Ch 191: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World II

Lu Yao didn’t plan to explain. She responded with a simple “Mm,” as an answer.

Xie Yu couldn’t help but press on. “What equipment? The circuits and networks in Gaosheng City should have been destroyed too. How are you still able to use communicators?”

Zhao Ye replied, “The network and system of Courier Shop were personally built by the shop owner, so they’re naturally unaffected by Gaosheng City’s situation.”

Xie Yu froze. At first, he hadn’t paid much attention to Lu Yao. Tina’s performance in the mall had been dazzling, instantly capturing everyone’s attention.

When An Xia spoke to Tina, Xie Yu subconsciously glanced at Lu Yao. It felt a bit awkward, and he secretly hoped Tina would join them back at the base.

In an era overrun by zombies, those with high combat prowess drew attention.

The more capable individuals a base had, the safer it would be.

To strengthen their base, they provided generous incentives to recruit talent, and scavenging teams were eager to bring on strong companions.

Xie Yu felt An Xia could use a softer approach when negotiating with Lu Yao’s team, but truthfully, he didn’t think much of Lu Yao or Zhao Ye.

The flyer about the Courier Shop wasn’t convincing. In the mall earlier, Lu Yao and the boy guarding outside had only done menial tasks while Tina did all the heavy lifting.

They’d seen plenty of people like this—too afraid to venture out for supplies, relying entirely on the base’s basic survival resources.

As a member of a scavenging team, Xie Yu had no fondness for such freeloaders.

But Lu Yao’s calm attitude exuded a subtle arrogance, as if she didn’t think much of them either.

At that moment, Xie Yu noticed Lu Yao suddenly step to the side and speak in a low voice, as if talking to someone.

He scrutinized her and spotted a tiny communicator in her ear.

Networks and communication signals had long been cut off when the zombie outbreak began. People, once accustomed to the convenience of advanced tech, were now forced to revert to the most primitive ways of living.

At first, it was tough.

Many would instinctively reach for their pockets to check the time or open an app for messages.

Later, with city cables destroyed and no electricity for charging, people gradually adjusted to life without electronics.

Their base had undergone multiple repair missions, led by Instructor Lu, who ventured out five times to acquire power equipment and resources. They’d only managed to restore intermittent power supply, providing electricity every two days for one hour between 7:30 PM and 8:30 PM.

Recently, a scavenging team had traveled 30 kilometers to a tech mall and brought back several brand-new computers. However, with signal towers down and limited power, they remained offline.

Xie Yu hadn’t expected the seemingly ordinary girl to be a tech expert. A trace of embarrassment arose within him, but he quickly suppressed it. He stepped past An Xia and said to Lu Yao, “Lu Yao, why don’t you join us at Hope Base? We’d be happy to welcome you and your companions.”

An Xia furrowed her brows slightly but didn’t object.

If Lu Yao was truly a tech expert, she would be a rare asset for the base.

Lu Yao replied, “Thanks for the offer, but I don’t plan on leaving Gaosheng City for now.”

She then called out to Tina and Zhao Ye, “Let’s go. Harold’s team has already completed four or five orders; we need to pick up the pace.”

Tina turned and picked up the client’s backpack, feeling a sense of urgency. “Four or five orders? That means Si Jin and Qiu Yu are already taking on tasks solo.”

Zhao Ye clenched his fists, brimming with determination. “We can’t let them outshine us.”

Lu Yao’s team mounted their electric bikes and left.

An Xia’s team turned back and prepared to search for more supplies upstairs.

As they passed the gold counter, one team member asked, “Should we grab some gold too?”

An Xia, in a foul mood, snapped, “You can’t eat it or use it—what’s the point of taking it?”

The team member awkwardly touched his face. “I just thought it might come in handy someday.”

An Xia pulled the flyer for the Courier Shop out of her pocket, crumpled it, and tossed it on the ground. “Its range is only ten kilometers. What use is that? We’re better off hauling more supplies upstairs since we’ve come all this way.”

Xie Yu stepped forward to calm her. “No need to vent your anger on them.”

An Xia couldn’t help but complain, “So many people want to get into the base and can’t. Some relax their standards and still get ungrateful responses. I just can’t stomach it.”

Xie Yu sighed. “Let it go. They’re not the only capable ones out there. Don’t stress yourself out. Anyway, the zombies upstairs have been cleared. Let’s just bring more supplies back.”

Back on the sixth floor of the mall, the team gathered around the remains of a spider-like zombie.

“I’ve never seen a zombie in this form before. This is a first.”

“We need to report this to the base—non-human zombies are appearing now.”

“It was smashed to pieces. That little girl is seriously fierce.”

“Shame she won’t join us.”

Hearing this, An Xia felt another pang of frustration.

