Ch 237: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World

【Successfully tutored three clients. Task complete! Reward: 3000 Popularity Points, 15 Awakening Points!】

【Lu Yao’s Childhood Tutoring Center has gained popularity and upgraded to a 2-Star Shop. Additional reward: 1000 Popularity Points, 5 Awakening Points. Keep up the good work, Shop Owner!】

Just as Zheng Siyao left the tutoring room, Lu Yao received the task notification.

The rewards for this task and shop upgrade were minimal. Including the 5 points from completing the task for the first time, she had a total of only 25 Awakening Points. Given the system’s tendencies, she would likely need to accumulate a significant number of points before she could fully awaken her superpower.

Even without superpowers, the Childhood Tutoring Center could still operate, but Lu Yao had a specific ability in mind, and Harold’s dragon scales weren’t an endless resource.

【New Task Available! The Childhood Tutoring Center requires additional staff. Recruit two qualified tutoring instructors within three days. Reward: 2000 Popularity Points, 10 Awakening Points.】

Tutors were indeed in short supply.

Xiao Xiao had only just started self-studying; she needed time to go through all the materials and complete her training and evaluations. Three days wouldn’t be enough for her.

Considering her options, Lu Yao realized that, unlike when the store first opened, there were now more choices for enlisting help.

She pulled out her phone and posted a message in the staff group, asking for any available store employees to assist with a test run of the time machine.

When Lu Yao initially built the time machine, both she and the store employees had tried using it but couldn’t return to their own pasts. However, as monitors of someone else’s past, it should work.

Ji Feiming replied first. He was busiest in the morning and late afternoon, but his schedule was relatively free otherwise.

A few minutes later, Ji Zhixin also responded, saying he’d completed his duties as the receptionist and could come by.

When Ji Feiming and Ji Zhixin, uncle and nephew, arrived at the Childhood Tutoring Center, Ji Zhixin glanced around curiously through the glass, a hint of wonder in his eyes. “It’s a modern city here, too, but it really has a different feel.”

Lu Yao, standing at the entrance, nodded slowly. “Indeed, each world has its own unique atmosphere.”

Ji Feiming gazed up at the sky. “The sky over this city seems clouded. In our world, we’d say there’s an ominous presence.”

Xu Xiaoxiao knew Ji Feiming, but this was her first time meeting Ji Zhixin, sparking mild curiosity. She had a hunch that the shop owner ran more than one establishment, and these employees didn’t seem like ordinary people. However, they also didn’t appear to have superpowers.

Before she could ask, Lu Yao had already led the two into the tutoring room.

After Lu Yao explained her intentions, Ji Feiming stepped forward calmly. “I’ll go first.”

Recently, Ji Feiming had participated in testing the time machine in the nail salon, although it hadn’t been successful then. Now, on this second test, he volunteered again.

Traversing time was nearly akin to a divine revelation, yet Lu Yao treated it casually, which made everyone else feel that perhaps it wasn’t such an extraordinary feat.

But Ji Feiming’s reverence for the shop owner deepened. Among the employees, aside from Lu Yao, he was the most suitable for such tests. As a former emissary, even with most of his power dissipated, he still had a stronger constitution than the others.

Ji Zhixin, meanwhile, was also eager to try. His family had always been devoted to the divine, spending their lives pursuing the mysterious and fantastical that lay between illusion and reality.

In their clan, only Ji Feiming had originally been chosen by the gods; others were merely by-products left behind after selection.

But the Shopping Street was different—it was far more inclusive than any god.

Ji Zhixin understood his uncle’s reasoning and sat quietly to the side. “Then I’ll wait here for you and the shop owner to return.”

The experimental time key Lu Yao used came from a tree outside. That morning, workers had driven down the street trimming branches, and while they were still piled on the sidewalk, Lu Yao picked out the thickest segment to create a key.

Befoe taking Ji Feiming through time, she had already tested it once herself.

Concerned that Ji Feiming’s body might not endure, she adjusted the time-travel duration to only thirty seconds.

Ji Zhixin, not even halfway through his snack, looked up to see the two reappear. “How did it go?”

Ji Feiming’s worn face was alight with childlike excitement, his eyes shining. “We reached the world outside the store, even walked around the streets. People here have all kinds of superpowers—seeing it in person is so much better than hearing about it! This world is amazing!”

While the Shopping Street staff couldn’t leave the portal, Lu Yao had led them to step briefly into Sanhua City of over ten years ago. Walking among superpowered locals on foreign soil left Ji Feiming thrilled.

Overcome with excitement, the usually composed uncle, now in his fifties, seemed like a child.

