Ch 175: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World II

Lu Yao was riding her electric scooter back to the courier shop when, from a distance, she noticed several men standing at the shop’s entrance, tools in hand, seemingly trying to pry the door open.

The group consisted of three adult men. Even as they saw Lu Yao pull up on her scooter, they didn’t stop. One of them, holding a large wrench, walked toward her, shouting, “Get off the bike.”

Lu Yao had mentally prepared for situations like this in the apocalypse. In a world where order had recently collapsed, new rules had yet to form, and some people, freshly “freed” from the shackles of law and morality, had started preying on those who seemed weaker than them.

Obediently, Lu Yao got off her scooter. Glancing briefly at the two men still diligently working on the lock, she slowly walked closer. “Don’t bother. You won’t be able to open it.”

The man with the wrench grabbed her arm and dragged her toward the door. “If we can’t open it, then you do it!”

The two men squatting by the door stood up to make way. One pulled a spring-loaded knife from his pocket, flicking the blade open and pointing it at Lu Yao. “We saw you riding that flashy little scooter around before dawn. Don’t blame us for this; blame yourself for showing off. Now open the door.”

Without a word, Lu Yao reached out, grabbed the knife-wielding man’s wrist, and twisted it lightly. A sharp crack echoed, followed by his scream as the knife clattered to the ground. His wrist went limp, completely useless.

The other men froze, their expressions shifting dramatically. One raised a curved metal pipe in alarm.

Lu Yao blocked the descending pipe with one hand. Sensing a gust of wind from behind, she swiftly bent forward, dodging the wrench aimed at her head. The wrench swung in an arc, colliding with the pipe, producing a loud clanging that echoed at the street corner.

After years of training, Lu Yao was agile and flexible. Dealing with ordinary people didn’t even require her to use her powers.

“Ahhhh—!”

“Ughhh—!”

In less than a minute, two more screams pierced the air. Those secretly watching from higher windows quickly retreated behind their curtains.

Dusting her hands, Lu Yao kicked the discarded wrench and pipe off the road, then walked back to her scooter. She wheeled it to the store’s entrance, locked it, and stuck a sticker with a gravity magic array onto its base.

The scooter wasn’t expensive, but it was incredibly convenient. After recharging it, she planned to use it again in the afternoon to install more signal receivers.

…

Meanwhile, Zhang Shulan returned home via a side path. Nervously climbing the stairs to her third-floor apartment, she ensured the hallway was empty before crouching at the door of Unit 303. Carefully, she pulled out a key tied to a string around her neck and unlocked the door.

Once inside, she quickly and quietly closed the door. The edges of the doorframe were lined with foam strips, ensuring no extra noise when opening or closing.

The room was dim, with all the windows and curtains tightly shut. Even in broad daylight, the interior was murky—just a shade brighter than nighttime, though not pitch black.

Normally, Zhang Shulan’s daughter would be waiting for her at the door.

Today, there was no one. The silence in the apartment made Zhang Shulan’s heart race. Afraid to call out, she reached into the shoe cabinet and pulled out a rolling pin. Hunching over, she cautiously crept through the apartment.

She checked the living room, kitchen, and bathroom, confirming no one else was inside. Her unease only deepened.

Reaching the bedroom door, she used the rolling pin to slowly nudge it open. Her eyes scanned the wardrobe, bed, and windowsill—then froze.

Five-year-old Lin Shanshan was perched on the windowsill, peeking through a gap in the curtains, watching something outside.

Zhang Shulan exhaled in relief and walked over.

Hearing the sound, Lin Shanshan turned and pointed out the window. “Mom, there’s a fight outside.”

Zhang Shulan, nearly collapsing with exhaustion from the scare, sat on the floor and hugged her daughter tightly. She rubbed her face against Lin Shanshan’s soft cheeks. “You scared Mommy to death.”

Lin Shanshan wrapped her arms around her mother and gently patted her back. “Don’t be scared, Mommy.”

Once Zhang Shulan had calmed down, she remembered her daughter’s earlier comment. “What were you looking at?”