…

Lu Yao’s team escorted Xu Xiumei and Li Heping back to their home.

The family of three reunited, overwhelmed with emotion. Xu Xiumei hugged her husband and son tightly, crying uncontrollably. Her sobs grew so loud that the upstairs neighbors leaned over the stair rails to see what was happening.

When they saw Xu Xiumei’s family crying at the doorway with a few young people standing nearby, they thought something serious had happened and couldn’t resist coming down to ask.

After hearing Xu Xiumei explain, one of them turned to Lu Yao. “I’d like to buy a few of your cards too.”

Lu Yao handed him a flyer.

He went upstairs and soon returned with a large gold bracelet, purchasing ten cards.

Not long after, two more households who’d overheard came down, each buying ten cards from Lu Yao.

The scene of Xu Xiumei’s family passionately endorsing the service was highly persuasive. Since purchasing the cards only required gold and didn’t consume supplies, everyone who read the flyer hesitated little. Even Xu Xiumei’s family bought an additional ten cards.

…

Harold ended a call and casually shook off the child clinging to his leg, sending the boy flying into his grandmother’s arms.

The elderly woman, sobbing and pounding the ground, instinctively caught the child as he flew toward her.

The little boy, stunned and wide-eyed with tears, forgot to cry for a moment.

After a few seconds, the grandmother came to her senses, glared fiercely at Harold, and started cursing him.

Harold had restrained his strength, so neither the boy nor the grandmother was actually hurt.

However, this act lit a fuse. The middle-aged man and woman standing nearby also began berating Harold.

Turning to Si Jin and Qiu Yu, Harold said, “Lu Yao said not to engage. Collect the cards, issue refunds, and compensate each household with five grams of gold.”

Si Jin’s scales practically bristled at the last part. “We’re compensating them too?”

Qiu Yu fumed. “I’d rather throw them straight into a zombie horde.”

Harold exhaled lightly. “You’ve never worked with Lu Yao before, so you don’t understand. Running a business isn’t like fighting. There are many things to consider and handle carefully. Words and actions matter a lot, and brute force isn’t an option. I think this approach is appropriate. If you don’t want to handle it, take another order—I’ll deal with this.”

Harold furrowed his brows and approached the middle-aged man holding the card. His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried clearly through the noisy environment, reaching everyone present.

“My sincerest apologies. Our shop’s capabilities are limited and we cannot fulfill your request. We will reclaim the cards you purchased, issue a full refund, and compensate each household with five grams of gold.”

The middle-aged man who had been ordering Harold around, the woman who was shouting at him, and the grandmother wailing on the ground all fell silent. They stared blankly at Harold, completely unprepared for such a “soft blade” response.

The couriers refused to take any more orders. With zombies swarming downstairs, how would these people ever leave?

The middle-aged man, who had loudly berated Harold for tossing the child earlier, had assumed they had the upper hand. The couriers all appeared to be teenagers, inexperienced and thin-skinned, unlikely to withstand such scolding.

In a way, he was right—they couldn’t tolerate it.

So, they canceled the orders.

The man gripped the card in his hand tightly, refusing to let go, still unwilling to back down. “With an attitude like this, you dare run a business? Don’t you know the customer is always right?”

Qiu Yu had had enough of their nonsense. Raising a hand, she struck the concrete railing with a single blow.

The solid brick and concrete barrier shattered, crumbling into pieces that tumbled downstairs, crushing a row of zombies.

The hallway fell utterly silent.

Even the bystanders, who had been watching with curiosity, were stunned. Their understanding of the couriers’ strength deepened.

Those who had been hesitant to place an order quickly returned to their homes to write cards.

Harold, saying nothing, calmly retrieved the card from the man’s hand and collected the remaining cards from the others.

Si Jin and Qiu Yu brought out their gold-devouring pixiu. The little creature spat out small gold nuggets.

The pixiu would collect scattered bits of gold during transactions, store them in its mouth, and fuse them into one-gram nuggets before swallowing them. At night, back at the shop, the nuggets would be poured out and counted.

In the warehouse, Lu Yao had placed a clear storage jar specifically for holding the gold nuggets.

There wasn’t any particular reason for this—she just liked money, gold, and all things prosperous. The new shop didn’t stock goods; it only hoarded gold nuggets.

Meanwhile, three or four more households in Peaceful Neighborhood placed orders for couriers.

After handling the cancellations, Harold’s team split up to carry out the remaining tasks.

Little Dragon, holding a grudge, no longer cleared zombies from the neighborhood while escorting clients. He focused solely on ensuring the clients and their goods were safely delivered to their destinations.

Having learned their lesson, no customers dared to make trouble after that.