Ji Zhixin paused, teacup in hand, eyes full of anticipation. “Shop owner, may I try as well?”

After a brief exchange with Ji Feiming, Lu Yao agreed, and soon she and Ji Zhixin returned from another thirty-second excursion, his eyes still gleaming with exhilaration.

Returning to the Shopping Street from the tutoring center, Ji Zhixin turned to Ji Feiming and said sincerely, “Uncle, I owe today’s experience all to you.”

Ji Feiming waved his hand dismissively. “There’s no need for such formality among family. I thought it over for a long time—meeting the shop owner may not have been a mere coincidence.”

For a clan dedicated to serving the gods, having one or two chosen members was natural.

Ji Zhixin was surprised, unable to resist asking, “But hasn’t Chenshen already found the chosen one?”

Ji Feiming closed his eyes briefly. “Do you think the chosen one surpasses the shop owner?”

Ji Zhixin’s expression shifted. “You mean…”

Ji Feiming gestured to silence him. “The chosen one’s journey toward godhood is destined to be long and challenging. But with fate appearing unfavorable, her greatest obstacle may be…”

He left the sentence unfinished, but Ji Zhixin understood. Even from the perspective of a former divine emissary, the chosen one had yet to match her.

Ji Zhixin wondered if his uncle was truly devoted to the shop owner or seeking to aid the chosen one’s ascension. Typically, a chosen one was meant to ascend to full godhood. But if that failed, they might end up serving a dark god instead.

A sudden clarity dawned on Ji Zhixin. Could it be that both options were viable?

If either were to ascend, their clan would remain loyal worshippers of the divine.

Unaware of the conversation between uncle and nephew after they left the center, Lu Yao confirmed that ordinary people could indeed act as observers and promptly sent a message to Bai Jing.

Bai Jing had just come out of surgery, exhausted after four hours. But upon reading the shop owner’s message, his spirits lifted, and he immediately called his family.

As a family closely intertwined with the Ji clan, the Bai family was no ordinary lineage of doctors.

Since Ji Feiming had introduced him to Lu Yao, Bai Jing had been waiting for this opportunity.

After discussing it with his family, Bai Jing called Lu Yao to confirm the hiring requirements and arranged to bring suitable candidates from his family to the Shopping Street that evening to meet her.

Lu Yao hung up, stood at the entrance for a while to shake off her fatigue, and called Xiao Mei into the tutoring room.

Xiao Mei had been chatting with the others about Zheng Siyao’s tutoring experience when she was suddenly called. Surprised, she said, “I thought I was scheduled for the afternoon?”

Lu Yao smiled. “I just took a quick rest and feel ready. We can start now if you’d like, or you can wait until this afternoon.”

Xiao Mei jumped up. “Let’s do it now! After hearing Siyao’s experience, I can’t wait.”

The test subject also stood up eagerly, “I’d like to sign up for tutoring, too!”

Lu Yao turned to lead the way. “Of course.”

She created a time key for the test subject and scheduled their tutoring for two days later, then began Xiao Mei’s session.

Having reviewed Xiao Mei’s assessment form earlier, Lu Yao glanced over it again before they began.

Xiao Mei had written about her “attraction to bad partners.” She’d had three boyfriends around the time of her college graduation, and each breakup followed a similar pattern—the guy had cheated, and she’d found out. The strangest part was that each boyfriend’s excuse sounded nearly identical, as if they were copying one another.

Xiao Mei fiddled with the crystal bracelet on her wrist. “I’ve been called a ‘hopeless romantic’ and ‘clingy,’ smothering them until they couldn’t breathe.”

Lu Yao nodded, glanced at her, set down the form, and signaled for her to continue.

Xiao Mei watched Lu Yao’s expression and sighed. “My friends comfort me, saying it’s just that I attract jerks, but I feel like I always pick the worst person. Three times in a row now! I’m starting to wonder if I’m just not meant for relationships. I want to stop being so clingy.”

With her sweet features, wide, dewy eyes, and soft, delicate voice, Xiao Mei exuded innocence.

Lu Yao sighed. “We haven’t looked at your childhood yet, but I have a feeling you may be focusing on the wrong issue.”

Xiao Mei looked puzzled. “What do you mean?”

Lu Yao replied, “It’s hard to explain at the moment. Let’s take a look at your past first.”

Using the heart key, Xiao Mei and Lu Yao returned to her childhood.

Like most kids, Xiao Mei spent most of her time at the local daycare center before she turned six. Her parents were busy and frequently traveled for work, leaving her mostly in her grandparents’ care.

