A Quiet Homecoming

The mini-program's icon was the simple sun engraving on the back of the tablet—a pure white background with a golden, shimmering sun mark.

Tapping into it revealed a clean, straightforward layout. The homepage featured just three buttons: Personal Profile, Marketplace, and Discussion Zone.

It looked incredibly simple and clear, which was more than enough for Rao Ke.

Opening the Personal Profile page prompted for authorized login. Customers who had cards could enter the code on their card to link their shopping card.

"Perfect." Rao Ke immediately sent the mini-program to Kalisa, asking her to create a promotional poster and put it up in the shop the day after tomorrow.

At that moment, Kalisa was in her room, playing with building blocks beside the slow-moving little peacock.

The peacock carefully placed a red triangular block atop a blue square one, then raised her head happily to look at Kalisa.

Kalisa watched the peacock, her expression soft, her eyes full of adoration. "Mm, our little Anas is truly amazing!"

Chrisley would come by from time to time to heal Anas's soul, so the little peacock had gradually gone from lying motionless on the bed in a coma to waking for a few minutes, then a few hours.

And now, she could have some limited communication and activities.

Though very limited, it was enough to make Kalisa feel content.

That was exactly why Kalisa was so grateful to Rao Ke.

And why she put extra care into every task Rao Ke assigned.

"Ding!"

The special notification sound went off, and Kalisa knew Rao Ke had sent her a message.

Opening Astrolabe, she saw that Rao Ke had sent her a link along with a long text message.

Kalisa read through it carefully, then replied with a simple "Got it."

She opened the link and a mini-program appeared before her. Kalisa added it to her frequently used section on Astrolabe.

Opening it, she saw the simple homepage, and her eyes lit up as she recalled Rao Ke's brief description of what this mini-program was meant to be.

From the very first time she'd seen this shop, Kalisa had marveled more than once at the shopkeeper's ingenuity, and more than once been stunned by the results.

Kalisa had a lot of thoughts swirling in her head, so she immediately stood up and said gently to Anas, who was playing with blocks below, "Anas, I need to handle some work. You stay here and play nicely by yourself."

So, after Rao Ke had painstakingly arranged the layout of the shop's second and third floors, she received the promotional poster from Kalisa.

The poster used an exaggerated advertising style—simple, putting the most important message right up front, colored in eye-catching shades. Simple, yet bold enough to grab attention.

"Good work, thank you." Rao Ke nodded in satisfaction, then lowered her head with a sigh and continued building her shop.

Beside her, Sesame Paste, leisurely sipping iced cola and watching a romance movie, glanced at Rao Ke and smiled.

...

After receiving Rao Ke's choice, Kalisa went to contact the Puppet Theater Troupe.

The Puppet Theater Troupe was one of the top theater troupes on the Kaqisha Continent. Its most famous trait was that it was a mixed troupe, welcoming performers from all races.

Kalisa knew these theater troupes so well because Duke Peter was a man who loved pleasure, often inviting various troupes to perform at his estate.

Kalisa found the contact for the Puppet Theater Troupe's deputy director in her Astrolabe contacts and called.

The phone rang for a while before being picked up.

"Hello, this is Hamansi, from the Puppet Theater Troupe. How can I help you?" A languid, husky female voice came through.

Kalisa spoke politely, "Long time no see, Hamansi. It's Kalisa."

There was a brief silence on the other end before the voice replied, "Long time no see. I heard your boss fell. Where are you working now? How about joining our Puppet Theater Troupe?"

Kalisa declined politely, "No need. I've found a new boss, and she's a wonderful person. This time, she wanted to invite you all to come perform for us."

Hamansi sounded a bit regretful, since she knew Kalisa's skills and capabilities best. "Alright. If you ever want to come, I'll always welcome you."

"Do your leading performers have any free time?" Kalisa got straight to the point.

Hamansi chuckled lightly. "Only you would come asking for our leading performers right away. We only have Alice left now, but she just got back from the Beastman Kingdom, so she might not be willing to go."

The Puppet Theater Troupe's most skilled performers were called leading performers, currently three men and three women.

Alice was a mermaid from the Mermaid Sea, famous for her melodious, enchanting voice and her brilliant red hair.

"If it were anyone else, I'd have refused outright. But since you're a long-time customer, as long as you can present a script that satisfies Alice, I'm willing to be the intermediary." Hamansi said seriously.

Kalisa thought for a moment, then agreed for now. "Alright, I'll talk to my boss first. Thank you very much. Goodbye."

After hanging up, Kalisa went next door to find Rao Ke.

Seeing her boss with dark circles under her eyes and a weary face, Kalisa gently advised, "Boss, you really should get some proper rest."

Rao Ke nodded. "So, what's the matter?"

Kalisa explained Hamansi's request and Alice's detailed information. "So, do we need to provide a script that meets the requirements, or should we switch to another theater troupe?"

As she listened, Rao Ke's eyes lit up more and more. Isn't this the mermaid from the mermaid story, in the flesh!

"No need to switch. I'll provide a script that'll satisfy Alice. I'll have it to you by tomorrow."

Kalisa nodded in agreement. Whenever Rao Ke made such a bold promise, she always delivered, so Kalisa only needed to handle the follow-up negotiations.

