Ch 97: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World II

In contrast to ordinary pandas, panda demons had distinct traits. Lu Yao had read online that pandas aged five or six were considered adults, yet Xiong An’an still retained the appearance of a fluffy, soft cub, his cries delicate and sweet.

Clinging tightly to Lu Yao’s leg, Xiong An’an whimpered and cooed. His enthusiasm seemed suspiciously excessive.

Lu Yao crouched down, ruffled his fur a few times, then scooped him up. Turning to the young girl who had followed him, she asked, “Who are you?”

The girl, brought back to her senses, was about to respond when the lead sparrow demon fluttered over, holding a small note in its beak.

Xiong An’an immediately began to whimper louder upon spotting the note, while the girl’s expression grew nervous.

The note was written on a light pink sticky pad from the shop, with a faint adhesive strip across the top. Xiong An’an reached out his paw to snatch it, but Lu Yao pinned him under her arm with one hand. The sparrow demon dutifully unfolded the note for her.

After quickly reading it, Lu Yao looked up at the girl. “A secret recipe for Shandong whole grain pancakes?”

The girl’s face turned beet red, her dark eyes darting nervously before she lowered her head under Lu Yao’s calm gaze. In a quiet voice, she confessed, “I asked An’an to help me find the recipe online.”

The girl introduced herself as Xiong Pingping, Xiong An’an’s older sister. Like him, she was also a half-demon.

Their family had originally lived in Bilin Village, outside Changkui City. Their father was a hunter, and their mother was a demon.

When Xiong Pingping was born, she appeared as a human baby and never practiced demon arts, so to this day, she couldn’t assume her demon form. Her father had no idea his daughter was part demon.

However, when Xiong An’an was born, he emerged as a furless bear cub, terrifying the midwife and the Xiong family.

Their mother used demon magic to erase the memories of the midwife and the Xiong family before fleeing into the night with Xiong An’an. Only Xiong Pingping retained the memory of that night and kept a spatial storage bag her mother had left her, containing a communication jade and a charm to conceal demon energy.

After her mother and brother left, Xiong Pingping continued living in the human village. She secretly used the communication jade to contact her mother, who told her Xiong An’an couldn’t return until he learned to take human form.

Years later, when the great bear demon was killed by demon hunters, Xiong An’an wandered the mountains alone and eventually disappeared. In reality, Xiong Pingping had secretly taken him in.

By that time, their father had remarried and had a son with his new wife. Xiong Pingping’s life at home became increasingly difficult. Unable to bring Xiong An’an back to the house, she raised him in the mountains, but he was a true troublemaker and constantly begged to come down.

Xiong Pingping tried every method to keep him in the mountains, out of sight of the villagers. However, within half a year, Xiong An’an was discovered. The villagers planned to capture him and sell him to the Beast Taming Sect.

At the same time, Xiong Pingping’s family was arranging a marriage for her. Unwilling to wed, she left a note behind, secretly took Xiong An’an, and fled Bilin Village, eventually settling in Baixian Town.

In town, she managed to acquire a charm to conceal Xiong An’an’s demon aura and kept him at their rented home while she made a living selling small snacks.

A few days ago, the siblings had an argument, and Xiong An’an snuck out at night, climbing up Baixian Mountain.

Xiong Pingping searched for two days before finding him. Once she confirmed he was safe, her attention shifted to the strange shop that had taken him in.

She spent half a day in the café’s main hall, observing how others used the internet. One customer enjoyed watching food livestreams, so Xiong Pingping stood behind him, watching intently. As someone who also sold food, she found the scenes fascinating.

When the customer left before his session ended, Xiong Pingping seized the chance to sit down and explore. She watched a livestream of a vendor selling pancakes and fried dough sticks from a tiny cart, drawing long lines of customers. The vendor’s success left her envious.

Rather than immediately bringing Xiong An’an home, she returned to their lodging and attempted to make whole grain pancakes herself.

However, Xiong Pingping didn’t know how to make pork floss, how to create the crispy crust, or how to replicate the flavor of the sauce. The pancakes she made based on guesswork tasted mediocre at best.

Thus, today’s situation arose. Xiong An’an, who had painstakingly gathered a pancake recipe, secretly handed it to Xiong Pingping, only to be caught red-handed.

After explaining everything, Xiong Pingping felt deeply embarrassed, her face flushing as red as a peach.

She had learned that using the internet required five mid-grade spirit stones, and opening an account cost as much as twenty high-grade ones. Despite her frugality over the years, Xiong Pingping’s savings weren’t enough for even one internet session.

