Ch 140: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World II

Chen Huisheng glanced at Fang Cong and asked, “What?”

The newcomer replied, “Sister Jing said, if someone shows signs of transformation , they might try going to that creative DIY workshop.”

Chen Huisheng was puzzled. “Try what?”

The newcomer shook his head. “I’m not entirely sure.”

The fireworks that lit up the northern district’s sky last night had been visible from their dormitory as well.

That shop indeed seemed unique, but everything in Ghost Street ultimately served Him. Even street management personnel like them were no exception.

Street managers were particularly wary of shop owners with too many ideas, as they were easily tempted by Him and could end up becoming His powerful agents.

Fang Cong said, “Liu Jing is no longer part of the management office, nor is she your superior. Besides, she has a record of losing herself, so there’s no need to take her words seriously.”

The newcomer lowered his head and muttered a faint acknowledgment.

An hour later, Team Three’s Du Xiao was taken away by the church.

…

North District Street, Lu Yao’s Creative DIY Workshop.

Inside Classroom One, all six workstations were filled, with a total of 12 customers.

In the lobby outside, four more customers were waiting for the next session.

The fireworks advertisement had proven surprisingly effective. Besides the elderly woman and young man who arrived first, the classroom also hosted five or six middle-aged men and women, as well as several young adults around 18 or 20 years old.

Once the six free slots were filled, the remaining customers had to pay.

The common currency in Ghost Street consisted of Golden Octopus bills and Ghost Coins, each available in a single denomination.

Golden Octopus bills were yellow paper notes featuring a golden octopus portrait, with a face value of 100 units. Ghost Coins were silver-white, ghost-shaped coins about the size of a typical one-yuan coin, valued at 1 unit each.

One Golden Octopus bill could be exchanged for 100 Ghost Coins.

The cost to participate in the fireworks-making activity was 60 Ghost Coins, with an additional 50 Ghost Coins for materials. This meant that participating in the activity typically cost 110 Ghost Coins per person.

However, as a special trial-period offer, customers who chose not to take home their finished fireworks products were exempted from the material fee.

Additionally, the shop offered a hidden service.

Leveraging the shop owner’s special abilities, customers could pay extra for guidance in creating items with special features during the hands-on activity.

For example, in the trial-period fireworks-making activity, customers could normally only create basic fireworks. But if someone wanted to make fireworks with magical effects, they could consult the shop owner and pay extra for the experience.

For now, customers were engrossed in their first experience making fireworks and had not yet inquired about custom services.

Ghost Street’s customers lacked any survival or defensive skills. They were prone to aberration but had no evolved abilities to protect themselves.

Lu Yao found this particularly perplexing but also saw it as a business opportunity. Eventually, people would notice the uniqueness of her DIY workshop.

After explaining the key points of fireworks-making, the customers began their attempts.

Two hours later, the first morning session concluded.

Both the free and paid participants were highly satisfied with the activity. Many of them had spent years wandering Ghost Street, living in fear and rarely engaging in activities other than eating and drinking.

Trying their hand at a craft gave them an unparalleled sense of accomplishment. The only drawback was that free participants couldn’t take their finished products home.

All paid participants chose to take their completed fireworks with them. On their way out, they even asked Lu Yao if she could host a baking workshop next time.

Lu Yao decided to hang a “Wish Book for Activities” at the lobby entrance. Customers could open it to write down the type of hands-on activity they wanted to try. Each page was limited to one suggestion, but other customers could add a “+1” to endorse it. If enough people wished for the same activity, the shop owner would consider fulfilling the request.

By noon, Lu Yao’s Creative DIY Workshop had earned 660 Ghost Coins.

Previously, Lu Yao had been eager to try the food on Ghost Street, but after tasting the candy that Cai Yuxing gave her, her enthusiasm for the street’s cuisine had waned significantly.

As soon as the first wave of customers left, a dozen more filtered into the lobby.

With no time to daydream about food, Lu Yao rested briefly before another wave of twelve customers arrived, filling the classroom once more. By afternoon, she had hosted two more groups of customers and finally hung the “Closed” sign early.

After a full day of talking and instructing, Lu Yao’s throat felt dry, and her head was spinning from exhaustion.

To make matters worse, while she was busy with the hands-on activities in the classroom, more new customers were constantly arriving in the lobby.

There was supposed to be one more session in the evening, but having barely slept the previous night and worked non-stop all day, Lu Yao was too drained to continue. She had no choice but to issue tickets for the next day, asking the customers to return in the morning.

The unexpectedly high demand made Lu Yao reconsider whether she should hire staff. Currently, the shop had three classrooms, so at least two instructors and one receptionist would be necessary to manage the operations. However, hiring staff required submitting an application. Lu Yao decided to endure one more day and reevaluate the situation after the trial period. Perhaps today’s overwhelming turnout was just a fluke.

Boom—boom—boom—!

The sound of fireworks echoed outside the shop, one burst after another.

Leaning against the door with a cup of water in hand, Lu Yao looked up. Brilliant fireworks continued to light up the sky, bursting endlessly. Unlike the previous night’s special display, tonight’s fireworks were ordinary and fleeting, yet their vibrant colors drew crowds to gaze at the spectacle.

