Ch 141: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World II

The shop assistants assigned by the Street Committee included two men and one woman, all looking to be in their twenties.

They arrived punctually at 6:00 AM at Lu Yao’s shop, but she was busy inventorying the fireworks in the storage room and only answered the door a minute later.

Upon seeing them, Lu Yao wasted no time and instructed them to move the fireworks out to the street.

Despite their lean appearances, the assistants, whether male or female, demonstrated impressive strength, swiftly carrying the variously shaped and heavy fireworks to the center of the street.

Lu Yao worked quickly as well. By 6:05 AM, she had twisted the fuses of all the fireworks together and ignited them simultaneously.

The arrangement of the fireworks and the lengths of the fuses had been carefully calculated so that, even though lit at the same time, they would explode sequentially in the sky.

At the cusp of dawn, only a few breakfast shops in the Northern District were open, and there were hardly any customers.

When the first firework exploded, the breakfast shop owners and staff paused their work, hurried to their doorways, and stared upward in awe.

The three assistants stood on the steps outside the DIY workshop, also gazing up at the fireworks with expressions that made them look not particularly clever.

The continuously exploding blue fireworks spread outward like rippling waves, blooming in the darkest part of the night sky.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The deep, resounding booms of the firework shells echoed through the streets, waking the sleeping residents of Ghost Street. Translated on hololonovels. They stumbled out of bed, bewildered, and rushed to their windows to look outside.

The varying shades of blue waves eventually converged into small blossoms of foam, which connected to form flowing lines and finally gathered into a vast sea.

“Whoosh—BOOM!”

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!”

Golden fireworks trailed long tails as they soared upward. When they exploded, the golden flames undulated like ink strokes coming to life.

The Ghost Street residents at their windows stared in amazement, but their expressions quickly shifted.

The undulating golden flames formed sharp lines that gradually outlined a massive, terrifying figure—a giant squid.

Its enormous, pointed head and thick, sprawling tentacles filled the night sky, striking fear into all who saw it.

Across from the DIY workshop, a middle-aged couple running a breakfast shop had been watching since the shop assistants began moving the fireworks.

At first, they found the scene amusing. But when the giant squid appeared, they stole a quick glance at Lu Yao and exchanged shocked, terrified looks.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!”

More fireworks launched into the sky. The gunpowder-scented street fell silent, as though everyone assumed the display was over.

But then, an unfamiliar sound broke through the stillness.

“Da-da-da—da-da—”

“Da-da-da-da—da-da-da—”

At the West District church, security staff stood in their dormitory hallway, staring blankly at the Northern District sky.

Without needing to inquire further, they could already guess which shop owner was causing such a ruckus this early in the morning.

From the dark, oceanic depths of the sky, a massive whale suddenly surged forth.

Its head was square and well-defined, its jawline sharp, and its body far larger than the golden squid from earlier.

“Da-da-da—da-da-da-da—”

Xu Zhengrong murmured, “It’s a sperm whale…”

The sperm whale, with a dark blue back and silvery-white belly, dove into the scene, opening its mouth wide to clamp down on the golden squid’s body.

The security staff collectively gasped in shock.

The residents and shop owners on the street, who had been watching this fireworks show with a mix of fear and awe, were now utterly dumbfounded.

At first, it seemed like the display was meant to flatter Him. But with the appearance of the whale, it felt more like provocation.

Yet no one on Ghost Street had ever dared to provoke Him, nor had anyone created something so extraordinary.

This morning’s fireworks were clearly different from those of the past two nights.

The golden squid struggled weakly, its thick tentacles flailing feebly before being crushed by the sperm whale’s teeth, ground into fragments, and dissolved into foam.

The security office staff, who had been gasping in astonishment, were left speechless.

The residents and shopkeepers, who had just been trying to figure out what the shop owner was thinking, stopped thinking altogether.

“Whoosh—BOOM—”

After a brief, inexplicable silence, the final few fireworks shot into the sky.

As golden foam was scattered by an imaginary breeze, the remains of the giant squid completely disappeared. The whale flapped its fins, swam out of the deep sea, and leapt above the surface.

“Oooh—Ooooooh—”

The people standing on the ground visibly flinched. It was as if they could actually hear the whale’s calls.

The massive sperm whale’s body crashed back into the sea with a splash.

The waves and the whale dissolved into foam but didn’t scatter. Instead, they coalesced into clouds and then continuously split into silver-white jellyfish.

The tiny jellyfish gradually solidified, resembling little umbrellas drifting down from the sky.

As the first faint light of dawn broke on the horizon, the jellyfish fell over Ghost Street like morning dew.