It was dismissal time, and Lu Yao and adult Xiao Mei stood by the flowerbed outside the daycare, watching young Xiao Mei, with her pink backpack, come out of the gate and find her grandmother, who took her hand and turned to head home.

Her grandmother, in her fifties, wore a floral long-sleeve blouse and black pants, with neatly combed gray hair held back with a black clip—she was a lively and spirited lady.

As they passed a vendor selling trinkets, Xiao Mei’s gaze lingered on a wooden rack displaying heart-shaped stones, crystal bracelets, and colorful butterfly hairpins. She gently tugged on her grandmother’s hand, whispering, “Grandma, that butterfly is so cute.”

Her grandmother glanced at the vendor but said nothing, pulling Xiao Mei along at a brisk pace.

Xiao Mei’s lips pursed slightly, a trace of disappointment in her eyes, but she didn’t make a fuss and struggled to keep up with her grandmother’s quick steps.

On their way home, Xiao Mei’s gaze repeatedly strayed to various items along the roadside, but her grandmother paid no attention, firmly guiding her away.

Adult Xiao Mei, following from behind, looked slightly embarrassed and stole a glance at Lu Yao. “I was just curious when I was little. I wanted everything that caught my eye.”

Such innocent childhood desires were easy for adults to read, and from her current perspective, Xiao Mei could understand her grandmother’s dismissive response.

Ahead, her grandmother took young Xiao Mei to the market.

Lu Yao led Xiao Mei over, and, taking advantage of the crowd, stuck a small tracking sticker on young Xiao Mei.

After her grandmother finished shopping, they went home.

Lu Yao and adult Xiao Mei sat on the stairwell, and Lu Yao took out a small tablet-like device from her pouch. Tapping it, the rectangular screen lit up, revealing a scene.

Xiao Mei was surprised. “What is this?”

Lu Yao smiled, “A first-person view of your childhood self.”

Xiao Mei finally realized: “The purpose of that sticker?”

Lu Yao nodded, “Yes, it only works for an hour. Let’s observe your home environment for a bit, and then we’ll leave.”

Back at home, Xiao Mei’s grandmother started cooking, while her grandfather sat on the balcony, listening to the radio. Xiao Mei sat at a small table, working on her homework.

After a while, there was a knock at the door. Xiao Mei went to open it; it was her classmate Jiajia from daycare and also her neighbor.

Jiajia had come to play with Xiao Mei.

Grandmother took a palm-sized cake from the cupboard, split it into two pieces, handing the larger piece to Jiajia and the smaller one to Xiao Mei.

Xiao Mei glanced at the tiny piece her grandmother handed her, then looked at the big piece in Jiajia’s hand, and suddenly, in a fit of childish anger, she slapped the cake out of her grandmother’s hand, pouting, “I don’t want it anymore!”

This action made her grandmother angry.

Her grandmother grabbed Xiao Mei and gave her two quick pats, then, in a huff, returned to the kitchen, ignoring her.

Watching this scene, adult Xiao Mei felt embarrassed enough to wish she could disappear, her voice weak as she admitted to Lu Yao, “I was a bit petty as a kid. It wasn’t that I loved the cake so much—just childish temper. I’m not like that now.”

Lu Yao patted her, signaling that it was fine.

Xiao Mei took a deep breath, internally regretting her decision to sign up for this tutoring session.

Was this supposed to be a childhood refresher?

It felt more like a comprehensive replay of her most embarrassing moments.

After the “cake incident,” young Xiao Mei sulked alone, with no one paying her any attention. Soon it was dinnertime, and her grandmother called her to eat. Xiao Mei took her seat quietly and started eating.

As the sticker’s time was about to run out, Lu Yao put away the tablet, ready to leave.

With ears red with embarrassment, Xiao Mei barely dared to look at Lu Yao, not quite understanding why they’d revisited this particular day.

Lu Yao leaned down and said quietly, “We still have one more place to visit.”

Xiao Mei asked, “Where?”

Lu Yao shook her head without answering.

A bright light engulfed them, and when Xiao Mei looked around, the scenery had changed again.

She and Lu Yao now stood at the entrance of a university, and soon, a couple appeared, walking down the main road.

Xiao Mei’s eyes widened as she recognized the young man and instantly understood where they were, her embarrassment surging to new heights.

Can toes actually get tired?

The young man and woman turned left at the gate, about to walk past them, and Xiao Mei quickly tugged Lu Yao behind a nearby bus stop sign.

They’d returned to Xiao Mei’s college days, and the boy in front of them was her first love, with college-aged Xiao Mei walking beside him.