By the time Harold’s team completed all the orders at Peaceful Neighborhood, the number of zombies gathered nearby hadn’t decreased and showed no signs of dispersing.

The only ones left in the building were the five families who had caused trouble earlier. Now trapped, blacklisted by the couriershop, they turned on each other, assigning blame.

The middle-aged man who had led the charge against the couriers found himself under constant verbal attack. His head hung low in shame, but it was too late.

They were now stranded in the building. No one would come to rescue them, leaving them to figure a way out on their own—or die there.

…

As the golden sun set, the long day of training for the new recruits finally ended.

Harold’s team and Lu Yao’s team returned to the courier shop almost simultaneously. Six electric bikes converged at the storefront.

Ding Qing sat under the shop’s eaves, a thin blanket draped over her shoulders. A strip of tape was plastered over the back of her right hand, where she had just finished an IV drip.

The courier shop’s storefronts were flanked by two other shop spaces. Though small, they were a mess when Lu Yao opened her business, with their doors smashed and debris scattered everywhere.

The shop’s tables, chairs, and tools had mostly been rendered unusable.

Upon returning, Lu Yao heard noises coming from either side of the shop. After asking Zhang Shu, she learned that two families had moved into the vacant shops on either side.

They turned out to be the same clients Harold’s team had delivered to earlier that morning.

Before Lu Yao could check out her new neighbors, four college students came over to introduce themselves, bringing along some now-precious snacks as housewarming gifts.

The rookie couriers were in the office exchanging first-day experiences with Harold, their senior, while Lu Yao greeted the four visitors in the main hall.

Seeing Tang Anqi and Jiang Yifei, Lu Yao was a bit surprised. “So, it’s you.”

Tang Anqi handed over a black plastic bag containing a bag of chips, a box of cookies, and a rare treat—drinks. Jiang Yifei brought a package of pork jerky, two cans of fruit, and several more drinks.

Lu Yao hadn’t planned to accept the gifts. She wasn’t short on supplies, and these items were life-saving treasures to residents of the Golden Kingdom. However, looking at the youthful, earnest faces, she felt bad refusing. She silently decided to prepare a more generous return gift later.

The college students were quite curious about the courier shop but didn’t linger long. After chatting briefly with Lu Yao, they returned to their new residence.

Their new home wasn’t large but had a loft with a bed and furniture, suitable for storage and temporary living. The only problem was the smashed doors of both shopfronts, which left security severely compromised. Still, they couldn’t bring themselves to give up the prime location right next to the courier shop.

After witnessing the power of the shop owner and the three small dragons, Tang Anqi, Jiang Yifei, and their group agreed on one thing: the couriers were immensely strong, and the courier shop was a golden opportunity they couldn’t pass up.

With no ties in Gaosheng City, they figured staying close to the courier shop would bring them peace of mind. But the broken doors had to be dealt with. For their first night, the four of them planned to sleep together, barricading the doors with discarded shelves and boards. They would search for proper materials to replace the doors the next day.

Under normal circumstances, they’d never dare sleep in a place without proper doors.

After moving in that morning, the group had scouted the area and became even more convinced that the courier shop’s surroundings were safer than most places. This sealed their decision to stay.

…

In the early hours of the next day, three vans crossed the city boundary, returning from Gaosheng City to Jinyao City.

An Xia’s team had an unusually smooth return trip, encountering no major zombie hordes. After crossing the city demarcation line and traveling for another three hours, they arrived at Hope Base at 4 a.m.

The three vans drove straight into the base, taking over ten minutes to reach a row of low buildings where they finally stopped.

Hearing the engines, the personnel in the duty room turned on the gate lights (reserved for scavenging teams) and came out to greet them.

Seeing the fully loaded vans, the duty officer smiled warmly and greeted An Xia, “Captain An, you’ve worked hard.”

An Xia’s expression wasn’t great. She exchanged a few pleasantries with the officer, ensured all supplies were stored, and then headed to the dorms with her team to rest.

The scavenging team had their own dedicated dormitories, typically two people per room, which were among the best accommodations in the base.

There weren’t many women on the team. An Xia’s roommate was still out on a mission and hadn’t returned yet.

Upon entering her room, An Xia immediately prepared to shower. The trip back from Gaosheng City had been especially unlucky—a flock of birds had flown overhead and, to her horror, dropped their excrement all over her head. She couldn’t find a place to clean up at the time and had been furious about it ever since.

After her shower, An Xia came out and heard voices coming from the next room.

In these chaotic times, having a private room was already a luxury. The soundproofing, however, was non-existent, and there were no separate dorms for men and women.

The room next to An Xia’s belonged to Xie Yu and the leader of another team. That leader was part of her roommate’s squad and was still out on a mission, meaning Xie Yu was alone. The only person likely visiting him could be the instructor.