Chapter 1055 – Mo Lan’s Travel Diary 8

Following the stairs down to the castle’s first floor, several wooden doors of varying styles stood side by side along the corridor to the left of the Living Room.

Sylvia held her little head high, standing on tiptoe as she read the Witch Script on each door sign one by one:

“Witch Eatery, Witch Tavern, Witch Bookshop, Witch Perfumery, Witch Candy House… Witch General Store! Found it!”

She stood on tiptoe and pushed open the oak door. Behind it was a small, impeccably organized room of roughly thirty square meters.

The walls were a warm, light wood tone. A magic chandelier hung from the ceiling, casting a gentle golden glow.

Along the outer side of the room stood a long, dark walnut counter, its surface polished to a warm, smooth finish.

Behind the counter rose several rows of wooden shelving, divided into many neat rectangular compartments designed for storing cards.

About three steps out from the counter was a wall that looked entirely unremarkable.

Mo Lan lifted Sylvia onto a swivel barstool beside the counter that had been specially lowered in height. The little one’s feet couldn’t reach the floor and swung gently in the air.

“Look here,” Mo Lan said, pointing first to a brass-forged lever on the inner side of the counter.

“This is the store’s opening mechanism. Just push it down gently—”

She took her daughter’s small hand and pressed the lever down together with her.

A faint sound of turning gears rang out, and the entire room seemed to come alive, gliding smoothly outward from the castle.

At the same time, the wall on the outer side of the counter slowly retracted and folded, ultimately disappearing entirely into the walls on either side. The flowing scenery outside was revealed, replaced by a small wooden portico with a rain canopy extending outward.

Simultaneously, a rustic wooden sign descended from above, painted in fluorescent pigment with two lines of text, one large and one small: “Witch General Store” and “Little Miracles on the Road.”

“Push it back up, and the store closes.” Mo Lan returned the lever to its original position. The portico retracted elegantly, the outer wall sealed shut again, and everything returned to how it was before.

She then gestured for her daughter to try it herself.

Sylvia operated the lever several times with great enthusiasm, watching the room extend and retract like an obedient box, her eyes sparkling brightly.

Mo Lan then brought over the thick, hardcover ledger from the counter. Its cover was deep blue leather, with brass corner fittings and an embossed relief of a card and scales at the center.

She opened the ledger. The inner pages were soft, specially made Parchment—completely blank for now.

“This is the store’s product catalog. You just press a card you want to shelve onto the page…”

Mo Lan demonstrated by taking out a {Food Card — White Bread}. The instant the card touched the page, a ripple of energy spread across the paper, and the card’s image, name, and brief description automatically appeared on the page in neat, attractive formatting.

“It automatically records the card’s information. Then you fill in the price here.”

Mo Lan traced her fingertip through the air after the “Price” field, and a line of elegant numbers immediately appeared. “When customers come, you let them browse this ledger, and they’ll know what products the store carries.”

She then tapped lightly on the blank space after the card’s name. “If you can’t remember which shelf compartment a certain card is stored in, you can add a number here and find it by the number—you’ll never mix them up.”

Sylvia listened attentively, her small hands flipping through the catalog. Though it was still entirely blank, she seemed to already envision a future where it would be filled with product names and illustrations, bustling with activity.

“Mommy, I understand!” She closed the ledger, her little face brimming with eagerness. “Let’s pick out merchandise cards! I want to fill up all the shelves!”

Mo Lan sat down behind her with a smile, gathering her daughter into her arms. She raised a hand and swept it through the air, and the semi-transparent interface of the witch-edition Card Shop unfurled leisurely before them. Thumbnail images and information for tens of thousands of cards were neatly arranged by category, price, and popularity. The Gem Coin symbol flickered in the corner, displaying the account balance.

“Go ahead and choose,” Mo Lan said, her chin gently nuzzling the top of her daughter’s head, her voice full of temptation.

“My dear little shopkeeper. I’m allowing you to purchase on credit—1,000 Gem Coins’ worth of inventory to start. Consider it your startup capital.”

Poor little Sylvia—though she was born with an innate understanding of the Witch language and could count all the way from one to a thousand in a single breath, she had absolutely no practical concept of how much 1,000 Gem Coins could actually buy.

All she knew was that counting from one to a thousand took a very, very long time, so it must be a whole lot of money. She nodded happily at once, waving her little hand with a generous flourish:

“I’m going to buy lots and lots of practical cards! I’ll fill every shelf!”

Mo Lan smiled without a word, simply adjusting the height and angle of the light screen so it appeared entirely before Sylvia, letting her explore and choose on her own.

After all, once the 1,000 Gem Coins of startup capital were spent, they’d be gone.

Some lessons can only be learned by trying things yourself.

Sylvia was instantly dazzled by the dizzying array of products in the Card Shop.

Her fingers slid across the light screen as card information streamed past like flowing water.

At first, she still remembered she was selecting merchandise for the general store, diligently browsing the {Daily Necessities Cards} category: {Cleaning Cards}, {Food Cards}, {Tool Cards}…

But before long, her attention was drawn to the {Magical Item Cards} category.

“{Mobile Residence Card — Pointed Cottage}…” She tapped open a card’s detailed preview, and a three-dimensional image rotated before her eyes—the little cottage looked remarkably like their home on the Emerald Creek Plains. “You can even store it in a card and take it with you—that’s amazing!”

She looked at the price field, her small mouth quietly sounding out: “Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten-thousands… It’s so expensive!” She gasped, her little hand clapping over her mouth.

Unwilling to give up, she scrolled further down.

“{Spatial Tent Card}—unfolds to fifty square meters, equipped with a constant-temperature magic circle… Still so expensive!”

“{Basic Spatial Card}—one cubic meter of portable space… Still can’t afford it…”

With each card she viewed, her eyes brightened a fraction more; with each price she checked, her shoulders drooped a fraction further.

Those alluringly gleaming card images rotated before her eyes, but the price tags beside them were like bucket after bucket of cold water.

Sylvia’s little head drooped completely, her forehead resting against the cool surface of the counter, her voice muffled:

“Why… is everything so expensive…”

She sneaked a glance up at her mother.

Mo Lan simply gazed back at her tenderly, saying nothing.

Before long, Sylvia suddenly sat up straight, took a deep breath, clenched her small hands into fists on her knees, and reignited the light in her eyes:

“Just because I can’t afford it now doesn’t mean I can’t afford it later! As long as I run the general store well, choose my inventory carefully, and sell things properly, I’ll definitely be able to save up Gem Coins! And when that time comes, I’ll be able to buy everything I want!”

With that, she extended a finger and found the “Price Filter” in the light screen’s settings. Without a moment’s hesitation, she set the “Maximum Price” to “1,000.”

(End of Chapter)