"Digital?"
"Yeah," Zhi Yan said, gesturing casually with her chopsticks. "Set up a cloud store. Do online sales instead of running a physical shop. You don't need to deal with high rent or staff, or utilities. You save a ton, and let's be honest, most people buy online anyway."
She reached for the soy sauce. "Especially with corporations buying out all the street-level spaces."
Lin Fang stared at his bowl as her words sank into his head. "But it is a pet store. Pet food can be bought online, but what about the eggs?"
Zhi Yan looked up. "People buy them, too. Honestly, these days, you don't have to own any physical store to run the business. Just rent a storage room to keep your stuff and sell through an established online business as a seller. When you earn enough money, you can open a physical store."
Lin Fang's mind raced. "Hmm… that's right. I get eggs from the system store anyway, and I just have to register a business and bind the system to it. With my inventory space, I don't even need a cloud storage facility."
His eyes lit up at that thought. "I could work right from here. Handle orders online. Use a shipping service. It has minimal cost. I could even invest the leftover funds into fixed deposits. Just the interest alone would cover rent, meals, and bills."
Lin Fang leaned back, visibly moved by her idea. "You've just… solved everything."
He gave her a sincere look. "Thank you. Truly."
Zhi Yan smiled over the rim of her bow. "Don't mention it. It's not much."
They laughed lightly as their conversation shifted to other topics, nothing serious, just casual ones, like sharing small things, two friends catching up with each other. However, every once in a while, his eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the closed door, where Li Liu was behind it.
He waited for her to open the door and converse, but she didn't. Lin Fang was also aware of her shy personality. It has been that way since they first met in his past life, too.
In the end, Lin Fang had to leave without talking to her. He left after transferring a 1000 credit deposit and the first month's rent, 400 credits.
He bowed slightly before leaving. "Thanks for the dinner. I'll come with my things next week."
"Bring your ID," she reminded, smiling faintly. "Don't forget."
As the door clicked shut behind him, the apartment slipped back into calm.
Moments later, Li Liu emerged from her room, her fingers still twitching from a recent gaming session.
She plopped onto the couch, frowning slightly. "You really gave the room to him?"
Zhi Yan raised a brow. "Why not?"
Li Liu's ears turned slightly red. "He's… he's handsome," she mumbled, crossing her arms. "You know I don't do well with that type. It'll be… weird."
Zhi Yan grinned like a fox.
She walked over and draped her arm around Li Liu's shoulder. "Exactly. That's why I gave it to him."
Li Liu looked horrified. "What?"
"You need exposure therapy, milady," Zhi Yan said, clearly enjoying herself, tossing her a chips packet from the table. "Maybe, with his presence, you'll try to work out a bit more and focus on your figure."
Li Liu groaned into a pillow. "I'm not fat."
Zhi Yan laughed, sitting beside her. Her hand swiftly moved to her, pinching her waist. "Look, the fat is already forming around. If you continue to sit around all day and eat all sorts of junk food, someday, you will be. From tomorrow onwards, come with me to the gym."
Li Liu's cheeks turned red at Zhi Yan's playful pinch. She swiftly swatted her arm and opened the snack, sulking. "Stop it."
But despite the grumbling, she didn't leave the couch.
*
Meanwhile, Lin Fang returned to his residence... well, former residence, parking his motorcycle with a tired but focused energy. The cool evening breeze brushed against his face, but inside, his thoughts were already racing.
He locked the door behind him and sat at his desk.
*Squee*
The little panda swiftly climbed up his legs, then curled up in his lap like a warm, sleepy ball of fur. Lin Fang tapped open his terminal and took a long breath.
"Alright. Let's not waste any time," he muttered.
He opened the National Business Portal, entering his citizenship number and passing the identity verification checks. The sleek government interface loaded, offering several business types and structure forms. He chose:
New Registration, Individual Proprietorship
Next, it asked for a business address.
Lin Fang didn't hesitate. He selected the Cloud Storage Facility option. It was a relatively new designation, created for digital-era sellers who didn't operate from a physical storefront.
The website warned:
You have selected "Cloud Storage Facility" as your business location.
Note: This option restricts sales to online platforms only. Offline retail is not permitted under this license type.
Lin Fang leaned back, arms crossed. "That was fine. All I need is a kick-start to revive my business."
Finally, the website prompted him for a business name.
