Ch 199: Guide to Running a Shop in Another World II

Su Ling calmed her emotions, seeing Si Jin still deep in self-reflection. Unable to hold back, she said, “It’s good that you think this way, but it’s better to save summaries and reflections for after work. In a normal work environment, letting personal issues dominate your thoughts during work hours only slows you down.”

Si Jin turned to look at her, surprised to be “lectured” by an ordinary human for the first time, aside from the shop owner. Lacking sufficient work experience, he didn’t have the confidence to argue back. In fact, he even felt she might be right.

Si Jin and Harold had been working as guards at the nail salon for over a year. During the early days of the shop, when there weren’t many supernatural employees, the two of them had plenty of opportunities to show off their strength. But in the past six months, there hadn’t been any troublesome customers. Even when one or two tried to act clever, the other staff could handle it without their intervention.

Harold, when not attending school with Tina as part of the dragons’ century-long mandatory education, spent his holidays helping Lu Yao run errands around the shopping street. He barely had time to spar with Si Jin anymore. Si Jin, on the other hand, spent most of his time as he always had: searching for rare treasures, hunting exotic magical creatures, and collecting shiny objects, magical materials, and ingredients. In his downtime, he hid in the shop reading comics or surfing the internet on his newly acquired phone, never having interacted so closely with a human other than Lu Yao before.

Si Jin realized he needed to update his understanding of humans.

Accompanied by Si Jin, Su Ling continued searching the basement floor for another half hour. She found a 250 ml promotional bottle of peanut oil and located some loose rice and mung beans in the retail area, though in small quantities. Su Ling used clean plastic bags to divide the items into two portions, keeping half for herself and giving the other half to the two children Si Jin had rescued.

The 15-year-old boy was named Zheng Han, and his 6-year-old sister was Zheng Xinxin. They used to live with their mother, while their father worked in another city. After the zombie virus outbreak, their father managed to make one phone call home before disappearing entirely. Their mother initially teamed up with neighbors to search for supplies, and the family managed to get by on one meal a day.

A few days ago, their mother ventured out again. One of the team members, a man, was bitten but, along with his wife, concealed it from the others. Shortly after returning to their residential area, the man turned into a zombie, killing his wife first before attacking the others. Zheng Han’s mother was also bitten. Most of the capable residents in the community didn’t survive.

Before fully turning into a zombie, their mother staggered back home with her last ounce of strength. She packed a small bag for the siblings and told them to flee and trust no one.

The siblings, both very young—Zheng Han barely in high school—had been wandering the zombie-infested streets with Zheng Xinxin in tow. The bag their mother packed for them was lost during several panicked escapes. With no other options, they entered this supermarket two days ago, only to find themselves trapped and unable to leave.

Zheng Han took the food Su Ling handed him, hoarsely expressing his thanks before leading his sister to continue searching the area. Having been there longer, they were slightly more familiar with the surroundings than Su Ling. Zheng Xinxin, being smaller, could also squeeze into tight spaces.

Together, the three of them managed to find a 10-pound bag of rice, two small packages of baby noodles (still sealed), four or five packets of soup seasoning, three cans of luncheon meat, two cans of tuna, seven or eight packs of pickled vegetables, and three cases of bottled water crushed under a shelf.

Su Ling divided the items they found together evenly among them, packing them into two large shopping baskets. She reinforced the baskets with thick cardboard and secured them with plastic wrap and tape. Su Ling kept one box for herself, while Zheng Han and Zheng Xinxin shared the other.

Turning to Si Jin, Su Ling said, “I’d like to place another delivery order. Can you take me back?”

Si Jin nodded.

As long as a customer placed an order, the system would immediately calculate the best candidate for the job. Given the current situation, if Su Ling placed another order, the system would still assign it to him.

Su Ling glanced at the two children clinging tightly to Si Jin. “What about them?”

Si Jin felt a bit of a headache.

These two kids seemed to have latched onto him. He couldn’t help but recall Harold’s “words of wisdom”—helping fragile humans too casually could easily lead to getting stuck with them. Before taking action, always consider whether you have the courage and patience to take full responsibility for them.

Before Si Jin could come up with a solution, Zheng Han proactively asked, “What was that ‘order service’ you mentioned just now?”

Si Jin pulled a flyer out of his cloth bag and handed it over. “This is a promotional leaflet for our shop. You can place an order using the form on the back to purchase our shop’s order cards. These cards are used to place orders. Pay in gold, and a runner will accept the order and carry it out for you.”

Zheng Han carefully studied the flyer before looking up at Si Jin. “So my sister and I can place an order too?”

Su Ling widened her eyes slightly. “You have gold on you?”

