Chapter 494: Chapter 494: You Get What You Pay For
Just see—
Reds, yellows, greens, blues, pinks... A large swathe of color flooded into view, turning the entire shop into a sea of flowers. The thing is, the color scheme was so varied and chaotic that it was almost painful on the eyes...
The shop’s original wooden flooring had been replaced with pink. As soon as Ji You stepped on it, she immediately withdrew her foot.
This—
Is this really her shop?
Ji You couldn’t believe it, so she stepped out and took another look at the sign. Sure enough, it read in bold letters: [Qingyou Shop]
Ji You tilted her head and muttered to herself, "Could it be that there’s a second Qingyou Shop in this world?"
Someone nearby heard her question and kindly explained, "Kid, is this your first time on Star Network? Star Network shops aren’t allowed to have duplicate names."
Ji You: "..."
Ji You took a deep breath: "So, it’s definitely mine, then."
So—
Which bastard played this trick on her?
A good Samaritan next to her said, "It’s a shop update, there’s a crowd. Don’t just stand there, hurry up, or you won’t be able to get any Soul Devices."
With that, the person dashed into the shop.
Ji You tried lifting her foot and, after some serious mental preparation, convinced herself to step onto the nauseatingly pink floor—
Inside the shop, it was packed to the gills with people, and what was key was that from time to time numerous petals would fall from above, pitter-pattering on peoples’ heads. Ji You was speechless at this sight—utterly speechless...
Early birds like Chu Jiaojiao, Sheng Qingyan, Shen Changqing, and others were already squatting in the shop. When Chu Jiaojiao saw Ji You, she immediately dashed over and pulled her aside: "Ji You, classmate, we’ve already staked out a spot. They say this spot on the floor is the luckiest. Sheng Qingyan even got a pair of Soul Artifact Earrings here last time."
On hearing this, Ji You grimaced and said, "Fate is unchangeable by charms, destiny unchanged by wealth. If it’s not meant to be, you won’t get it..."
"Ptui!" Yue Qiguang heard this and was the first to look displeased, cursing out loud, "Idiot, it hasn’t even started yet. Don’t say such things and jinx my dad’s luck! Ptui! Ptui! Ptui!"
Ji You: "..."
Ji You asked, "Why are you here to snatch too? Didn’t you look down on this?"
Yue Qiguang replied: "Dad’s like the little prince of winning prizes, why wouldn’t I show up for good things?"
"Cough..." Shen Changqing interrupted them, saying, "Be quiet everyone, it’s about to start."
Sheng Qingyan looked up, allowing pieces of red, yellow, and green petals to fall on his head, and said, "Master’s shop is different from last time, huh? There’s now a salesperson, huh. No idea what Master was thinking, huh? Their taste is so questionable, huh... If I’d known Master was hiring a salesperson, I would’ve applied, huh. With how lovable I am, I’m sure Master would’ve chosen me."
Ji You glanced at him and couldn’t help but say, "You’re so cute, you’d probably cry for a long time if you got punched, huh?"
Sheng Qingyan: "..."
Incensed, Sheng Qingyan spat disdainfully at Ji You, muttering indignantly, "You don’t appreciate my cuteness, huh. I won’t talk to you anymore."
Right at that moment—
Dressed in a riot of colors, more Nu-Rave than the Nu-Rave, Cheng Yu appeared.
Ji You’s eyelid twitched.
"Burial Love Family?"
"Renaissance?"
Ji You thought hard but couldn’t figure out what on earth Cheng Yu was aiming for with this stunt.
Then, she received a message notification. Opening it, Ji You saw it was from Cheng Yu, his tone overly ingratiating, listing everything he had done, and finally, seeking praise: [Master, are you pleased with everything you’re seeing?]
Ji You almost gritted her teeth as she replied: [Pleased, very pleased.]
Cheng Yu took one look and immediately burst into laughter, his teeth showing but his eyes gone, "Our shop was too plain before, lacking anything fresh or new, which is why I took the initiative to have it renovated."
Ji You gritted her teeth and said, "Very good."
Because there was no novelty, so you brought in so many flowers?
What kind of logic is that?
Cheng Yu said, "Although this decoration is a bit garish, it’s definitely catchy and will get people talking. I believe with this, more people will come, and of course—the goal of doing all this isn’t just to attract onlookers. The main purpose is to raise our profile and draw in wealthy spenders. At that point, it’ll only be logical to raise our prices slightly..."
That sounded somewhat reasonable.
Ji You nodded her head: "Very good."
Seeing that Master had praised him with a few ’very goods’, Cheng Yu’s smile grew even wider as he replied, "Master, thanks to my efforts, our shop’s new merchandise update is now all over the major forums on Star Network, and the publicity effect has been really good. If you’re interested, you may want to check it out."
Hmm?
Ji You blinked; could Teacher Cheng Yu really have achieved this? Isn’t this just advertising? After all, when she first opened her shop and was struggling with the lack of customer traffic and popularity, she thought about advertising everywhere, but she didn’t have the money.
Ji You, a bit curious, randomly entered several high-traffic forums to take a look.
Upon opening, she saw:
"Shocking! Former viral hostess reduced to a small shop salesperson, is this the decline of morals, or the distortion of humanity?"
"Shocking! The most bizarre and ugliest small shop sells—"
"Sensational! I stepped into a vulgar little shop, and what I didn’t expect was—"
...
Ji You: "..."
Ji You’s face turned completely dark.
This guy! With tactics like this, it would be weird if they didn’t attract attention.
Shaking with anger, faced with Teacher Cheng Yu’s message full of anticipation for praise, Ji You truly couldn’t bring herself to commend him with another ’very good’.
But after thinking it over and seeing things had already been done this way, she couldn’t crush the salesperson’s morale at this critical moment, especially considering this salesperson had only spent 1000 credit points.
Sigh!
You get what you pay for!
Ji You, against her better judgment, replied: "Very good."
In an instant, Cheng Yu beamed with joy, and now it was time to stock the new products on the shelves.
The audience below suddenly burst into excitement:
"Ah Da! You look so handsome today!"
"Ah Da! Today you’re the hottest guy around."
"Ah Da! Today you are so stunning you’re blinding me."
...
"Ah Da, I’ve been praising you for so long, if there’s any secret deal later on, give me a Soul Device, will ya?"
"Ah Da, don’t forget about me, I’m your loyal fan."
"Ah Da, I’ve been promoting you on all the big forums on Star Network, remember to take care of a brother, eh?"
Faced with requests from fans of all kinds, Cheng Yu today left behind his usual giggles, with a straight face and a serious demeanor, he cleared his throat to say, "Dear customers and friends, today is my Ah Da’s first day officially working at Qingyou Shop. Ah Da as an internet celebrity is one thing, but please forget about that, from now on, please call me Salesperson Ah Da. I feel extremely honored to be seen and chosen by Green Glaze Master as a salesperson."
The audience: "..."
Cheng Yu: "Ahem... I heard everything you guys said earlier, and my answer is—no! Absolutely not! At Qingyou Shop, we uphold fair and just trade! Any under-the-table dealings simply do not exist."