Ch 249: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World

As the sky lightened, Lu Yao, Sang Li, and Bai Yi sat outside a noodle shop that served zhajiangmian. Surrounding them were students in black and white school uniforms.

This was the entrance to Sang Li’s middle school.

To blend in with the lively but structured atmosphere, they each ordered a bowl of zhajiangmian.

Sang Li gestured for Lu Yao and Bai Yi to look ahead at the girl sitting in the corner, two tables away. She had straight bangs and a low ponytail.

The girl had a delicate face and quietly ate her noodles.

Bai Yi blinked, surprised. “Is that you?”

Sang Li nodded.

Bai Yi’s eyes moved back and forth between the two, wondering what had happened to turn Sang Li, who was now only around fourteen or fifteen years old and looked mature with makeup, into someone so different from the quiet, gentle girl in the corner.

What had changed her?

The noodles arrived, and Lu Yao picked up her chopsticks to mix them. Though the serving was only two liang, it felt like it would be gone in just a few bites. But it smelled delicious.

This time, Bai Yi was leading Sang Li’s tutoring, with Lu Yao observing to assess Bai Yi’s ability to handle situations.

A few minutes later, middle-school Sang Li finished eating, paid for her meal, and left.

The three of them followed closely behind.

At the school entrance, a teacher was on duty, checking student IDs.

Bai Yi pulled out a special tool made by Lu Yao—a transparent sticker. The three applied the stickers and slipped into the school unnoticed.

Sang Li led them to her classroom, Class 2-4.

The bustling classroom fell silent for a brief moment when Sang Li walked in.

It was so quick that only someone particularly attentive might have noticed.

Lu Yao did, but middle-school Sang Li did not.

She didn’t notice her classmates’ fleeting expressions as she entered. She walked to her seat, took out her homework and books, submitted her work, and began reading.

Bai Yi frowned slightly and whispered to Sang Li, “What happened? The atmosphere in the class is strange.”

The three of them, wearing their transparent stickers, walked into the classroom openly and stood by the window near the podium, allowing them to observe everything below and the students entering the room.

Sang Li shook her head. “Nothing, really.”

Her expression was cold and emotionless.

She didn’t want to explain, and Bai Yi felt a hint of frustration.

She had seen Lu Yao easily gain the trust of guests during tutoring, but now that she was leading a session, she realized it wasn’t so simple.

But it wasn’t necessary for Sang Li to explain; a little observation revealed enough.

Middle-school Sang Li submitted her homework and started reading.

The boys sitting beside and behind her asked to borrow her homework to copy, and she handed it over without much conversation.

The girl sitting in front of Sang Li seemed friendly and turned around to chat with her.

When the homeroom bell rang, the literature teacher came in, and the classroom was filled only with the sound of reading.

Lu Yao and the others stayed through two classes, noticing that the students occasionally glanced at Sang Li and whispered among themselves.

Beyond that, there were no other discoveries.

The third period was PE. Worried that the transparent stickers would lose effectiveness, the three left early, found a hidden corner, and removed the stickers before wandering around the playground.

There was a hint of nostalgia in Sang Li’s eyes.

The bell rang, and the students assembled and soon dispersed.

Most of the boys flocked to the basketball court, while others played soccer on the large field. Near the sports office, there were also ping-pong tables, pull-up bars, and various climbing equipment.

Middle-school Sang Li sat on a set of parallel bars, chatting with the girl who sat in front of her that morning.

Bai Yi couldn’t figure out what had happened to Sang Li, but she sensed the subtle attitude the class held toward her. However, there was no obvious bullying or mistreatment. Bai Yi tugged on Lu Yao’s sleeve.

At that moment, middle-school Sang Li suddenly jumped off the parallel bars and headed toward the restroom near the ping-pong tables.

Their group of three would stand out too much if they all followed, so Lu Yao signaled Bai Yi to go check while she and Sang Li stayed put.

Sang Li watched Bai Yi walk toward the restroom in small, deliberate steps. The corner of her mouth twitched slightly, but her eyes were cold.

A few minutes later, Bai Yi returned, her expression complicated as if she’d overheard something important.

She looked at Sang Li for confirmation. “I heard someone confronting you about Zhuo Li giving up the Special Ability Class because of you. What’s that about?”

Sang Li explained, “Zhuo Li performed well in the ability assessment and ranked in the top 30 in the school last semester. She was eligible to transfer to the Special Ability Class. However, she said she didn’t like the environment there and asked to return to the regular class.”

The day Zhuo Li returned, Sang Li was studying. There was no seat for Zhuo Li; the two had been seatmates and were good friends. Sang Li offered her half of her seat.

It was a small, ordinary gesture.

Sang Li hadn’t known Zhuo Li was returning and didn’t discuss it with her beforehand. She only found out when Zhuo Li returned and completed the paperwork that morning.

However, later on, rumors spread around the class that Zhuo Li returned because of Sang Li. People said they were good friends, and Sang Li couldn’t bear being without her, so Zhuo Li came back.

This had been circulating for over three months, and now it was the end of the term.

That day, Sang Li was confronted in the restroom and learned about the rumor.

After gym class, the fourth period was literature. The teacher called on students to read passages aloud.

Sang Li was chosen.

She read the section calmly and sat down.

The next student, a boy, was called up to read the same passage.

After he finished, scattered applause erupted throughout the room, growing into a coordinated, sarcastic round of clapping that lasted for several seconds.

It was an unmasked show of exclusion.