Lin Shanshan pointed out the window again. “There’s a fight going on.”

Pulling back the curtains slightly, Zhang Shulan peeked outside. Across the street, her eyes landed on a prominent blue sign with white edges that read, in bold characters: Lu Yao’s Courier Shop.

The sign was eye-catching, but that was secondary. Zhang Shulan pulled out the business card she had received not long ago from the pocket of her sweatpants.

The card had the same blue background with white edges, a refreshingly clean design. The front read Lu Yao’s Courier Shop, while the back was densely packed with several lines of text she hadn’t yet taken the time to read.

She recalled Lu Yao mentioning that she had opened a shop near Guanyin Community. It turned out it wasn’t just an excuse.

The shop sign, the card, and the white electric scooter parked boldly in front of the courier shop were proof enough that Lu Yao had been truthful.

Now, there was no one at the shop entrance. The people fighting earlier had disappeared, leaving only the scooter parked conspicuously at the door, with no one nearby.

Zhang Shulan was a single mother raising her five-year-old daughter. She had originally worked at a department store nearby.

Over a month ago, her meager but peaceful life was shattered by a sudden catastrophe.

A strange virus broke out on an otherwise ordinary afternoon. Those infected died quickly, only to rise again as soulless puppets, wandering aimlessly through cities and streets. Human flesh was their only desire.

Many people in Zhang Shulan’s community either fled or died trying to escape. Some fell victim to zombies, while others perished in the chaos, their deaths shrouded in mystery.

At first, Zhang Shulan also considered leaving. However, with her daughter being so young, she hesitated. Leaving their small home, the only place they knew, meant venturing into uncertainty without any clear destination or guarantee of safety.

In the end, her hesitation kept her and her daughter in place.

Fortunately, Zhang Shulan had a habit of stockpiling supplies. Every time there was a sale or holiday promotion, she couldn’t resist buying discounted rice, flour, and daily necessities to keep at home.

When the zombie virus initially broke out, the government still managed to maintain some control. At that time, money could still buy goods. Zhang Shulan managed to gather a variety of items, including rice, flour, canned meat, oil, salt, toilet paper, cat litter, and bottled water.

However, her resources and savings were limited. With everyone frantically hoarding at supermarkets, she didn’t dare to buy too much.

Two weeks later, the situation spiraled out of control. The military couldn’t hold back the zombie tide.

The death toll was overwhelming. The worst part was that the dead would immediately rise again, transforming into mindless, flesh-eating zombies that claimed human cities.

From that point, social order began to collapse step by step. In less than two months, everything had become what it was now.

Zhang Shulan became increasingly afraid to leave her home, but her supplies were dwindling, and the worsening security in her area heightened her anxiety.

She also worried that if she didn’t go out at all, her fear of leaving would grow even stronger. So, whenever she had the chance, she forced herself to venture out—even if it was just to find a pair of socks or a bag of candy. Anything she brought back could offer her and her daughter a small chance at survival.

The café she visited earlier was a spot she had scouted several times before. She had roughly figured out the patterns of zombie activity in the area and had left her home before dawn to avoid trouble.

As expected, she didn’t encounter any zombies or other people. The café, located in a conspicuous spot, had already been searched multiple times. What little was left wasn’t of interest to others. Still, she managed to find half a bag of used coffee grounds, half a bottle of caramel syrup, a small packet of shredded coconut, and a dozen creamer pods.

The supplies Zhang Shulan found weren’t much, but they were enough to keep her spirits high for the day.

She hadn’t expected to spend so much time in the café. By the time she tried to leave, she was already surrounded by zombies.

If not for the girl who had given her the business card, she might not have made it back home today.

After calming herself, Zhang Shulan lit a solid alcohol block to boil water. She used the syrup and creamer she had just found to make a sweet drink for her daughter.

Lin Shanshan held the cup, sipping slowly, her mood brightening. She whispered to Zhang Shulan, “Mom, that sister who was fighting won.”

Zhang Shulan picked up the business card from the edge of the coffee table, thought for a moment, and carefully tucked it into the inner pocket of her clothes.