Xiao Mei clutched Lu Yao’s hand, looking distraught, “Why are we here? Isn’t this supposed to be about my childhood?”

Lu Yao’s tone was calm, “Just confirming when exactly your poor taste in men began.”

Xiao Mei: “…”

Ouch, that one hurt.

But her first love wasn’t one of the three later “bad exes.” He was gentle and kind, and they’d separated peacefully after graduation because they were assigned jobs in different places.

The couple was about to disappear around a corner when Lu Yao pulled Xiao Mei, and they jogged after them.

The two went to a nearby street food market, had a meal, and then wandered around a bookstore and a grocery store.

The boy bought Xiao Mei some snacks and fruit before finally walking her back to her dormitory.

Adult Xiao Mei watched from a distance as the boy saw her college self enter the dorm before he finally turned to leave, his eyes slightly misty.

If they hadn’t broken up, would things have stayed the same?

Seeing Xiao Mei so absent-minded, Lu Yao tugged her along and picked up the pace to catch up with him.

Xiao Mei, puzzled, asked, “Why are we following him?”

Lu Yao replied, “Let’s keep an eye on him.”

Xiao Mei hesitated, “Is that necessary? From what I remember, whenever we went out to eat, he would always walk me to the dorm and then either head to the library for a while or go back to his dorm. There was nothing else.”

Lu Yao said nothing more, leading Xiao Mei at a discreet distance behind him.

The boy bought two yogurts at the campus convenience store, then walked to the library with them.

He frequented the library and had a regular spot on the second floor study area.

Sitting down, he pulled out the yogurts, popped the straws in, and placed one to the side.

Next to him sat a girl, and they seemed familiar with each other.

Xiao Mei was speechless: “…”

It was clear now. Lu Yao led a dazed Xiao Mei away.

Back in the childhood tutoring room, Xiao Mei still looked incredulous. “I remember you saying that the material for the mind key came from a bone sample of the person receiving tutoring, that it recorded all the marks of their growth?”

Lu Yao clarified, “The bone is just one part of it.”

Xiao Mei continued, “But during college, I didn’t know he was seeing someone else. How did we see that scene?”

Lu Yao explained, “Sometimes, if necessary, we gather data from other sources to capture details the client may have missed, recreating a complete picture of the world. Of course, this reality is still centered on the client’s perspective, as everyone’s view of the world is unique in what they sense and focus on.”

Xiao Mei’s college, Black Cat University, was in the adjacent area, not far from the tutoring center.

Lu Yao had preemptively asked Xu Xiaoxiao to collect some plant samples from Black Cat University and incorporated them into Xiao Mei’s mind key, enhancing details beyond just her main perspective.

Xiao Mei took out her phone, searched for a social media handle from memory, and looked it up on the platform.

After their breakup, they had both deleted each other, but Xiao Mei still remembered his account.

The account was still active, and his latest post featured him and his girlfriend embracing in the snow. The girl was clearly the one they had just seen sitting with him in the library.

Xiao Mei was devastated.

To think her first love had been cheating on her all that time, and it had taken her so long after the breakup to find out—and in such a shocking way.

Lu Yao, who had carefully reviewed Xiao Mei’s profile, knew that her problem wasn’t about being “clingy” or not.

She pushed Xiao Mei’s childhood test results toward her and gently suggested, “Why don’t we modify the goal of your tutoring to ‘learning how to build healthy relationships’? How about that?”

Xiao Mei lifted her head, looking defeated. “I don’t want to be in any relationships anymore; whatever happens, happens.”

Lu Yao reassured her, “Intimate relationships aren’t limited to romantic ones. After tutoring, you’ll likely feel a bit better.”

Xiao Mei withdrew, unable to snap out of her feelings immediately. Lu Yao didn’t push her and allowed her time to process.

After about twenty minutes, Xiao Mei looked up. “I’m ready, Store Owner.”

Lu Yao took out the key.

Xiao Mei’s childhood tutoring officially began.

Xiao Mei opened her eyes and found herself in the early childhood classroom at a daycare center.

It seemed to be naptime. She lay on a small bed, feeling like her awareness had returned to her younger self’s body.

The blanket was warm, and the pillow smelled of sunlight. Xiao Mei felt her eyelids growing heavy.

The bell rang, and Xiao Mei opened her eyes as her adult consciousness sank into deeper awareness.

She got up as usual, tidied her bed, and returned to her classroom for lessons.

At the end of the day, the bell rang again, and Xiao Mei ran out of the school gate with her backpack.

Xiao Mei paused, looking up at the woman standing before her. “Who are you?”

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