Ch 60: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World II

The sparrow spirits lay sprawled across the table, heads tilted as if lifeless.

Lu Yao reached out and poked them one by one. Overstuffed with Fasting Pills, they had no sense of satiety. One of them, with a light press of her finger, suddenly retched and spat it out.

…It was both frustrating and amusing.

Lu Yao: “…Why did you eat so many Fasting Pills? Where did you even steal them from?”

Her finger landed on the most mischievous one. After a few seconds, a faint voice echoed in her mind.

“…Wanted… to transform… didn’t mean to eat Fasting Pills… Hengze Sect… too poor…”

Lu Yao: “…You stole Fasting Pills from Hengze Sect?”

Sparrow spirits: Ahhhhhh, she heard us!

When Lu Yao opened her fourth shop, the pet cafe, she gained the ability to hear animals’ thoughts. With just a touch, she could listen to their innermost voices without the need for direct conversation.

After days of tangling with Lu Yao, the sparrow spirits already knew this human had no cultivation yet was harder to deal with than many great demons.

Initially, they had planned to escape and return later to take revenge. Instead, they found themselves trapped by the internet café’s allure.

Though she no longer locked them in cages, they willingly stayed.

Since gaining intelligence, the sparrow spirits had little to do beyond cultivation and mischief. They had never encountered anything as fresh and exciting as the internet café.

They had to play the games—and they had to play better than the swallow spirit!

Lu Yao, skilled not only in hospitality but also in delivering verbal jabs, remarked, “Even if you successfully transform, you still won’t have any spirit stones.”

The sparrow spirits’ round, beady eyes sparkled, exuding confidence.

Lu Yao didn’t need to hear their thoughts to guess their plans. “After stealing pills, are you planning to steal spirit stones too?”

The sparrow spirits were utterly shocked.

How did she know everything?!

Leaning on her hand, Lu Yao lazily pressed a finger against one sparrow’s soft, fluffy chest. “Other spirits I don’t care about, but my café doesn’t welcome mischievous little thieves. Go ahead and steal or rob elsewhere, but don’t come back here.”

Humans and spirits had vastly different values, and the gap between the shopping street and the Floating World Continent was even more profound.

Lu Yao didn’t expect the sparrow spirits to follow human rules. However, if they wanted to stay in her café, they couldn’t spend their days stirring up trouble and making themselves unwelcome.

The sparrow spirits were experts at reading the room.

Even though the boss’s tone remained soft throughout and she didn’t raise her voice, they fluttered over, fawningly nudging their heads against Lu Yao’s fingers.

Lu Yao lowered her gaze, letting them rub against her hands. After a while, she spoke slowly, “Don’t try that with me. I’ve seen plenty of critters cuter than you.”

Sparrow spirits: !!!

They couldn’t believe there were creatures cuter than them.

Just then, Cheng Ye walked over and caught the scene. He couldn’t resist chiming in, “The boss’s house is full of adorable little ones. Sparrows? Way too naughty, tsk.”

The sparrow spirits pushed themselves up on their tiny legs, retreating step by step, both shocked and heartbroken.

She really has other birds!

…

The next morning, Hengze Sect.

Jiang Yan was still in bed when a series of tap-tap-tap sounds came from outside the window, accompanied by anxious bird cries.

He was disturbed by the noise and got up to push open the window.

A row of sparrows perched on the windowsill, with a few others resting on a magnolia tree in the courtyard, all tilting their heads and staring at him with their round beady eyes.

Before Jiang Yan could say anything, one sparrow nudged something on the windowsill with its tiny claws, signaling for him to look, then flew away chirping noisily.

Jiang Yan picked up a stalk of Floating Blade Grass. Its roots were rough and uneven, and its leaves still carried the morning dew, as if it had just been freshly plucked.

The windowsill was piled not only with Floating Blade Grass but also Water Lilies, Deep Orchids, and Iron Mud Flowers—all herbs Jiang Yan often liked to collect when he ventured into the mountains.

When Jiang Yan walked into the pill room carrying a tray of fresh herbs, the young pill apprentice was surprised. “Senior Brother, you went up the mountain this morning?”

Jiang Yan smiled and shook his head. “The sparrow spirits brought them to my window. They seemed fresh, so I took them.”

The apprentice frowned. “Sparrow spirits? Would they really be so kind? They’re probably scheming something again!”

Jiang Yan found it a little odd as well, but those sparrow spirits had long lived in Baixian Mountain. Mischievous as they were, they hadn’t caused any major trouble. It was likely just their idea of fun.