Rao Ke turned to Sesame Paste. "Sesame Paste, if I use the mermaid script, do I need to pay you all a fee?"

Sesame Paste was playing a game. "No need, as long as you remember it yourself."

Rao Ke resignedly took out a new piece of paper and began writing out the mermaid story from her memory.

The next morning, Kalisa, who woke up promptly at seven, saw the message on her Astrolabe.

The message had been sent at two in the morning. Kalisa shook her head, planning to talk to Lady Chrisley later to have her keep an eye on Rao Ke's sleep schedule.

Looking at the several revised versions of the mermaid story Rao Ke had sent, Kalisa read through it once and then lingered on the ending with lingering satisfaction. Though the ending wasn't entirely to her liking, overall it was a wonderful, childlike story.

After reading the mermaid tale, Kalisa felt confident.

"Hamansi, I've got a really good script in hand." Kalisa said slowly and deliberately.

Hamansi sighed on the other end, guessing she wouldn't be able to squeeze any advantage out of this.

"Alright, send me the script. I'll take it to Alice shortly."

Kalisa cast a spell on the script—burn after reading.

Hamansi received the script Kalisa sent and went to Alice's room.

"Knock, knock!"

"Alice, it's Hamansi. I've got a script here." Hamansi said softly from behind the door.

"Come in." A pleasant female voice came from inside.

Hamansi gently opened the door, and her eyes were met with a sea of blue. In the center of the room was a large glass tank.

A mermaid with striking long red hair and a beautiful face lay quietly on a shell bed.

As Hamansi walked in, Alice opened her eyes and said flatly, "What script?"

In private, Alice was nothing like the blazing sun she was on stage. She was more like the bleak autumn wind.

It seemed she poured all her passion into the stage.

Hamansi sent the script to Alice. "This is a script from a friend of mine. She wants to invite you to perform a play for her boss."

Alice wearily opened Astrolabe to take a look. "I'll say this first—if I'm not satisfied, even if she's your friend, I won't go."

"Of course, I told her that beforehand." Hamansi explained.

This was already the umpteenth time Alice had received such "good" scripts.

At first, Alice just skimmed the beginning, but the more she read, the more serious she became, the more mesmerized.

By the time she reached the end, where the little mermaid dissolved into foam and drifted away with the wind, Alice couldn't help but shed tears.

Hamansi kept silent beside her, only daring to speak after the script had burned away. "So, Alice?"

Alice spoke to Hamansi with excitement and determination, "I must perform this play. This is absolutely the role of my life. I'm confident I can deliver the most perfect performance!"

Seeing Alice so thrilled, Hamansi knew this was an absolutely stunning script, one that could excite even someone as picky as Alice.

"Can you contact the author of this play? I want to obtain the performance rights and adaptation rights. They can name their terms." Alice looked at Hamansi.

Hamansi smiled slightly. "Of course, that's my job. I'll get in touch right away."

Hamansi let Alice rest and immediately left her room.

Back in her study, Hamansi quickly contacted Kalisa.

"Alice is willing to take on this event." Hamansi said directly as soon as the call connected.

Kalisa wasn't surprised at all. "Then I'll send you the contract. Take a look and confirm it."

Hamansi smiled and started to cozy up, "Our Alice really loves this piece. She said the protagonist is basically the role of her life, so she wants to buy the performance and adaptation rights from your boss."

Kalisa hesitated, since Hamansi had helped her out. "I'll ask my boss about it. You all can review the contract first."

Hamansi thanked her with a smile, "Thanks a lot. I'll accompany Alice when she comes over. We'll catch up then."

"Alright."

...

"Performance rights and adaptation rights?" Rao Ke pondered. "Of course, that's fine. These scripts will be the new products we're launching—our books."

Rao Ke didn't think she had any right to hoard these world classics. Letting these masterpieces shine again in this world was what she ought to promote.

"Alright."

Seeing Rao Ke agree so readily, Kalisa felt both confused and admiring. The shopkeeper truly was the most magnanimous and kind-hearted person in this world.

If these rights were in the hands of any noble, the performance and adaptation rights to this script would definitely fetch a jaw-dropping price at auction.

"By the way, how's Anas?" Rao Ke took the opportunity to ask about the little peacock.

Kalisa's expression softened. "Much better. I'm truly grateful to you and Lady Chrisley."

"It's nothing. As long as Anas can grow up safely, that's wonderful." Rao Ke said with a faint smile.

"Oh, right. This poster and the one you're responsible for—put them both up tomorrow." Rao Ke casually handed over a stack of posters.

Kalisa looked down and saw it was about the joint new event and the activity program.

"We'll close the shop for renovations in three days, lasting about five days. Once renovations are done, we'll start a three-day anniversary celebration." Rao Ke said concisely.

Kalisa nodded to show she understood.

After Kalisa left, Rao Ke, while sketching out the layout for the shop's fourth floor, chatted casually with Sesame Paste, who was amusing Xue Qiu with his tail.

"Sesame Paste, do you think this event will be a success?" Rao Ke held a pen, sketching the shop.

A flash of blue light flickered in Sesame Paste's eyes. "According to analysis, the probability of success is 87.34%."

The precise data made Rao Ke laugh out loud, and the tension and heaviness in her heart seemed to dissipate.

"Let's do this."