Chapter 8

At noon, Rao Ke restocked the shelves, then boiled herself a bowl of instant noodles and paired it with iced cola for lunch. Afterward, she tested the service functions of Heitang and Baitang and found them truly excellent.

The tech system's products were certainly reliable!

After resting for half an hour, Rao Ke was refreshed and ready to open for business.

Leading Heitang and Baitang downstairs, Rao Ke heard a rustling sound from outside.

"When does it open?"

"Are the things inside really only five silver coins?"

"I can't wait—I've got to get my hands on that delicacy called instant noodles!"

"They won't all be sold out, will they?"

...

Rao Ke flung the door open and met the crowd's gaze.

The murmur of the throng outside abruptly fell silent.

"Welcome to Keke Shop!"

The black-haired witch smiled warmly, her deep-green cat eyes curving slightly, her features lovely and radiant.

Rao Ke greeted them, and after a moment's hesitation, the customers surged inside.

Baitang and Heitang stood at the ready, prepared to answer any questions.

The customers glanced at the two in surprise—such precious golems used merely to explain merchandise was truly extravagant.

As for their appearance, no one found it unusual; golems were often odd-looking after all.

Rao Ke sat at the counter handling checkout, while Baitang and Heitang provided excellent service, even proactively pitching products to customers.

Even though she only handled payments, Rao Ke was exhausted—there were so many customers buying so much that a long line stretched behind the counter.

Yet, mindful of the witch's authority, everyone queued quietly without complaint or disturbance.

Looking at the endless line, Rao Ke felt her spirits sink.

"Keke, I'm here!" Just as she wished she could sprout multiple arms, she heard Laiensi's voice.

"Laiensi, help me with the checkout!"

Finally seeing someone who could lend a hand, Rao Ke was nearly moved to tears.

Laiensi hurried to the counter and began processing transactions.

With his help, things moved much faster. In about half an hour, they had sold out everything in the shop.

Everyone left contentedly clutching their spoils.

Laiensi slumped exhausted into a chair, and Rao Ke fetched two large pudding bars from the fridge, handing one to him.

He unwrapped it and took a delicate bite of the chilled, snowy-white treat.

His eyes widened instantly—cool, smooth, and creamy, it melted on his tongue with a rich milky flavor.

"Keke, are you selling this?" Laiensi took bite after bite, clearly smitten.

Rao Ke thought for a moment. "It'll be available soon."

A touch disappointed, Laiensi nibbled at the pudding bar. "Then let me know when you have new products."

Rao Ke had no objections and comforted him. "Don't worry, it should be in stock before long."

She had barely finished speaking when she spotted Moduoya and Ailier arriving together.

"What are you eating?" Moduoya raised an eyebrow at the two of them enjoying their pudding bars.

Laiensi held up his treat and introduced it. "This is ice cream—a new product Keke plans to launch! Absolutely delicious!"

"Heard business was good today," Moduoya said with a smile, sitting beside Rao Ke.

At that, Rao Ke felt both exhausted and pleased. "It's the first day, so everyone's buying in bulk."

Moduoya blinked, not so sure. After all, nearby towns beyond No. 7 Wandering Town would soon catch wind and bring even more bustle, so she gave Rao Ke a gentle heads-up.

"By the way, these are the books you wanted." Moduoya produced a bag from her Space Ring and handed it over.

"! So many!" Rao Ke stared at the heavy bag in her arms. She'd asked Moduoya to collect some metal- and wood-element magic books but hadn't expected this many.

Moduoya smiled casually. "My family's library has far more—I only brought a few. Make do with these."

The four chatted a while longer, then the others took their leave.

That evening, after a light meal, Rao Ke eagerly hauled out the bag of books and began sorting through them with Sesame Paste.

Sesame Paste had only taught her basic magical meditation techniques before...

"..." She eagerly opened a wood-element magic practice manual, only to stare blankly at its arcane contents. She hadn't expected to become an academic failure in the magical world.

She forced herself to read for a while, but it only gave her eye strain and a headache, so she honestly closed the book.

"It's fine, Keke—maybe you'll run into some strange old lady or geezer who'll see your extraordinary talent and take you as their apprentice." Sesame Paste offered hollow comfort.

Rao Ke fell silent. "You should read fewer of those novels."

She wasn't really bothered though—she could always learn gradually, and Sesame Paste's quip had already lifted her spirits.

"Never mind—let's keep watching 'XXX' tonight."

Rao Ke washed a bowl of strawberries, grabbed a pile of snacks and drinks, and the one human, one cat, and one wolf curled up on the sofa to binge a hilarious variety show.

