Ch 221: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World

Xiao Ze felt something was off with his surroundings. The fence seemed unusually high, and the steps stretched long and wide. Looking down at his feet, he was momentarily stunned.

He was wearing an old-fashioned pair of children’s sneakers, and when he looked at his hands, he saw that they were chubby and small. His clothes were toddler overalls.

Xiao Ze suddenly understood his situation.

He might have returned to his five-year-old body, yet there was no sign of Lu Yao anywhere.

Didn’t she say she’d help him relive his childhood?

Where was she?

Perhaps restricted by a five-year-old’s thinking, Xiao Ze stayed still in his small body, not wanting to move or go anywhere else.

He sat quietly in place, gradually feeling sleepy, and leaning on a teddy bear, he slowly closed his eyes.

After an unknown amount of time, Xiao Ze felt something soft, damp, and a bit ticklish on his hand. Slowly opening his eyes, he was startled: “Who are you?”

A small black dragon, only half the size of the teddy bear, was crouched beside Xiao Ze, licking his hand. Noticing Xiao Ze finally awake, it flapped its shiny, black wings, floating until its eyes were level with Xiao Ze’s. “I am Alfred, your tutor.”

Xiao Ze’s round eyes blinked in confusion. “I’m waiting for my mom.”

The little boy, oblivious, didn’t find it strange that a talking, flying dragon appeared out of nowhere.

Alfred’s eyes were a deep shade of blue. While flapping his wings, his short front limbs curled in front of his chest. “Little Bean, say after me, ‘Teacher Alfred.'”

Little Bean Xiao Ze hugged his teddy bear tighter, scooting to the side slightly and whispering, “Al…fred… teach…er…”

Alfred corrected him several times until Little Bean Xiao Ze could finally pronounce his name and introduced himself properly.

Tired from flying, Alfred slowly landed and sat next to Little Bean Xiao Ze. “Little Bean, who am I?”

Xiao Ze replied, “Teacher Alfred.”

Alfred nodded approvingly. “Aside from waiting for your mom, don’t you have anything else you’d like to do?”

Little Bean Xiao Ze shook his head.

Alfred leaned against Xiao Ze. “Alright then, I’ll wait with you.”

Little Bean Xiao Ze was still bewildered but scooted over a bit, this time making space for Teacher Alfred.

Teacher Alfred was plump and round, very cute.

Little Bean Xiao Ze wasn’t afraid, in fact, he felt a bit of familiarity, like he’d seen him somewhere before. But after thinking about it for a while without remembering, he let it go.

That afternoon, Little Bean Xiao Ze didn’t see his mom.

Other children were picked up by their parents, while he remained on the steps, hugging his teddy bear, with Teacher Alfred by his side.

When the nanny came to call Xiao Ze back, Teacher Alfred was gone.

Xiao Ze searched around the ivy-covered fence but couldn’t find him.

In the end, the nanny carried him back to the daycare.

After dinner, while the other children were playing in the toy room, Xiao Ze sat in the corner, dazed.

“Bzz—psst—Little Bean—” A voice came from outside the toy room.

Little Bean Xiao Ze turned his head and saw a plump tail slipping through the door crack, gently swaying.

Teacher Alfred!

Little Bean Xiao Ze stood up and walked to the door.

Sure enough, Teacher Alfred was outside, his two stubby front limbs struggling to hold a plastic bag. “Little Bean, come on, follow me.”

The plastic bag, hanging mid-air, was larger than Teacher Alfred himself, and a familiar aroma wafted from the bag.

Xiao Ze wrinkled his nose, swallowed instinctively, opened the door, and followed Teacher Alfred outside.

They walked down the hallway and reached the dining area.

In the dining area, small tables were lined up in rows, and the chairs were toddler-sized.

In the darkness, with nothing but blackness surrounding him, Xiao Ze felt a bit afraid.

Flying ahead, Alfred said, “Little Bean, it’s so dark here. Can you try to help and light it up for Teacher?”

Xiao Ze scratched his head, then carefully extended a finger, a faint glow emanating from the tip. “Will this work?”

Alfred flapped his wings enthusiastically. “Not bad, just like a beautiful firefly. Let’s head to the window!”

Xiao Ze pressed his lips together, feeling happy.

No one had ever described his superpower like that.

The moonlight tonight was nice, streaming down through the window bars and illuminating a small area by the window.

Alfred placed the plastic bag on the table, slightly out of breath. “Whew, that was exhausting.”

Xiao Ze sat beside him, carefully reaching out a finger to poke Teacher Alfred’s belly. It was soft and warm.

After catching his breath, Alfred stood up and used his claws to nudge the plastic bag. “Little Bean, open it up and see.”