Seated, Sang Li’s face remained expressionless, seemingly unaffected.

The present-day Sang Li, standing next to Lu Yao and Bai Yi, also showed little reaction while witnessing this scene.

Bai Yi frowned deeply.

Lu Yao led them out of the classroom. “That’s enough for now.”

Back at Bai Yi’s office in the tutoring center, Bai Yi began planning the session. Unlike Lu Yao, who could design a session right after reviewing the material, Bai Yi needed to consolidate the data, analyze Sang Li’s situation, and create a tailored tutoring plan.

Once the plan was completed, Lu Yao would review it and adjust the time machine for the official session.

The first time always took more preparation.

Lu Yao left Sang Li in Bai Yi’s office and went to find Lu Budu.

When Budu saw her, the previously indifferent gleam in his ruby eyes softened to a warm sparkle. “Mother!”

Sitting nearby, Xie Molin choked on air.

This kid was young, yet already had a dual personality.

Around him, Budu wore a cold, standoffish expression reminiscent of Professor An Yan’s typical demeanor—untouchable and indifferent. But when he saw Lu Yao, he acted like a puppy wagging its tail so hard it could take flight.

Lu Yao sat down beside him. “Are you bored? There are toys in the front shop. Want to pick out a couple?”

Budu wasn’t interested in toys; being near Lu Yao was enough to make him feel joy bubbling up inside.

Hu Jiao entered and greeted Lu Yao and Xie Molin.

Yesterday, he had secured a place in the same complex as Xu Xiaoxiao.

Today, he had a day off from tutoring and could rest at home. However, he had been mulling over Lu Yao’s comment about expanding the tutoring center’s reputation and came to share some ideas.

When he saw the little one sitting next to Lu Yao, he paused and glanced at her. “A new student?”

He also noticed that the child resembled both Lu Yao and Professor An Yan from the Supernatural Institute but didn’t think too deeply about it.

Lu Yao patted Budu and introduced him, “Lu Budu, my little one. This is Hu Jiao, a customer and now an employee at the center.”

Hu Jiao: “… Your child?”

Lu Yao nodded.

Hu Jiao looked at Budu again, recalling Little Hu Qi, and suddenly felt a sense of warmth. He moved closer and said smoothly, “Budu, if you ever want to go out to play or get some snacks, you can come to Brother Hu Jiao.”

Budu lowered his eyes, exuding a cold demeanor: Another one to serve Mother.

The little boy remained silent, and Hu Jiao assumed he was just shy, so he didn’t feel awkward.

Lu Yao: “Did you come for something?”

Distracted by Budu earlier, Hu Jiao nearly forgot his reason for coming. Reminded, he quickly said, “Yes. You mentioned wanting to expand the tutoring center’s reputation a bit. Given how connected everything is nowadays, why not start with a social media account? We could post updates and, when the time is right, maybe even do live broadcasts.”

Hu Jiao, who used to be a streamer, could handle managing a social media account for the center.

The largest social media platform in Sanhua City at the moment was POPO, or PP for short.

Users could register an account and post updates on PP.

Lu Yao found the idea feasible and started discussing the plan with Hu Jiao. It seemed simple enough to implement.

They registered an account on POPO named “Lu Yao’s Childhood Tutoring Center.”

The official profile picture featured Alfred with a silver ball on his back, essentially the time machine itself.

The moment the account was set up, it gained five followers immediately.

Four were staff members, and the fifth was Sang Li, who was still discussing her tutoring plan with Bai Yi.

Bai Yi, who had Lu Yao buy her a phone in Sanhua City, used it at the center and kept it in the staff lounge locker after work.

She had registered an account a few days prior and learned how to browse the local internet, fitting in perfectly.

66th Building.

Xin Xin was having breakfast.

She ate alone, nonchalantly taking out her phone to browse updates.

Despite her young age, Miss Xin Xin had nearly a million followers online.

She liked posting about her shopping experiences, and since everything she bought was luxury items, she unknowingly amassed a large following.

Today, she started her morning as usual by checking messages and private DMs on her account. Afterward, she casually browsed other posts and stumbled upon an account called “Lu Yao’s Childhood Tutoring Center.”

At first, Xin Xin thought someone had registered the account name as a joke because it only had five followers.

But upon clicking in, she saw the first post was of the lazy, overweight Sanhua Pig she had seen just yesterday and remembered vividly.

Xin Xin took a sip of milk, browsed for a while longer, then went back to the tutoring center’s account and followed it directly.

After finishing her breakfast, she jumped off her chair and called for the butler to fetch Zhou Jing.

…

With only Sang Li scheduled for the morning, there were no new customers, so Lu Yao took Budu back to the shopping street.

Lu Yao held Budu’s hand as they left the tutoring center and saw Ji Feiming and Ji Feichen talking by the roadside.

Ji Feiming noticed Ji Feichen looking stunned and, upon seeing the two, walked over. “Owner, I was just discussing with Feichen about erasing the memories of the others.”

Ji Feichen looked at Lu Yao holding hands with the child and closed his eyes briefly, stepping forward. “Lord-“

Budu interrupted, “Budu.”

Ji Feichen was puzzled.

Budu tilted his head slightly, looking serious. “Lu Budu, the name my mother gave me.”

Ji Feichen was so shocked he took a step back.

Ji Feiming was also somewhat surprised; it seemed the child was indeed siding with the owner. Yet, he still didn’t understand the connection between the two.

Ji Feichen felt deeply shaken.

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