As for magic study—that could wait until tomorrow.

Early the next morning, Rao Ke got up and checked her progress on the remaining tasks.

【Beginner Task 2: Serve 200 customers

(174/200)】

【Long-term Task: Level up to Level 2

(78.6%)】

Looking at the numbers, she figured she'd hit them today or tomorrow.

After breakfast, Rao Ke began restocking the goods.

No sooner had she opened the door than a team of people approached, one of whom looked familiar—Luosi, the first customer from yesterday.

"Good morning, shopkeeper! Got any breakfast?" Luosi smiled at her.

"Yes—want some crab rice balls?" Rao Ke had just stocked twenty that morning.

"Sure." Luosi nodded. "Could I take a look at the size first?"

Rao Ke handed him one, and he examined it. "I'll take seven rice balls and seven bottles of water. Thanks, boss."

After paying, Luosi took the bag of rice balls. "Mind if we eat here?"

Rao Ke nodded; the shop was empty anyway.

Luosi and his squad mates found a corner and sat down. The night before, the five of them had planned to try hot pot, but then a pack of magical beasts suddenly appeared southwest of No. 7 Wandering Town. The mayor had urgently summoned all the town's adventurers to deal with them.

They'd been at it until now, though thankfully no one was hurt.

The moment they were dismissed, Hongci led her entire team charging ahead, heading straight for Keke Shop.

Soon, most of the other adventurers and town guards flocked there for breakfast as well.

Rao Ke spotted Moduoya too, clad in soft armor, her long golden hair tied in a high ponytail.

"Good morning!"

Moduoya greeted Rao Ke, then ordered a crab rice ball and a bottle of orange juice.

Half an hour later, most of the customers had left.

Rao Ke and her two golems restocked the shelves, and throughout the afternoon, more people trickled in to shop.

But it was nothing like the frenzy of yesterday.

After all, No. 7 was just a small town of around three hundred people.

Still, every bit counts. With the day's accumulation, Beginner Task 2 was completed around noon, and the level-up task finished just before closing time in the evening.

Suppressing her excitement, Rao Ke saw off the last customers and quickly shut the door, ending Keke Shop's business for the day.

【Congratulations! Beginner Task 2 complete—you've graduated from novice supplier! Reward: Shop section upgrade. Reward has been placed in your system inventory!】

【Congratulations! Level-up task complete—fresh food and beverages sections unlocked! Check the system mall!】

【Congratulations! Title "Bronze Merchant" unlocked and auto-equipped.】

The moment she opened the system panel, three messages popped up. Rao Ke noticed a new inventory section had appeared.

"I always feel like you guys are some fly-by-night outfit—way too amateur hour," she couldn't help but remark.

Sesame Paste looked a bit awkward. It had designed the panel itself, and after chatting with other systems yesterday, it realized it had indeed been a bit slipshod, so it took the opportunity during the upgrade to patch in the missing sections.

Rao Ke was just venting, nothing more. She opened the system mall and saw the fresh food and beverage sections now lit up.

Clicking in, she was greeted by a dazzling array of products—a world of difference from the previous paltry thirteen items.

Her eyes lit up, and she immediately ordered several things she loved to eat.

Sesame Paste and Xue Qiu crowded around her, and once she opened the snacks, they shared them bite by bite.

For dinner, Rao Ke was too lazy to cook and decided to buy some ready-made food instead.

As for tomorrow, she planned to invite Moduoya and the others over for a proper hot pot feast—last time had barely qualified as a makeshift affair.

No beef, no fatty slices, no tripe, no duck blood, no leaf tripe... none of it.

That was no way to capture hot pot's true essence.

Rao Ke sent messages to Moduoya and the others on the Astrolabe, inviting them for a real hot pot gathering tomorrow evening.

Everyone responded enthusiastically, except Selen, who figured he'd sit out the kids' private get-together and just wished them a good time.

She checked her personal info.

【Host: Rao Ke

Gender: Female

Age: 25

Physique: Weak

Occupation: Bronze Merchant

Bloodline: Witch

Level: LV2 (0%)

Assets: Initial wooden cabin (poor as a church mouse—roll up your sleeves and work hard!)

Tasks: Level-up Task: Level up to LV2】

"?" Rao Ke stared at the newly added bloodline entry, her expression turning strange.

Sesame Paste explained, "I added a few more fields and moved assets directly to the system mall for easier viewing."

"No, the real question is why my bloodline says 'Witch'—aren't I a pure human?" Rao Ke's bewilderment was deafening.