Zheng Han nodded and pulled out a black cord necklace from inside his shirt. The cord had a few gold beads strung on it, and the pendant was a thick, solid block of gold shaped like a blank plaque, looking quite hefty.

Zheng Xinxin also pulled out a red-cord necklace from under her collar. The pendant was a pure gold longevity lock.

What Zheng Han didn’t reveal was that among the belongings their mother had packed for them were a few 20-gram gold bars and several gold chains, which he had hidden by wrapping them into the cuffs of his pants.

At the time, their mother had been in such poor condition that she likely couldn’t discern what was most important. She simply stuffed everything she thought was valuable along with food into a single bag and gave it to him.

Most of the larger items had been lost during their escapes, leaving only these seemingly useless pieces of gold. Zheng Han had initially thought of them as a burden and was planning to secretly toss the gold bars, keeping only a few small pieces of jewelry as mementos.

Si Jin heaved a sigh of relief and took out a stack of order cards from his bag. “You don’t need to use the flyer to place an order. I have cards here. Once you fill out the address and destination, an available runner will be dispatched to pick you up.”

Zheng Xinxin looked up at Si Jin pitifully. “Won’t you be the one taking us?”

Si Jin replied, “That depends on the system. Right now, I’m in charge of this area, so if I’m available, I’ll take you. But if I’m busy and there’s another free runner nearby, someone else will be dispatched. Don’t worry, though—all our staff are strong and will definitely get you to your destination safely.”

Hearing this, Su Ling immediately pulled out an order card and a pen from her backpack, leaning on her knee to fill it out.

The system promptly updated Si Jin with a new dispatch notification. He turned to glance at Su Ling.

Su Ling kept her head down, avoiding his gaze, and casually handed the pen to Zheng Han. She trusted Si Jin’s colleagues to be capable, but she couldn’t help but feel a little selfish—she didn’t want a last-minute replacement.

Zheng Han used the gold beads on his necklace to pay for three order cards. After receiving them, he immediately filled out one.

When the four of them left the supermarket with their two boxes of supplies, the runner assigned to the order had just arrived at the entrance.

Harold stopped his small electric vehicle and looked up, spotting Si Jin walking out with three ordinary humans. His sharp instincts told him something was off.

If Si Jin was already here, why had the system still dispatched him?

Harold narrowed his eyes slightly. “What’s going on?”

Si Jin, feeling a little guilty, turned his head away and feigned ignorance. He pointed at Zheng Han and Zheng Xinxin. “We ran into them downstairs. They learned about the shop’s services and placed an order.”

Harold’s gaze swept over the group before crossing his arms and scrutinizing Si Jin. “You didn’t abandon your client mid-task to go save someone, did you?”

Si Jin wasn’t intimidated by Harold, but he grudgingly acknowledged that Harold, who often worked with Lu Yao, was just a tiny bit more experienced than he was. Since they now worked together, there was an unspoken sense of competition between them.

The mere thought of Harold using his mistake as an example to lecture their colleagues made Si Jin’s toes curl and his scalp tingle with embarrassment. It would be utterly humiliating.

Si Jin put on a serious face. “During work hours, we don’t discuss personal matters. It impacts efficiency. Let’s address anything else after hours.”

Harold: “???”

Behind them, Su Ling and the Zheng siblings curiously studied Harold.

The new runner, like Si Jin, had a distinctive presence. With black hair streaked with silver highlights and blue eyes, his high ponytail gave him an energetic and confident look. He appeared younger than Si Jin but was equally tall and elegant, like a bamboo shoot in a forest.

Su Ling blinked, recalling how a delivery girl from the shop had mentioned that all the runners were professional and reliable. Reliable or not, she couldn’t say for sure yet, but one thing was certain: they were all ridiculously good-looking.

In this chaotic world, where most ordinary people resembled drab little sparrows on the roadside, these runners looked as if they’d stepped straight out of a talent show, each with their unique charm. It felt almost unfair.

Si Jin hadn’t expected his offhand response to leave Harold speechless. Seizing the opportunity, he motioned for Su Ling to follow him and hurried to leave the scene.

Harold frowned, sensing something was off with Si Jin.

The Zheng siblings stood quietly to the side, not approaching him. Harold set aside his thoughts for now and focused on his task. He got off the electric vehicle, introduced himself to the siblings, confirmed their destination, and prepared to take payment using his gold-eating Pixiu.

Their destination was the Golden Osmanthus Residential Complex, the siblings’ original home. During their days of wandering, they had endured countless hardships.

Many times along the way, Zheng Han had wanted to take his sister back home. Even if their mother had turned into a zombie, they didn’t care. But the city was crawling with zombies, and the journey home seemed insurmountable.

