Chapter 29

Rao Ke spent the morning enlisting Xue Jiali's help to turn the room next to his into an interview space.

At the front, she placed a long table covered with red cloth, with two chairs behind it.

One seat was for Rao Ke herself, and the other was for Sesame Paste.

Sesame Paste had recently been upgraded, gaining the talent for excavation and the ability to judge whether someone harbored hostile intent.

So Rao Ke also arranged a seat for him, to have his input during the interviews.

"Okay, done!"

Looking at the simply arranged interview room, Rao Ke clapped her hands and nodded with satisfaction.

"I'll go prepare some tea and refreshments," Xue Jiali said, heading downstairs to the kitchen.

When the interview time arrived, two of the original twelve candidates had canceled due to other commitments, leaving ten.

Kalisa covered her face with a fan, closing her eyes as she planned her approach for the upcoming interview, sizing up the competitors around her, confident of success.

Phylosain watched with interest as Baitang offered pastries and flower tea, then smiled at Baitang and said thank you.

...

"I'll now hand out interview number tags," Baitang said, holding a stack of tags and distributing them one by one.

Kalisa looked at the tag marked "1" in her hand, raised an eyebrow, and didn't seem to mind.

"Please wait three more minutes; the interview will begin shortly."

Baitang smiled and moved to the center to address everyone.

Three minutes later, Baitang moved to the front. "Candidate number one, please follow me in."

Kalisa rose gracefully and followed Baitang into the interview room.

Upon entering, Kalisa saw the mysterious witch and her black cat seated at the front, looking quite imposing.

"Please have a seat, Miss Kalisa."

Rao Ke smiled but kept her expression neutral, glancing at the brief data Sesame Paste provided.

[Name: Kalisa

Race: Peacock Beastfolk

Talent: Commerce and Trade (A)]

After scanning the brief info, Rao Ke looked up at the elegant, proud woman before her.

"Can you tell me why you want to join Keke Shop? What can you offer, and what position are you interested in?" Rao Ke fired off a string of questions.

Kalisa didn't rush. She touched the red jade bracelet on her wrist, thought for a moment, then answered slowly.

"To be honest, it's because I'm very interested in Keke Shop's products."

Kalisa stared at Rao Ke's face after speaking, but Rao Ke's expression remained neutral, revealing nothing.

Kalisa's red jade bracelet emitted a faint red glow, which Sesame Paste caught.

[Something's off about her jade bracelet!]

Rao Ke received Sesame Paste's telepathic message and doodled on the paper in front of her, pretending to be scoring.

[I know. She's touched that red jade bracelet three or four times a minute—I'm not blind.]

Rao Ke had noticed Kalisa touching her bracelet repeatedly, and she wasn't even trying to hide it.

"I can handle product promotion and planning negotiations. Our Peacock Beastfolk once operated the largest merchant caravan on the Kaqisha Continent."

Rao Ke nodded with interest. "Alright, you can go home and wait for the results. Baitang, next."

Baitang moved over, escorted Kalisa out, and called the next candidate.

...

"Number four, please come in."

Baitang led Cecil inside.

Cecil took a seat and nodded to Rao Ke. "Hello."

[Name: Cecil

Race: Angel

Talent: Protection and Combat (A)]

"Would Heaven allow you to work at Keke Shop?" Rao Ke raised her eyes to look at Cecil.

Cecil replied seriously, "Heaven will agree. I really hope to work at Keke Shop."

"Then what position would you like, and what do you think you're good at?" Rao Ke continued.

Cecil thought for a moment. "I can serve as a patrol guard here. In Heaven, I was a patrol guard at the Divine Birth Garden."

Rao Ke pretended to be deep in thought while secretly communicating with Sesame Paste via telepathy.

[What's the Divine Birth Garden?]

[It's where angels are born—the most important place in Heaven. To be a patrol guard there means his strength and ability are extraordinary.]

Understanding the situation, Rao Ke smiled at the sincere Cecil. "Alright, please wait for our notice. Baitang, next!"