Meanwhile, the sparrow spirits, convinced they had properly repaid their debt for the Fasting Pills, carried a glossy black stone back to the internet café, flying and stumbling as they went.

They landed with great fanfare and dramatically tossed the stone onto the counter. Seeing no sign of Lu Yao, they chirped noisily at Cheng Ye.

Cheng Ye listened to their chatter for several minutes before helplessly replying, “Sorry, I don’t understand your language.”

The black swallow and Cui Yu entered just then and overheard the commotion.

The black swallow ignored the scene and turned to Cheng Ye. “Net manager, set up two computers.”

Cheng Ye thought to himself, Early birds today. But with only these two as customers yesterday, it seemed likely today would be the same. Still, customers with coupons were better than no customers at all, so he quickly set up the machines.

The black swallow’s companion, the same youth from yesterday, was Cui Yu—a kingfisher spirit with higher cultivation than the black swallow. Yesterday, he had borrowed the swallow’s coupon, and before leaving, Lu Yao had given him one of his own.

Cui Yu, noticing the sparrows hopping frantically, kindly acted as a translator. “They’re asking where Lu Yao is.”

Cheng Ye nodded in understanding. “Oh, the boss didn’t come in this morning. She’s busy with another shop.”

The sparrows jumped onto Cheng Ye’s hand, even more agitated than before.

Cui Yu translated again. “They’re asking when she’ll be back.”

Cheng Ye replied, “She seems busy today. I expect she’ll come by in the afternoon.”

The internet café wasn’t busy, so Cheng Ye could handle things alone.

On Nitean Continent, the Sunshine season had officially arrived, with daylight extending by half, and the heat of three suns shining directly overhead. Vegetation in the valleys grew wildly, and the ground was as hot as a branding iron.

Wearing a straw hat and carrying a small foldable stool, Lu Yao worked in an open area to the right of the inn, installing solar panels for the tiny inhabitants living there.

The Nitean Continent’s abundant solar energy was too good to waste, and Lu Yao couldn’t let it go unused. She had commissioned 1041 from Nightlight City to design a batch of mini high-efficiency solar panels and light fixtures.

Armed with small scissors, screwdrivers, needle-nose pliers, and a tiny drill, Lu Yao helped install solar panels and lights for the households, with a group of little people trailing behind her, curiously watching her work.

They wanted to learn, but the technical barrier was too high, so they remained spectators.

Currently, Thorn Valley housed sixteen households of various tiny species. Lu Yao spent the entire morning installing the panels and lights.

Electricity was a dangerous thing, especially for the uninformed Nitean tiny folk. However, the solar panels’ structure was simple, required no wiring, and had been designed with a voice-activated mode, minimizing the risk of electric shock.

Once installation was complete, Lu Yao added a magical insulation barrier for additional safety.

The tiny people from the Shenmu tribe stood nearby, eagerly hoping Lu Yao would come to their village to install solar panels and lights as well. That, however, would be a massive undertaking.

Lu Yao wanted to observe how things worked for the smaller community before taking on a larger project.

When she finished her work, Heici climbed onto her shoulder and pointed toward a distant hillside. “Lu Yao, shall we go see the dandelions?”

The massive dandelions of Nitean Continent had gone to seed, and the far-off hillside was a sea of white, resembling summer snow.

Lu Yao returned to the café to drop off her tools and stool before heading out to see the sight.

Heici tugged at Lu Yao’s hair. “Take the phone for me.”

A couple of days ago, Lu Yao distributed phones to the small staff at the inn—one for each household. For couples who both worked in the inn, they shared a phone. Heici, being single but accompanied by beef cube, had his own.

Since the Shenmu tribe arrived at Thorn Valley, most of their time was spent caring for the newly sprouted Yangju tree. At Lu Yao’s suggestion, they had also opened a literacy school for the tiny folk.

Those eligible to work in the Shenmu tribe’s temple often knew how to read, but literacy was rare among the little people of other tribes. Despite the open admissions policy, few were interested in attending.

The tiny folk preferred following Lu Yao around, learning practical skills like planting trees, growing crops, or building homes and roofs for the other species.

Heici also refused to attend school. Lu Yao scheduled his shifts at the inn for the afternoons, encouraging him to go to school in the mornings, but he still wouldn’t go.

It wasn’t until the phones were distributed that Heici realized how inconvenient illiteracy could be. He didn’t understand many features on the phone, and even contacting Merulu required Lu Yao’s help.

Recently, Heici had started attending school every other day, learning five characters a day.