In this neighborhood and in Guanyin Community across the way, there were still a fair number of people. Strong men naturally had the upper hand, and Zhang Shulan constantly worried about the safety of herself and her daughter.

The girl who had given her the card appeared delicate, but anyone brave enough to ride a scooter around the streets alone in these times was unlikely to be ordinary.

Zhang Shulan felt no malice from Lu Yao, which was why she had gone back to pick up the card at the bridge.

As a single mother with a young child, having this card felt like holding onto a potential lifeline if she ever needed help.

…

Lu Yao pulled out an extension cord from the courier shop, plugged in her electric scooter to charge, then closed the shop and returned to the shopping street. She couldn’t help but complain to the Dream Fulfillment System. “Did you see that? The shop hasn’t even opened yet, and people are already trying to loot it for free. If I opened a supermarket, I’d have to fight every day.”

The Dream Fulfillment System sighed. “You’re right. Selling goods means tying up capital in stock, and when customers are unreliable, dealing with disputes every day would be exhausting.”

Lu Yao said, “You go ahead and renovate the shop according to the blueprints. I’ll finish installing the remaining signal receivers this afternoon. Tomorrow, I’ll set up the backend system, and we’ll aim to officially open in three days. Oh, and I’ll tweak the business card design later tonight and print a batch.”

The system asked, “What about staff? Having ordinary receptionists is fine, but for couriers, that won’t work. It’s not just zombies out there; there are plenty of dangerous people. The working conditions are extremely hazardous—ordinary people can’t handle it.”

Lu Yao replied, “Ordinary people aren’t suited for courier work, so I’m thinking of transferring some staff from other shops.”

The system was puzzled. “What do you mean?”

Lu Yao explained, “Harold and Tina are on summer vacation right now. Meanwhile, Xiong An’an, Qiuyu, and Little Ginseng are causing chaos on Baixian Mountain, so much so that the Sect Master of Hengze Sect comes to complain every few days. Those little ones have way too much energy. Might as well give them something productive to do.”

The system hesitated. “That sounds like hiring child labor.”

Lu Yao chuckled. “How can it be child labor if they’re working at home? Besides, have you ever seen ‘children’ who are nearly a hundred or even a thousand years old?”

The system grumbled, “You didn’t say that before.”

Lu Yao replied, “I’ll ask the kids. If they’re not up for it, I’ll recruit professional couriers from the Alexander Continent or the Floating World Continent.”

The system warned, “That’s an ideal solution, but the rules won’t allow it. Strictly speaking, this would count as ‘talent export’—and not just within one world, but across worlds. The last time Harold took you and Qiuyu to Mingshi City, it only worked because both of them had signed soul contracts with you, allowing them to bypass the world’s restrictions.”

Lu Yao nodded. “So as long as the staff have soul contracts with me, they can follow Harold through space-time without issue?”

The portable storage system allowed staff to be transferred between shops, but with one limitation—they couldn’t pass through the star gates of new shops and could only operate within the shop itself.

Historically, only Lu Yao and Harold, with his space-time abilities, had been able to bypass this restriction freely. Even Budu was sometimes rejected by other worlds.

The system continued, “Mingshi City wasn’t part of the shopping street’s predetermined route, so the rules there were more relaxed. If you want to use staff from other worlds in the courier shop, you’ll need to ensure they’ve signed soul contracts with you.”

Lu Yao decided, “For now, I’ll have Harold and Qiuyu help out. In the early days of the shop, when business is slow, three couriers should be enough. If things get busier later, I’ll figure something out.”

…

Lu Yao left the courier shop. It was already morning in Yaoguang City, and staff were gradually arriving at their respective shops.

She bumped into three employees from the DIY Workshop’s control room and informed them that the DIY Workshop would soon resume operations. The three were delighted.

Lu Yao then asked if one of them could transfer to the newly opened courier shop to manage the backend order system.

…

Thingyan: Please no crazy deities like in the last two worlds. My heart can’t handle it 😭😭😭

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