Lu Yao looked at the recipe in her hand, then back at Xiong Pingping. For a moment, she was at a loss for words. She never expected to complete her system task in such a roundabout way.

Could this be exploiting a loophole in the system?

Xiong Pingping noticed Lu Yao’s silence and grew increasingly nervous. The internet café’s owner was a human, yet her ability to attract and manage so many demons and devils was a testament to her extraordinary capabilities.

Lu Yao returned the recipe note to Xiong Pingping. “It’s a small matter; don’t worry about it. Since you’re the little bear’s sister, you may take him home today.”

Lu Yao had initially kept Xiong An’an in the café to fulfill her task. Now that the half demon symbol was unexpectedly activated without much effort, it no longer mattered whether he stayed.

Hearing Xiong Pingping recount her family’s story, Lu Yao felt it would be unkind to separate the siblings, who now only had each other.

However, Xiong Pingping’s expression changed, and she bowed deeply. “Store owner, I have a request.”

Lu Yao didn’t respond.

Xiong Pingping continued, “An’an has been telling me every day how much the humans and demons in your café like him, and he enjoys staying here. Compared to being with me, he seems happier at your café. I would like to ask you to allow him to remain on the mountain. I’m willing to pay his room and board monthly, and I can also help you with a matter.”

Lu Yao raised an eyebrow. “What can you help me with?”

Xiong Pingping smiled faintly. “Does the store owner need elderly human women over the age of sixty to visit your café?”

Lu Yao looked bewildered. “How did you learn about this?”

Xiong Pingping explained, “I possess no special skills, but my senses are sharper than most. I’ve been doing business in the nearby Baixian Town, and I recently noticed that young disciples from the Hengze Sect have been going around recruiting elderly women to follow them up the mountain, only to be chased away and scolded. At first, I didn’t understand why. But a few days ago, when I was searching for An’an, I saw one of these disciples heading up the mountain and pieced things together.”

Lu Yao felt a headache coming on. She knew Jiang Yan was a bit naïve but didn’t expect him to be this tactless.

She had indeed asked him to bring human guests to the café and even requested he refine some low-grade pills to help stabilize cultivation. The pills had already been delivered a few days ago, but Jiang Yan had mentioned needing more time to find the right guests. His troubled expression that day now made sense—his task wasn’t going well.

Lu Yao grew curious about Xiong Pingping’s proposal. “If he can’t do it, what makes you think you can?”

Xiong Pingping bowed deeply. “Give me three days, and I will make it happen.”

Lu Yao said, “My café has rules. Guests must come of their own free will, without feeling coerced or pressured.”

Xiong Pingping nodded firmly. “Rest assured, store owner. I will ensure the guests willingly come up the mountain.”

Lu Yao said, “If you truly manage this, An’an can stay and work at the café. You won’t need to pay for his room and board, and I’ll even give you a complete recipe for pancakes.”

Overjoyed, Xiong Pingping bowed in gratitude and left the mountain without looking back.

Xiong An’an watched his sister’s retreating figure, feeling a bit forlorn.

Lu Yao set him down on the ground. “If you want to go back with your sister, I won’t stop you.”

Xiong An’an turned back, clinging tightly to Lu Yao’s leg with his little paws, immediately resorting to his signature act of coyness and cuteness.

Xiong Pingping wasn’t wrong—Xiong An’an truly loved the internet café. Especially after discovering how much the humans there adored him, his affection for the place deepened.

It was far more lively than hiding alone in the mountains and much happier than staying cooped up in a tiny rented room.

Lately, he had even begun contemplating a question he’d never considered before: would his sister’s life be easier without him?

Xiong An’an didn’t want to leave, and Lu Yao didn’t force him to.

Returning to the shop, Lu Yao placed the promised bottle of pills into the sparrow demons’ cage. The little sparrows stopped idling and, without delay, finished off the pills in one gulp before flying out to train.

Three days later, Xiong An’an kept glancing toward the entrance from morning till afternoon, wondering if Xiong Pingping had arrived yet. But she was nowhere to be seen, making him restless.

Although they usually communicated via the transmission jade, Xiong Pingping had been unusually busy these past few days. She only replied late at night, exchanging just a few words before disappearing again. Xiong An’an had no idea how she was doing.

It wasn’t until the afternoon that Xiong Pingping finally appeared, leading an elderly woman with snow-white hair through the teleportation array at the café’s entrance. Xiong An’an immediately ran over, cooing with joy.