Although Xiao Ze could already tell what was inside by the smell, he still pretended not to know and opened the paper box in the bag. Seeing a warm kids’ burger, fries, and soy milk, he gasped in awe, “Wow!”

Alfred sighed, finding Xiao Ze’s reaction a bit exaggerated.

It was likely the subconscious reaction of the adult Xiao Ze’s awareness projecting through.

Growth is irreversible.

Even if adult memories are sealed away, his behavior occasionally shows traces of his accumulated experiences and knowledge.

Instead of grabbing the burger right away, Xiao Ze looked at the chubby dragon and said, “Thank you, Teacher Alfred.”

The chubby dragon, exhausted from his errand, lay flat on the table, unwilling to move.

Xiao Ze lowered his head, his thick eyelashes like little fans, his voice tender, “Mom said, after work, she’d take me for a kids’ meal. Because today… is my birthday. Even if there’s no kids’ meal, it’s okay as long as she comes back.”

His voice grew softer, carrying a whimper. Tears, like small beans, fell onto the table.

He felt both aggrieved and afraid.

But he didn’t know how to express it or who he could talk to.

For some reason, the small Alfred made him feel safe, so he easily voiced what was in his heart.

Alfred rolled over, resting his chin on Xiao Ze’s chubby hand. Unfolding his wings, he lightly patted Xiao Ze’s arm. “I understand. In a distant future, there’s someone who loves you very, very much. They knew you were in trouble, so they sent me to help you. I told you this when we met in the afternoon.”

A five-year-old can’t fully grasp Alfred’s words, but hearing that someone loves him makes him instinctively happy. He couldn’t help asking, “Who is it?”

Alfred rolled over to the plastic bag, nudging the box. “It’s getting cold. Aren’t you going to eat? That person who loves you very, very much specifically asked me to bring this for you.”

Xiao Ze was momentarily stunned, then smiled. “I’ll eat it!”

Alfred handed him a napkin. “Your tears and snot are all mixed up; wipe up first.”

After cleaning his face, Xiao Ze started eating the burger and fries, his little legs gently swinging under the seat. “Teacher Alfred, when can I meet them?”

“Who?”

Xiao Ze: “The person you mentioned.”

Alfred: “Hmm… when you’re a bit older.”

Xiao Ze took a big bite of his burger, mumbling, “Teacher, I’m already grown up.”

Amused by Little Bean, Alfred sat up, gesturing with his short, stubby claws. “Not quite; you’ll need to be taller than the daycare nanny.”

Xiao Ze frowned cutely. “That’ll take too long.”

Alfred: “You’re five this year, right?”

Xiao Ze nodded.

Alfred: “When you’re twenty-two, you’ll be able to meet them. Twenty-two minus five… do you know how long that is?”

Xiao Ze put down his burger and raised both hands, counting to solve the math problem.

At the daycare center, young children also attended classes, learning simple math, letters, and gradually getting to know the world.

Alfred assumed double-digit subtraction might be too challenging for Xiao Ze, but Xiao Ze looked up, his eyes shining with excitement. “Seventeen more birthdays.”

“You’re amazing!” Alfred flapped his wings and flew up to kiss Xiao Ze on the forehead.

Little Bean grew shy, pursing his lips and lowering his gaze, avoiding Alfred’s eyes.

By the time Xiao Ze finished his kids’ meal, it was past the daycare’s usual bedtime. Strangely, the nanny hadn’t come looking for him.

Alfred escorted Xiao Ze back to the dorm, watching him climb into bed, pull up his blanket, and close his eyes.

After a moment, the sound of steady breathing came from the bed. Alfred whispered softly, “Goodnight, Xiao Ze, student number one in tutoring.”

“Meow~ meow~ meow~” A small cat’s cry echoed as it brushed against the guest’s pant leg.

Xiao Ze opened his eyes and found himself back at the tutoring center.

Feeling a bit disoriented, he glanced around, but he didn’t see the shop owner. Instead, he looked down at the small black dragon curled up on the table, and he slowly extended his hand. “Alfred… Teacher?”

Lu Yao, who had been outside assisting a customer, entered just in time to see this, and she laughed. “See? I told you, he’s the best tutor we have here.”

Xiao Ze quickly withdrew his hand, scratching his head in embarrassment.

Lu Yao sat down beside him. “How was your first tutoring session?”

After waking up, Xiao Ze’s memory of spending his five-year-old birthday with Teacher Alfred came rushing back.

He remembered being fully conscious when he first awoke there, but he’d fallen asleep shortly afterward. When he woke up and met Teacher Alfred, all memories before age five had been sealed.

Xiao Ze propped his head on his hand, his mind filled with memories of his time with Teacher Alfred.

His toes curled in embarrassment as he couldn’t help but continue reminiscing.