Fireworks displays were rare on Ghost Street, so the sight of them caused passersby to stop and look. Meanwhile, word of the newly opened Creative DIY Workshop spread farther with each exploding firework.

The next morning, after a good night’s rest, Lu Yao felt refreshed.

As usual, she grabbed her advertisement board and opened the shop to place it by the entrance, ready to attract customers.

The moment she opened the door, a commotion greeted her.

“It’s open! Finally open!”

“There are still six free slots!”

“Boss, I want to sign up for this activity!”

…

Overnight, more people had heard about the DIY Workshop, and the number of eager participants increased. Customers who had taken tickets the previous day but missed out had arrived early, itching to try after seeing others set off fireworks the night before.

Lu Yao quickly placed the advertisement board by the entrance and welcomed customers into the shop.

By the time she finished explaining the instructions for the first session in Classroom One, the lobby was already packed with waiting customers again.

By six in the evening, Lu Yao had hosted four waves of customers and once again closed early.

Realizing she could no longer handle the influx alone, Lu Yao decided she must hire staff before the official opening tomorrow.

Before heading to the street committee, she took inventory of the workshop’s supplies. Including the completed pieces from the free sessions, the required sixty-six fireworks for the opening ceremony were ready.

All that remained was to set them off tomorrow morning to mark the official opening, and her first task would be complete.

But the more pressing issue was staffing. Lu Yao needed to visit the committee to apply for new hires.

On Ghost Street, management personnel worked the same hours as the shops: 6 AM to midnight, an exhausting 18-hour shift.

After hanging the “Closed” sign, Lu Yao grabbed her map and shop manual and left for the street committee in the Eastern District.

This was Lu Yao’s first time visiting another district, and it wasn’t particularly early.

The daytime rush of customers had kept her tied up, so she stood on the street for a moment, planning to hail a cab.

After two days of trial operations, Lu Yao had saved up some Ghost Coins. For now, transportation and meals wouldn’t be an issue.

Ghost Street had taxis, and Lu Yao managed to flag one down.

After about a 40-minute ride, the taxi dropped her off about 500 meters from the Street Committee’s building.

The driver explained that this was as far as he could go.

As soon as Lu Yao stepped out and shut the door, the cab shot off like an arrow, vanishing with a whoosh.

The Eastern District’s streets were wider than those in the Northern District, and the storefronts were more stylishly decorated, though the streets were sparsely populated.

Lu Yao strolled leisurely, taking ten minutes to reach her destination.

The Street Committee’s building had thirteen floors. In the plaza directly in front of the entrance stood a massive golden octopus statue—a rather peculiar taste in aesthetics.

The entire building looked less like an office space and more like a luxurious palace. Yet, it exuded a strangely lifeless atmosphere.

Within a 200-meter radius of the office building, there wasn’t a single pedestrian.

Sensing something amiss, Lu Yao hesitated. But remembering the help she’d need for tomorrow’s opening, she gathered her resolve and stepped inside.

The moment she entered, a strong, fishy smell filled her nostrils.

The lobby, designed like a bank, had counters arranged in a circle. Behind the glass, staff members sat—each boasting an “artistic” appearance.

Octopus heads and starfish heads were relatively easy to accept. But some staff had anemone-like heads, or even ones resembling sea cucumbers, with mouths that opened and closed like chrysanthemums. The sight was particularly unsettling.

Lu Yao exhaled slowly, trying to steady herself.

Though everything around her was bizarre, she had to pretend it was all normal. Showing weakness in such a place would only invite trouble.

Regret crept in—she shouldn’t have come at night to save time.

At the hiring application counter sat a white ghost with a triangular body resembling a bedsheet. Translated on Hololonovels. Three dark voids on its surface formed what seemed to be its facial features.

Amid the array of peculiar “seafood” appearances, this white ghost looked exceptionally clean-cut and elegant.

Determined to get things done quickly, Lu Yao approached the counter briskly.

“Hello, I’d like to apply for three shop assistants.”

The white ghost slowly raised its head. Its hollow, black eyes fixed on her.

“Northern District, Street No. 13. Lu Yao’s Creative DIY Workshop. Shopkeeper: Lu Yao. Application for three employees. Shopkeeper rating: S-level. Shop potential: S-level. Employee application approved. The three employees will report at 6 AM tomorrow. Shopkeeper, do not disappoint the Lord’s expectations!”

What Lu Yao had anticipated to be a complicated process turned out to be surprisingly straightforward.

With the approval receipt in hand, she promptly exited the building.

After walking a good distance along the eerily empty street, she finally reached a livelier area where she managed to hail a taxi.

On the way back, the driver, making casual conversation, nearly drove into a guardrail when he learned she had just visited the Street Committee’s building.

When Lu Yao got out, the driver glanced up at her shop’s signboard and made a mental note of the place.

…

The next morning, at 6:05 AM.

Lu Yao stood in the middle of the Northern District street, bending down to light the fuse on a bundle of sixty-six fireworks.

The bursts served as a sharp, invigorating wake-up call for the slumbering Ghost Street.

As the morning light broke, magical fireworks streaked across the sky, tearing through the remnants of the night.

Lu Yao’s Creative DIY Workshop was officially open for business!

🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️