Startled by the sight of a bear cub, the elderly woman froze in fear. Hearing the commotion outside, Lu Yao quickly came out and scooped up Xiong An’an.

Supporting the elderly woman, Xiong Pingping carefully navigated through the area, ensuring they avoided any demon clans with animalistic features, before leading her to the counter and setting up a computer.

Xiong Pingping paid for an account herself, reluctantly handing over 20 high-grade spirit stones to open a video platform account. She guided the elderly woman to a seat, logged in, and the two began watching videos together.

They didn’t watch dramas or entertainment—they focused exclusively on food videos.

The elderly woman spread out a piece of animal hide in front of her and held a small piece of charcoal in hand. After watching a segment, she would pause to write down notes on the hide and sometimes rewind the video to watch certain parts again.

Curious, Lu Yao walked over to take a look. As expected, the notes were recipes.

Recalling her first encounter with Xiong Pingping, Lu Yao quickly understood and couldn’t help but admire the young half-demon’s resourcefulness.

Most of the café’s visitors from the Floating World Continent came to play games, watch dramas, or follow their favorite celebrities. Yet Xiong Pingping had keenly identified another side of the internet—learning.

She and the elderly woman treated the internet café as a culinary “training class,” voraciously absorbing recipes and cooking techniques shared online.

Initially, Xiong Pingping had been heartbroken over the cost of spirit stones and somewhat distracted. But soon, she was utterly captivated by the fascinating world of online food content. Even dishes she couldn’t replicate left her amazed simply by watching.

Many of the recipes she discovered online were techniques she had never encountered before. Armed with this knowledge, how could she ever worry about not making a living?

Time flew by while surfing the web. Before they knew it, several hours had passed like a fleeting moment.

Outside, the sky grew darker, and some customers began ordering food. Before long, the café was filled with the enticing aroma of various dishes.

Xiong Pingping and the elderly woman turned their heads, their attention drawn to a nearby customer’s meal tray, which featured several snacks they had just seen online.

The two exchanged glances, unable to suppress the sound of their stomachs rumbling.

Noticing their reaction, Lu Yao sent a message to the snack shop and ordered two portions of jianbing guozi.

The snack shop occasionally offered jianbing guozi for breakfast, but given the wide variety of snacks it served, no single item appeared daily. As the only eatery in Dreamland, the snack shop’s menu rotated to keep customers pleasantly surprised.

However, all snacks that had been sold remained available in the shop’s inventory, including the machines and materials required to make them. Lu Yao had informed the staff earlier to prepare jianbing guozi for a few days.

When the food arrived, Lu Yao added a sausage to each paper bag before delivering them personally. “For our new guests, who’ve stayed for over two hours, here’s a small gift from our shop.”

Xiong Pingping and the elderly woman were stunned by the gesture, the aroma making any attempt at refusal impossible.

Opening the bags, Xiong Pingping immediately recognized the long-awaited jianbing guozi. Without hesitation, she took a big bite. Soft, crispy, salty, fragrant—it was a hundred times better than she had imagined.

The elderly woman, after a taste, looked up in amazement. “This is even better than what you make.”

Xiong Pingping nodded. “Exactly. That’s why we have to come to the mountain to learn true skills.”

The elderly woman chuckled. “I’m too old for all that. But that fragrant pan-seared beef pie caught my eye. I know the ingredients, and the method doesn’t seem hard. I’ll give it a try when we get back. Pingping, are you still selling your jianbing?”

Xiong Pingping replied firmly, “Granny, I’m sticking with my jianbing. I won’t compete with your beef pies.”

The elderly woman didn’t argue further and focused on her meal.

Lu Yao mouthed silently to Xiong Pingping, “What’s going on?”

Xiong Pingping whispered, “I’ll explain later.”

After finishing their meal, Xiong Pingping and the elderly woman left, this time using a teleportation scroll. Concerned for their safety, Lu Yao summoned Harold to discreetly follow them and ensure they returned safely to their home in Baixian Town.

Before bed that evening, Lu Yao checked the mission compendium. The icon for the human race was now illuminated.

With the human and half-demon race icons lit, the devil race task could wait for now. For Lu Yao, the tasks for the celestial and underworld realms seemed nearly impossible to complete.

Turning her attention to the cultivation world, she read the mission requirement:

[Requirement to illuminate the compendium: the strongest individual in the cultivation world.]

Lu Yao: “…”

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