Zheng Han had thought they would die in the supermarket. Then they met the powerful runners. Learning about the shop’s services gave him a glimmer of hope, and his first thought when filling out the order card was to go back home.

To his surprise, what had seemed like an impossible journey took less than 20 minutes on Harold’s small electric vehicle.

Harold stopped at the entrance of the Golden Osmanthus Residential Complex. The black gate was wrapped tightly with layers of iron chains, and the area in front of it was crowded with ragged zombies.

At first, the zombies lazily reached through the gaps in the iron bars, making faint groaning noises. Then, as if sensing Harold and the others, they began to press and shove against the gate, letting out sharp, guttural screeches.

Harold turned to the siblings. “Are you sure you want to go into this complex?”

Zheng Han stepped down from the vehicle and helped his sister down as well.

Zheng Xinxin looked up at Harold and said, “This is our home. Mama must be waiting for us there.”

Harold was silent for a few moments before saying in a low voice, “But there’s no one alive here anymore.”

The aura of zombies was entirely different from that of the living. The residential complex in front of them felt like a dead sea. Whoever had locked the gate had long since gone, leaving the place overrun with zombies.

Zheng Han’s pupils contracted sharply. After a few moments of thought, he raised his head with determination. “I’ll place another order. Will you go in with us?”

Harold leaned against his vehicle without moving. “What do you want to go in for?”

Zheng Han hesitated before answering, “When we left, Mama had already been bitten. After sending us out, I don’t know if she made it back home. I… I just want to take a look. Just one look.”

Humans are fragile and peculiar creatures. Sometimes, even when they already know the outcome, they still seek closure.

If it were the old black dragon, he wouldn’t have spared such humans a glance. But he had met someone.

That fragile, ordinary human gave him many things: a gaze that was uniquely his, care, concern, tenderness… and a place he could always return to.

That place was what humans often called “home.”

These two children no longer had a home to return to.

Harold lowered his eyes, feigning impatience. “If you’re going to place an order, hurry up. Otherwise, the system will assign me a new one.”

Zheng Han hurriedly pulled out an order card from his pocket but realized he didn’t have a pen; they’d used Su Ling’s pen in the supermarket.

Harold pulled a pen from his bag. “Hurry up!”

Zheng Han took the pen, glanced up, and smiled at him gratefully. Despite the smile, his eyes shimmered with unshed tears, as though they might spill over at any moment.

Harold awkwardly turned his face away.

Zheng Han quickly filled out one order card, then took out his last card from his pocket. On the back, he wrote down a name and a pickup address.

Harold was puzzled. “Why are you writing so much?”

Zheng Han replied, “It’s a preparatory step. It’ll be faster to place an order next time.”

Humans and their strange ways of thinking—Harold often saw the same behavior in Lu Yao.

After completing the payment, the system promptly assigned the latest task to Harold, who was closest to the client.

Harold parked his electric vehicle, picked up Zheng Xinxin with one arm, and lifted Zheng Han with the other. In a single leap, he vaulted over the wall.

Before they even reached the siblings’ former apartment building, Zheng Han spotted his mother.

She was wearing the same clothes as the day she sent them away. Her arms were riddled with bloody holes, large chunks of flesh bitten away by who-knows-what. The wounds, swollen and festering, oozed pus and looked like grotesque patches on her once-slender arms.

Her skin had lost its color, turning a dull, grayish-green. Her cloudy, lifeless eyes stared vacantly ahead. The once-efficient and graceful woman now shuffled in tiny, aimless steps like an old lady, wandering near the building.

Zheng Xinxin also recognized the woman. She began shouting at the top of her lungs, “Mama! Mama, Mama!”

There was no response.

Panicking, Zheng Xinxin jumped up and cupped her hands around her mouth, shouting louder, “Mama! Mama, Mama!”

The zombies stopped in their tracks and slowly turned toward the source of the noise. Their bloodshot eyes glared, their jaws snapping open and shut with guttural, grating sounds. They began shuffling toward the three of them.

Zheng Xinxin, seeing her mother’s face suddenly turn ferocious and grotesque, clung helplessly to Zheng Han’s leg, burying her face against his thigh and sobbing in despair.

Children don’t understand nothing; she knew something terrible had happened to her mother. She just didn’t want to believe it and didn’t know how to accept the truth.

Zheng Han bent down, hugging his sister tightly. Then, straightening up, he asked Harold for the pen again.

On the back of the last order card, Zheng Han wrote a new task:

[Request: Please have the runner kill our mother, who has become a zombie.]

We want to take her home.

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