The phones at the hot spring inn were issued later because Lu Yao had taken them for modification. Most of the tiny folk at the inn were illiterate and came from a world untouched by technological advancements. Introducing them to electronic devices was a daunting task.

However, Lu Yao didn’t want to isolate them from the internal network, so she used magic to add a text-to-speech function to their phones. By touching text on the screen, the phone would convert it into spoken language in the Nitean Continent’s dialect. Similarly, they could use voice input to send messages, either as audio or as converted text.

The functionality was similar to standard voice-input messaging apps.

Heici’s first group message in the employee chat had been sent using this voice-to-text feature.

Today, Heici wanted to take a video of Nitean Continent’s massive dandelions for Merulu and insisted Lu Yao help him.

Lu Yao accompanied Heici to the hillside with his phone, helping him position it to capture the most spectacular view.

Instead of shrinking the phones for the tiny staff, Lu Yao built a dedicated “phone room” in the inn’s dormitory. Each household had its own phone slot, complete with a stand and charging station.

It was like a parking space—every household had its spot.

When not in use, the phones stayed in the phone room. When in use, the tiny folk could stand, sit, or even lie down to play with their phones. They could also carry the phone and its stand outside. It was incredibly convenient.

The human employees had burst into laughter when they saw the phone room Lu Yao had built overnight. They couldn’t fathom what went on in her mind—constantly teetering between genius and madness.

After helping Heici film the video, Lu Yao lay on the hillside for a while, basking in the warm sunlight.

Heici, satisfied with saving the video, curled up next to Lu Yao and fell asleep.

Some time later, Lu Yao felt a faint tickling sensation on her nose. Opening her eyes, she saw a shadow butterfly resting lightly on her nose before it slowly fluttered away.

She recently discovered that the two shadow butterflies were familiars of Ling Yao.

As a fallen deity, Ling Yao’s familiars resembled dark creatures—jet-black, enormous, yet delicate and fragile.

When they were handed to Lu Yao as a reward, they likely served as a tracking medium, making it easier for Ling Yao to find her.

Had it not been for Lu Mingxiao and the Dream Fulfillment System at the time, Lu Yao’s journey might have ended in this world.

Even after Ling Yao’s fall, the familiars didn’t disappear and continued to stay by Lu Yao’s side. Occasionally, she would take them out of her storage space to let them “breathe.”

They didn’t leave, no matter how little attention she paid to them.

Now, she put the shadow butterflies back into storage, carefully carried the still-sleeping Heici, and picked up her phone to head back to the café.

A gust of wind swept across the hillside, scattering the massive dandelion seeds. Tiny parachutes floated down the valley, filling the air with their white fluff.

An idea struck Lu Yao—something that could be used to promote the internet café.

Yesterday was the café’s official opening, but it only received two customers.

The plan she set in motion with Harold on Baixian Mountain had completely flopped. None of the cultivators who had taken teleportation scrolls and coupons came by.

Lu Yao deeply felt that her current approach lacked efficiency and was pondering ways to expand her outreach effectively.

Leaving the hot spring inn, she headed straight to the café across the street.

As soon as she entered, a flock of sparrows swooped over, chirping loudly and surrounding her.

She raised her hand to shoo them back, confused. “What’s the rush? What happened?”

Cheng Ye stood up and explained, “They’ve been waiting for you all morning.”

No sooner had he spoken than the sparrows picked up the black stone from the counter and dropped it into Lu Yao’s hands.

Instinctively, Lu Yao caught it, rubbing her fingers over its smooth, cool surface. She assumed it was a piece of jade. “Why are you giving this to me?”

The sparrows, nearly frantic, perched on her hand and pecked lightly at the stone.

Suddenly, a blurry water screen appeared above the stone, projecting a scene.

It was footage of the sparrows earlier that morning, delivering herbs to Jiang Yan and leaving them at his windowsill.

Smart little things—they even left evidence.

Lu Yao reached out to fluff their soft little heads, praising them, “How thoughtful!”

That did it.

The sparrows puffed up their chests, walking around with newfound confidence, as if they had just accomplished something truly extraordinary.

As a reward, Lu Yao instructed Cheng Ye to set up a computer for them.

Though they weren’t very skilled at playing games, it didn’t dampen their enthusiasm.

Lu Yao sat nearby, examining the stone.

In the cultivation world, there were communication jade talismans and magical tools for recording images.

The sparrows had used something called a Shadow Recording Stone, a low-grade, disposable tool. Where they had found it remained a mystery.

Lu Yao thought back to the promotional idea she had just come up with. Combined with the Shadow Recording Stone, it might yield unexpected results.

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