Chapter 18

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

The shop had two stories. The sales area was on the ground floor, while the upper floor, which was slightly smaller, was made into an office.

At the back of the ground floor was a narrow backyard where many random things were stored.

The shop owner gathered her four employees in the sales area and said, “Due to some personal reasons, I’ll not be coming over to the shop every day from tomorrow onwards. The operations of the shop will be handed over to Cao Yan over here.”

Of the four employees, three were females, and one was male. Their ages ranged from 20 to 30.

The man was around 26 and was in charge of the physical labor like stocking up. As for the three women, one of them did the accounting, while the other two were responsible for sales.

The sales girls were gorgeous. After all, to a certain extent, looks were necessary to trigger sales.

Both were around 22 to 23 years old. One was tall and gave off a cold aura, while the other was petite and lively.

At this moment, all four of them were sizing Cao Yan up.

Although the shop owner did not mention why she was handing the shop over to Cao Yan, they could all guess the reason. This young lad here had bought the shop.

Why would one spend money on a failing business with only two months left?

This man must be a little weird. The four employees thought to themselves, but they all looked at Cao Yan in the same manner.

“These four here are all experienced workers. If you need help, you can keep them. If you don’t, you can hire new people.”

The shop owner whispered to Cao Yan, “The accountant is my niece. If you don’t have any use for her, I’ll take her with me.”

There must be a variety of reasons that led to the shop going out of business. Cao Yan was certain that none of the employees were of value to the shop.

However, he was not very familiar with the operations since he just took over. Therefore, he could not suddenly fire everyone.

Cao Yan was prepared to keep the other three.

The shop owner passed all the accounts, shipping routes, and other essential documents to Cao Yan before departing. Because Cao Yan had promised to help her sell the remaining stocks, she and her niece only packed a few things up and left, saying they would be back to collect the remaining stuff the next day.

“My niece has been in charge of the accounts. Since you’re new and unfamiliar with everything, I’ll get her to stay for a few more days to help you out,” the shop owner said before she stepped out.

Cao Yan agreed.

Actually, with his current memory, he could learn way faster than others. He was also confident that he would be able to quickly grasp the shop’s accounting and operational situation. Besides, before his transmigration, he was a professional in capitalistic operations. Taking over a shop was a piece of cake for him.

After the shop owner and her niece left, the remaining three employees stood obediently in one row, waiting for their new boss’s orders.

However, Cao Yan merely waved his hand and said, “Just do your work like how it has always been.”

The three employees returned to their work. The man went to the second floor to pack up, while both sales assistants took one side of the door each, waiting to welcome a customer in.

Cao Yan started looking at the interior of the shop, sizing the little area he had.

The shop was rectangular and was neatly decorated, using mostly white with some dark blue lines, and it gave it a classy and elegant look. The interior was well-renovated, whether you looked at it from a business or from an artistic point of view.

The theme of the shop was obvious. Right at the entrance was a refreshing, long, semi-circle glass counter that stretched along the wall.

The interior of the counter, as well as the wall behind it, was sectioned by transparent dividers, the one commonly seen in an expensive jewelry shop.

In each sectioned space was a demon ball.

The demon pet shops in this world were unlike those on Earth. Demon pets were generally big in size and aggressive. Therefore, the demon pets were not displayed outside for customers to interact with.

The demon beasts were usually confined within the demon balls. Once the customer had his pick, the demon pet would be released for the customer to view.

There were demon balls of various sizes and colors within the shop, making the shop look like a scene from a sci-fi movie.

“Are these demon balls imported?”

“Mm. We don’t have enough capital to hire a master to make demon balls of various levels. Besides, it’s difficult to find a good master. We just import all the demon balls and sell them together with the demon pets inside. Many demon pet shops operate this way. Only a few larger shops have their own spatial ball creators and even a professional team to hunt for demon beasts. They provide their resources. We aren’t a match for them.”

The shorter, livelier sales assistant, An Qing, started explaining to her new boss.

This was one of the reasons why the shop could not continue running its business. It was clear that the cost was too high.

For the remaining time, Cao Yan counted the number of demon beasts in the shop and took a look at the accounts.

He was thinking about informing Eggy that he now owned a shop so that it could hunt for more demon eggs or young demon beasts next time. In turn, he would be able to sell them.

The genetically improved Ocean Peng eggs in the boat could also be put on display in the shop.

After operating hours, the employees all left, leaving Cao Yan to finish looking at the accounts.

He only closed the shop and headed out of the city past 10 pm.

Walking out of the brightly-lit Magic Metropolis was like stepping into a feudal society from a civilized world. When he exited the city, it was dark all around.

He wanted to spend the night in the shop initially but changed his mind because he could sense something abnormal in his spiritual connection with Eggy. He felt that Eggy was about to reach stage two.

Every increase in stage for a demon pet was an important evolution in its life. As Eggy’s demon pet trainer, Cao Yan needed to be there.

Filled with pleasure, Cao Yan called Eggy over to meet him, and at the same time, he sensed its location and moved towards it.

Danger lurked everywhere in the Green Jungle during nightfall. However, the powerful demon beasts would be expelled away from anywhere near Magic Metropolis.

Even without his demon pet with him, Cao Yan, who had officially become a demon pet trainer, could protect himself, so he moved towards the edge of the forest without fear.

The road became increasingly deserted, with no signs of humans around.

Just as Cao Yan was about to step into the forest, he heard a strange sound amidst the howling night wind.

He became alert at once and listened carefully to pinpoint the direction of the sound.

Cao Yan stood bravely in the darkness. After thinking for a while, he walked towards the sound.

The sound became increasingly clear, like a low grunt made by someone.

Cao Yan neared the source of the sound. He chose to hide behind a huge tree and squinted his eyes to look ahead.