Blown by the wind, they scattered like dandelion seeds.

The wife of the baozi shop owner caught one in her hand.

The silver-white jellyfish landed in her palm, collapsing like a sheet of paper.

On the paper was written the address of the DIY workshop and details about its latest activities.

In essence, it was another advertisement.

Once the jellyfish had completed its task of delivering the message, it dissolved like a bubble within half a minute.

The street, unknowingly, grew lively as the day broke.

Lu Yao clapped her hands and directed the staff to clean up the remnants of the fireworks.

The task was complete, but the debris needed to be promptly dealt with.

The new staff seemed a bit dull—one command, one action.

They followed her instructions to clean up but stood motionless in the lobby afterward, like wooden statues. Their faces appeared masked, their eyes dull, and they showed almost no expression.

For the moment, Lu Yao didn’t dwell on it. With her first task completed, a new directive appeared in the Shopkeeper’s Guide:

—Rule #2: Please complete the task of serving a total of 666 customers within the next 13 days. The great omniscient deity wishes to see your worth.

Serving 666 customers in 13 days meant an average of 52 customers per day.

With three operation rooms, each accommodating up to 12 customers per session, a single round could host 36 people.

If the jellyfish advertisement proved effective, the difficulty of the task wouldn’t be too high.

However, Lu Yao was more concerned about whether her new staff could meet expectations and quickly adapt to the work.

She needed staff who could independently guide customers, not clueless wooden figures.

Putting the Shopkeeper’s Guide aside, Lu Yao returned to the lobby and called the three new employees over.

The young man with slightly longer hair tied in a small bun at the back was named Gan Qing. His jet-black pupils and vacant gaze made him seem unsettlingly eerie.

The boy with delicate features and a gold earring on his left ear was named Huang Qi. He seemed slightly sharper than Gan Qing, mostly because he smiled, revealing shallow dimples on both cheeks.

The tallest of the three, a long-haired woman named Chen You, was slightly taller than Lu Yao. Her appearance was gentle, and her gaze particularly clear.

With no customers yet, Lu Yao conducted a quick onboarding session for them.

Surprisingly, their learning abilities exceeded her expectations. They quickly grasped her instructions and executed them efficiently.

Understanding they were still in a period of adjustment, Lu Yao assigned them only basic tasks on their first day.

After the brief introduction and training, she assigned Huang Qi to act as a receptionist in the lobby, primarily responsible for customer registration and handling payments.

Compared to Gan Qing and Chen You, Huang Qi appeared more approachable, even able to smile.

The other two were assigned as assistants, shadowing Lu Yao for a few days.

Once they became familiar with guiding customers, Lu Yao planned to let them work independently.

Since the DIY workshop’s activities would rotate regularly, Lu Yao couldn’t yet determine Gan Qing and Chen You’s areas of expertise or whether they were suited for the role of a guide. Privately, she was considering finding more qualified and trustworthy instructors without violating any rules.

This matter couldn’t be rushed.

As the first day of training ended, customers began arriving at the door—starting with returning visitors.

Song Wen and his grandmother, who had visited during the trial period, were the first to show up.

A few minutes later, Liu Jing also entered the store. She hesitated when she noticed the three new staff members, her expression shifting slightly. After a few seconds of deliberation, she slowly approached the front desk and registered her visit.

Within another five minutes, more customers trickled in and began registering.

Lu Yao addressed them: “The shop officially opens today with a new DIY theme: food. This event will last for three days, with today’s focus on making desserts.”

The customers registering were visibly excited.

“I came specifically because of the jellyfish ad! The food on this street is atrocious. I could make something better with my feet!” one of them exclaimed.

Lu Yao could sympathize with their frustration.

After earning some money during the trial period, she had taken the time to buy food from the street.

While the food smelled divine, it tasted bland and disappointing, inspiring her decision to make the first official activity about food.

The standard participation fee for DIY activities was 60 ghost coins, with material costs varying depending on the activity.

For the first day’s baking session, ingredients included various starches, eggs, butter, cream, cheese, sugar, fruits, and jams. A single set of materials cost 40 ghost coins.

If customers found one set of materials insufficient, they could purchase additional supplies for an extra fee.

The early arrivals at the DIY workshop had likely been tormented by the street’s subpar food. After completing their registration and paying the fee, they urged Lu Yao to begin as quickly as possible, eager to dive in.

Once the group was full, Lu Yao didn’t waste any time. She led the customers to the second operation room to start the session.

…

Thingyan: Where is ML? Hurry come and kill this bad god. I’m so annoyed by HIM already.

🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️🛍️