Lin Fang hesitated a moment, then typed it in with a serious face. "To begin anew, I have to throw away the past, too. I need to have my own name rather than continuing the name of the old store Dad established. His dream died with my death, too. This time, I'm going to own my dream."
Business Name: Fang Fang Pets
He submitted the form.
Application Accepted. A digital business certificate will be issued in 24-72 hours. You can sell your products under the name in the meantime. A temporary ID has been sent to your Email.
But Lin Fang wasn't done. He opened the country's largest online merchant hub, NovaMart Online, a marketplace with integrated logistics and a booming pet supply section.
Within minutes, he registered as a seller account, linking it to Fang Fang Pets, and registering the temporary ID.
Instead of self-shipping, he chose the Marketplace Fulfillment Model, a convenient system where all he had to do was ship stock to one of NovaMart's warehouses, and the platform would handle packaging, shipping, and even customer complaints.
As soon as he completed the setup, a chime echoed in his head.
*Ding!
[Detected new business registration: Fang Fang Pets. Would you like to bind the Summoner System to this store?]
[Warning: The system can only be bound to one store. Multiple bindings (physical or digital) are not supported.]
[Confirm] [Cancel]
Lin Fang didn't hesitate to click on the confirm button.
*Ding!
[Confirmed.]
The world blurred for a moment. Something clicked deep inside his mind, like a key turning in a lock. And then a series of notifications were sent one after another.
[System Binding Complete]
[Exchange Rate Feature Unlocked.]
[Credit-to-Coin Conversion is now active]
[Pet Inventory] - Unlocked
[Main Quest - updated]
[New Side Quests: Added]
Store Level: 1 (Bound)
Character Interface:
Name: Lin Fang
Age: 24
Ethnicity: Manchu
Citizenship: Northern Yan
Profession: Summoner, Store Owner
Business name: Fang Fang Pets
Rank: E
Bank Balance: 1,245,441 Credits
Store Earnings: 0 Credits
Store Balance: 62 coins
Monsters: Luminous Panda (level-1)
[Exchange]
*
[SKILLS]
Active:
Summon: The host can summon soul-bound monsters from anywhere in the world. Cooldown: 24 hours
Passive:
Lord of the Summons: The soul-bound monsters will listen to every command of the host. They have, forever, true loyalty to their master, regardless of the treatment the host gives them.
True bond: The tighter the emotional bond the host has with soul-bound monsters, the greater the probability of them willingly protecting the host from any sight of danger, regardless of the command.
*
[Quests]
Main Quest: Become a Rank-D summoner
Reward: Training Grounds (unlock)
Side Quests:
Side Quest 1: Obtain a second monster. Reward: 300 coins
Side Quest 2: Raise a monster to Level 10. Reward: 100 coins.
Side Quest 3: Earn 100,000 credits from selling the monster eggs. Reward: 1000 coins
Side Quest 4: Raise Luminous Panda to Max level. Reward: x11 Lottery pick ticket
Side Quest 5: Hunt down a wild monster for the first time. Reward: Varies (monster's rank and grade)
Side Quest 6: Clear your first dungeon, solo. Reward: Evolution Ticket
*
[Inventory]
[Pet Inventory]
[Summoner Shop]
[Lottery Wheel]
*
Two days later;
After receiving the business license in the mail, Lin Fang sat cross-legged on the floor of his small new room, the faint hum of the city outside, and a sleepy baby panda curled up beside him.
His laptop glowed on the desk, casting a blue light over his thoughtful face as he logged into the NovaMart website as the seller.
"Open, Character Interface." He mumbled.
He clicked on Exchange after scrolling down.
It opened two options.
[Exchange Store Earnings] [Exchange Other Credits]
He tapped on the info button, already being aware of what they do, but did it just out of habit.
A small window popped up: Credits earned from registered store transactions can be converted at a rate of 100 Credits = 1 Coin.
Credits earned from all other sources (freelance work, commissions, transfers, etc.) can be converted at 200 Credits = 1 Coin.
"If only I had been more careful in spending those coins gifted in the newbie package… sigh, it's useless to fret over the things that happened in the past. Anyways, let's just convert some earnings I had in the bank. But can the system just draw my credits from the bank automatically, or should I use a debit card or something?" he muttered.
Putting away his thoughts, he clicked on Exchange Other Credits.
*Ding!
[Write the amount]