.

Madam Xu showed them the two types of containers she had recently ordered, intricate and delicate, with the challenge being to ensure every empty tube was exactly the same size.

The master craftsman, being a straightforward person, felt that such an apology required true sincerity.

Lu Yao asked them to first make a sample for her to review.

The dimensions of the lipstick tube’s shell and base were already set. Lu Yao had provided both the carpenter and the kiln master with samples in different materials for them to replicate.

Only after the samples from both sides matched and passed quality inspection would they proceed with mass production.

When the master craftsman and his apprentice departed, Lu Yao hesitated but ultimately refrained from advising them on glassmaking techniques.

Since they were keen to try, they would eventually create glass of decent quality.

However, producing glass as tough as the kind used at the cinema would be challenging for now.

After her conversation with the master craftsman, it was getting late, and Lu Yao prepared to return to the cinema.

Su Su was still experimenting with color mixing in the blending room. Lu Yao observed her for a while, encouraged her to continue, then gathered her things and left.

Back at the cinema, she ran into Fu Chi, who was about to check on the post-production team next door.

Fu Chi asked, “They said they’re almost finished. They haven’t met you yet. Want to come along?”

Realizing she hadn’t met the new employees, Lu Yao agreed.

She and Fu Chi entered the office, and Gao Meng, spotting Lu Yao, initially thought she was a new staff member.

Having not seen her before and finding her youthful appearance surprising, Gao Meng assumed she was younger than herself.

After Fu Chi introduced everyone, both Gao Si and Gao Meng were astonished to discover that their boss was so young.

Liu Tang, however, appeared uneasy, staring intently at Lu Yao with a hint of barely concealed alarm.

Noticing this, Lu Yao asked, “Is there something on my face?”

Snapping out of his daze, Liu Tang shook his head vigorously before blurting out, “Yesterday… was that kid at the nail salon your son?”

He had meant to ask something else, but his shock at encountering Lu Yao again threw him off.

Gao Meng also recalled a little boy with pale blue hair and eyes. “He looked exactly like you.”

Lu Yao shook her head. “You mean Mumu? He’s not my son, just a kid who happens to look like me.”

Gao Meng, sensing she might be intruding on personal matters, refrained from asking further, though she was convinced that Mumu was indeed Lu Yao’s child.

Thinking Gao Meng understood, Lu Yao offered no additional explanation and turned to Gao Si. “How’s the trailer editing coming along?”

Lu Yao had requested a thirty-second trailer. After reviewing the sample, she found it more refined than the promotional materials used when Moon Landing originally premiered. The pacing was tighter, the final frame’s quality was enhanced, making the visuals more impactful, and the background music had been adjusted. The promotional text was also redone precisely as she had requested.

Lu Yao nodded. “Good. I’ll take it as it is. I’ll need you to put in extra effort on the full version.”

Gao Si and Gao Meng were surprised to have their first draft approved, and their respect for Lu Yao rose sharply.

With the trailer in hand, Lu Yao was about to leave when Liu Tang looked up, struggling to say something, but ultimately remained silent.

Lu Yao returned to the cinema and headed straight to the second floor.

In the second-floor break room, the mainframe for the large screen was set up. Lu Yao uploaded the trailer data, converting the format so it could be played on the custom screen.

That evening, the sky was painted with fiery clouds, casting a warm veil over the ground. On the streets of Liangjing, townsfolk, merchants, low-ranking officials, children, and the elderly saw an unprecedented short film.

The first thing people noticed was a voiceover: “Perhaps you’ve wondered, what’s on the moon?”

🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️