"Number five, please come in!"

The demon Phylosain happened to be right after Cecil.

[Name: Phylosain

Race: Demon

Talent: Resource Exploration (S)]

Resource exploration! Rao Ke looked with interest at the grinning black-haired man in front of her.

Phylosain flashed a bright smile, revealing a small canine. "Hello, Boss! I'm Phylosain."

"Mm. As a demon, can you accept working with an angel? And can you guarantee you won't harm the customers?"

Phylosain let out a sigh. "I really don't want to be around that disgusting white-feathered bird, but I'd rather stay at Keke Shop."

"Also, Boss, that's a stereotype! Demons aren't like what you've heard," Phylosain defended.

Rao Ke responded, "Sorry. So what are you good at, and what position would you like?"

"My family's talent is resource exploration, and I've traveled all over the Kaqisha Continent. I know every race and region like the back of my hand. I can do any job!"

Seeing Phylosain's self-motivated enthusiasm, Rao Ke nodded in satisfaction.

"Alright, you can go home and wait for the results. Baitang!"

...

"Last one, please come in."

Rao Ke looked at the young woman (?) before her, dressed in a vintage lace black dress and black boots.

[Name: Aodisite

Race: Vampire

Talent: Protection and Attack (S)]

"Please have a seat, Miss Aodisite."

"What do you consider your strengths, and what position could you take?" Rao Ke got straight to the point.

Aodisite was very confident. "I know a lot of old-timers. They'd definitely be interested in your shop. I can handle sales."

Rao Ke didn't need to guess what kind of terrifying races those "old-timers" might be.

"Okay, you can wait for our notice."

The interviews took about an hour and a half, with each candidate given six or seven minutes.

Rao Ke looked at the materials in her hand and quickly picked out four.

"Forget the other three, but are you sure about keeping Kalisa?" Sesame Paste sat beside her.

Rao Ke smiled. "Why not? She's clearly capable, and nothing is certain yet. Why assume she's an enemy?"

Sesame Paste saw that Rao Ke seemed to have her own plans and didn't press further.

"Alright, I've chosen. Sesame Paste, send messages to all the applicants. Those who didn't get in, compensate them with a 100-gold coin shopping card."

"OK!"

"For those who got in, ask if they want to stay in the villa area."

"Got it."

...

That evening, the interview results were sent out, and there was joy and sorrow.

Kalisa sat on the sofa, communicating telepathically with Duke Peter.

"Yes, Duke. I've successfully infiltrated Keke Shop."

"Very good, Kalisa. You're certainly smarter than that fool Duolun," Peter said with satisfaction, his tone meaningful.

Kalisa lowered her head, her loose hair covering her face, her long lashes hiding the darkness in her eyes.

"Anyway, do your job well. Report to me every day, and find out the shop's supply source as soon as possible," Peter ordered coldly.

"Yes."

After ending the call, Kalisa sat on the sofa, lost in thought.

The next day, Rao Ke looked at her three new employees and called for Baitang to help with the luggage.

Fortunately, the rooms in the villa's residential area had already been expanded.

"Go decorate your rooms first. We'll have a welcome party later."

Rao Ke suggested it on a whim, and no one objected.

"By the way, KeKe, I suggest you hurry up and finish the upgrade task," Sesame Paste suddenly said.

Rao Ke was puzzled. "Why?"

"Because we're almost out of tissue. Unless you can put up with this world's wiping methods—I really suggest unlocking the daily necessities section ASAP."

"No worries. It should be fine once the space teleportation array is unlocked. Though fifty gold cards is a bit of a hassle," Rao Ke said, scratching her head.

If only a mysterious rich benefactor would appear and cover all the gold cards needed for the upgrade.

Rao Ke patted her face, snapped out of her fantasy, and started thinking about what to have for the gathering tonight.

She settled on hotpot.

Rao Ke took out her tablet to pick ingredients and prepared a full basket of food.

To avoid hygiene issues, she found several small pot containers and decided on individual hotpot portions.