The feelings from those memories were vivid and real, still affecting Xiao Ze’s mood. He felt once more the helplessness of childhood, yet Alfred’s appearance had genuinely saved him from the loneliness and frustration of his fifth birthday.

“Will I really get to meet them?” Xiao Ze asked.

Lu Yao was organizing the first tutoring session’s data. “Who?”

Xiao Ze replied, “The one who… loves me the most.”

Unable to say it outright, he lowered his eyes and murmured, “The one who loves me the most.”

Lu Yao smiled. “Ah, that? Keep up with the tutoring, and I believe you’ll definitely meet them. So, what do you think? Want to continue?”

Without much hesitation, Xiao Ze nodded. “I want to continue. I just don’t know… how long it’ll take?”

Lu Yao picked up Xiao Ze’s spiritual key, tracing the patterns on it. “Judging by your progress, how about two more sessions? If everything goes well, you might meet them on the fourth. Of course, that depends on your state and the pace of your tutoring.”

Xiao Ze didn’t fully understand how the owner assessed his progress and status, but his mind was entirely focused on the next session—and Teacher Alfred.

From an adult’s perspective, he found it hard to describe the little black dragon, yet he felt no sense of rejection.

As he gradually regained clarity, his mind remained filled with memories of his time with Teacher Alfred.

With the teacher’s companionship, even waiting seemed to have gained color and warmth.

Looking back, his once gray memories of his fifth birthday were now dotted with bits of light, like the soft glow of fireflies.

Xiao Ze longed to rewrite all the gray memories from his childhood. He wanted to meet Teacher Alfred once more and to see the person in this world who loved him the most—a person who didn’t actually exist in his current world.

Xiao Ze signed a tutoring contract with the shop owner and received a bracelet adorned with a miniature version of his spiritual key.

The mini spiritual key was a replica of the guest’s true spiritual key, shrunken down as a symbol of their status as a tutoring student, similar to a student ID.

Xiao Ze’s original spiritual key, along with the contract and tutoring materials, was carefully locked in a small drawer on the tutoring room wall. The shop owner chose the first drawer in the bottom left corner, placed the key and materials inside, and hung a small tag on the drawer labeled “Student No. 1.” On the back of the tag was the student’s real name and contact information.

For tutoring fees, Lu Yao researched extensively online and set the rate at five times the average price charged by Sanhua City’s educational institutions, charging 5,000 Meng coins per session.

However, as time travel consumed substantial energy, Lu Yao imposed a rule that after three tutoring sessions, the fee would double.

After locking the materials away, Lu Yao stood up. “Alright, your next session is in two days.”

Xiao Ze nodded and turned to leave.

A customer arrived outside, and Lu Yao followed him out.

Xu Xiaoxiao noticed Xiao Ze and the shop owner coming out together and, after a brief thought, picked up a bottle of Dream Bubble Solution and a box of Good Mood Glutinous Rice Ball. “Shop owner, I’ll pay.”

Lu Yao approached her. This customer was familiar to her, always bringing different male friends to buy snacks.

Seeing Xu Xiaoxiao and her companion, Xiao Ze paused slightly, then headed outside. “Lu Yao, I’m leaving now.”

Lu Yao waved at him, back turned. “Alright, see you next time.”

Xu Xiaoxiao left with the man after paying but returned a moment later, carrying her belongings. “Shop owner, did I leave my wallet here?”

Lu Yao was sitting on a chair, grooming the cat Erxin, and reached back to the second shelf to retrieve a pink wallet, handing it to her.

Xu Xiaoxiao took the wallet, opened it to check, then casually remarked, “I just saw a friend here. Does he come by often?”

Lu Yao recalled, “You mean Xiao Ze?”

So, you two are friends?

They acted like strangers, even more distant than acquaintances.

Xu Xiaoxiao nodded. “We’re neighbors. Sometimes we hang out.”

Lu Yao hadn’t yet picked up on Xu Xiaoxiao’s underlying meaning.

Xu Xiaoxiao smiled faintly, continuing, “Do you two hang out together too?”

!!

Lu Yao realized something from her expression and quickly shook her head. “No, Mr. Xiao has just signed up for tutoring here, so he comes by occasionally.”

The system detected Lu Yao’s sudden increase in heart rate and asked, “What’s wrong? Your heart rate is spiking. Are you feeling unwell?”

Lu Yao covered her face. “It’s fine, ignore me.”

Xu Xiaoxiao looked both surprised and amused. “Tutoring? He’s here for tutoring? What’s he studying?”

Lu Yao put down Erxin, stood up, and retrieved a dusty flyer from behind the shelf, lightly dusting it off before handing it to her. “We specialize in tutoring ‘childhood’ here. If you’re interested, feel free to take a look.”

🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️