While things were bustling at the Keke Shop villa, in the center of No. 7 Wandering Town, Mo Duoya was reading a letter that had come all the way from the imperial capital.

It was from the Human Emperor. The letter began with insincere words about how much the emperor missed his sister, then asked Mo Duoya to return to the capital to attend a gathering.

The beginning was mostly filler, but Mo Duoya still read on with a faint smile.

"I trust you can also invite the owner of Keke Shop to accompany you to the capital for the gathering."

And there was the real point. Mo Duoya thought with a hint of mockery.

She burned the letter with a flame, then took out another letter.

This one had arrived with the emperor's letter from the capital but had no signature and had reached Mo Duoya directly.

Mo Duoya opened it and read it, her smile growing wider as she read.

After reading, the letter vanished out of thin air.

"KeKe, are you free? I need to talk to you about something."

"Yes, I'll be right there."

After tidying up, Mo Duoya immediately rushed out of No. 7 Wandering Town with Ailier and headed straight for Keke Shop.

The mist around Keke Shop was heavy, but Mo Duoya walked in without hesitation, and the mist that would usually block strangers parted to form a path.

Rao Ke stood at the villa entrance, waiting for Mo Duoya and her companion.

She led them into the villa, brought them to the interview room, and invited them to sit.

"What's so urgent that you came to see me?" Rao Ke had Baitang bring over some fruit tea.

Mo Duoya said seriously, "The Human Emperor sent me a letter, asking me to bring you to a gathering in the capital. It's hosted by Duke Peter at his estate, and the Human Emperor will be there."

"The emperor is quite overbearing. What if I don't want to go?" Rao Ke said with a smile.

Mo Duoya shook her head. "He wouldn't dare do anything to you."

Rao Ke recalled the collection plan. "Well, I could go, but I have a condition."

"Name it. No matter how outrageous, it's just a small task for the great Human Emperor," Mo Duoya said with a grin.

"I want the emperor to purchase 30 top-tier gold cards," Rao Ke stated bluntly.

Mo Duoya was taken aback for a moment, then smiled. "No problem."

With matters resolved, both Mo Duoya and Rao Ke felt relieved. They chatted for a while, drank some fruit tea, and then Mo Duoya took her leave.

"We'll depart in a week."

...

After seeing Mo Duoya off, Rao Ke went to the dining area on the first floor and called all the employees down for the first ever Keke Shop welcome party.

Everyone stared at the fresh, abundant ingredients and the small pots in front of them.

"In case you're not used to sharing a pot, we're doing individual hotpots. You can pick your own broth and ingredients," Rao Ke explained, looking at her own spicy broth.

"Awesome!"

Rao Ke looked around and noticed Aodisite had picked the extra-spicy broth and was happily boiling various organ meats and blood products.

Cecil, meanwhile, had chosen a chicken soup broth for health reasons, and his ingredients were mostly light and mild, but he seemed to thoroughly enjoy it.

This earned him teasing from Phylosain about being like an old man, but Cecil clearly couldn't be bothered to respond.

After being ignored, Phylosain got bored and wandered around with his own small pot.

Rao Ke enjoyed her hotpot, satisfied that the first Keke Shop welcome party was a complete success.

Meanwhile, Mo Duoya relayed Rao Ke's condition to the Human Emperor. He didn't care in the slightest and directly allocated a large sum from the national treasury.

That gave Rao Ke's task progress a big boost.

After the upgrade, Keke Shop was also equipped with escalators and elevators for customer convenience.

This new addition drew gasps of amazement from customers, with dwarven masters squatting by the elevators and escalators every day to observe and discuss.

And once the space teleportation array was activated the following Wednesday, Keke Shop frequently saw rare elves and beastmen servants from the royal capital.

Rao Ke's upgrade task progress skyrocketed, and she finally completed it before heading to the capital.

[Congratulations on completing the upgrade task! Unlocked: Apparel & Accessories + Daily Necessities section!]

[Congratulations on upgrading to Lv2!]