"That's why we're avoiding exposing the person who took the UR card and the connection between them and the dimensional shop. As long as there's no indication that the two sides have ever been in contact, it doesn't matter when the shop closes down."
The interdimensional shop will eventually disappear, and if someone discovers the connection, it wouldn't be a big deal. The problem is that this mall has had dealings with Jiang Yuexuan, which will now involve the Jiang family, and Ye Xu doesn't want to cause trouble for Sister Xuan's family.
"However, Miss Luna gave me a new idea. We can handle things at the shop first, and then go pick them up. Once we pick them up, we can find a blind spot in the surveillance cameras and escape from this plane, so we don't have to play hide-and-seek with the people who are tracking us."
The longer you drag it out, the more problems may arise; leaving is the best option.
So here's the question: what exactly happened to the next UR card? Why did they have to find the person like thieves and then take them away?
"Should I go and investigate?" Jiang Yuexuan suggested.
Ye Xu countered, "What if they find out you investigated them and then follow the trail back to them?"
Jiang Yuexuan frowned. They didn't know the situation at the moment, so it was hard to guarantee anything. After all, they weren't sure whether it was just a simple family dispute or involved powerful forces.
Without investigation, the truth will never be clear, but investigation carries the risk of exposure. For the first time, Jiang Yuexuan felt a pang of regret. If she had known this would happen, she shouldn't have made such a fuss and let everyone know about her relationship with the shopping mall.
"What usable items are available in the system shop?" Han Yingchen asked, noticing the situation.
Jiang Yuexuan knew more about this than Ye Xu; after all, she had thoroughly examined the mall from top to bottom many times. After a moment's thought, she quickly gave an answer: "Purchase the interstellar hacking service. The one-time price will be cheaper, and it will ensure that people in the current plane cannot trace back to us."
This money was naturally paid by Ye Xulai, the store manager. After the items were purchased, they just waited for the documents to be transferred.
Jiang Yuexuan left early to continue writing her novel. Since she was planning to leave as soon as she picked up the person, she definitely needed to finish the manuscript and submit it as soon as possible.
The one-year timeframe I mentioned to Ye Xu was a generous estimate. If we really want to speed things up, that's fine too; the subsequent revisions can be handled by the assistant.
This wasn't the first time Jiang Yuexuan had done something like this; she often just couldn't be bothered to revise after finishing the writing. However, published works aren't as casual as online novels; many parts require adjustments. Ever since being annoyed by her editor's constant nagging, Jiang Yuexuan hired an assistant specifically to handle the revisions.
Besides, things like assisting with sales promotions don't necessarily require the author to appear in person. Many are socially awkward, reclusive writers who prefer to stay out of the public eye, and those with greater fame enjoy numerous privileges. No one can force Jiang Yuexuan to go if she doesn't want to, since she doesn't need the royalties and doesn't care about low sales.
However, the publisher cared, so Jiang Yuexuan went back and discussed it with the editor, and arranged for someone to help expand the publicity efforts in order to make up for the negative impact of the author's absence.
With these arrangements made, all Jiang Yuexuan needed to do was finish the manuscript. Relying on the speed she had gained from exchanging various random abilities from the system, she completed the entire text within three days.
Ye Xu was stunned: "So, sis, you've been slacking off for the past few months?"
“How can you say I’m slacking off? Delaying a manuscript is a writer’s nature,” Jiang Yuexuan argued.
Seeing that Ye Xu still wanted to complain, Jiang Yuexuan quickly changed the subject: "I haven't asked yet, has the information on the new card been investigated? What's the situation over there?"
Mentioning this, Ye Xu became a little agitated. The reason was simple: this UR card belonged to a ten-year-old girl, a pitiful child who had lost both parents and was being used as a money-making tool by her aunt and uncle.
The girl's name was Ye Zhen, which coincidentally shared the same surname as Ye Xu. However, the name Ye Xu was given to her by the director of the orphanage, as all the children in the orphanage at the time had the surname Ye, which is indeed a common surname.
According to available information, Ye Zhen was a lively child, but after her parents passed away, she became quiet and withdrawn, possibly due to the shock. Later, she was raised by her uncle and aunt, and became increasingly silent and isolated, leading to reasonable suspicion that she may have autism or a similar disorder.
It's hard to say whether the worsening of the symptoms is related to the uncle and aunt. The information Ye Xu obtained only proves that the couple is particularly greedy for money and doesn't care whether their niece's burden is too heavy.
Because Ye Zhen showed exceptional musical talent from a young age, her parents decided to send her to learn piano. While her parents were alive, it was just a hobby, and Ye Zhen didn't participate in many piano competitions. After her uncle and aunt took over, Ye Zhen quickly made a name for herself in various children's piano competitions.
"As long as there is prize money in the competition, and as long as the time is right, they will arrange for Ye Zhen to participate. Sometimes she participates in three competitions a week, traveling to different cities, and spending most of her day on airplanes."
Even so, her aunt and uncle wouldn't let her rest. What if there was no piano on the plane? Then they'd bring her a toy piano with black and white keys, since her hands couldn't leave the keys except for eating and sleeping.
Some fellow passengers couldn't stand it and said a few words. The uncle and aunt said, "This girl is about to participate in a competition. She didn't practice properly at home before, so she has to cram at the last minute."
How could passersby know what Ye Zhen's situation was like at home? Since her parents had said so, they could only believe it.
Those who follow children's piano competitions all day are actually just parents who bring their children to learn piano; the children themselves don't have many fans. Parents like Uncle Ye and Aunt Ye are not uncommon; other parents also like to take their children out to earn prize money, but they generally don't do it in such an unseemly way or with such intense competition.
The industry now knows about this eccentric family, but in modern times, most people are only concerned with their own business and no one cares about others' affairs. A few talented piano masters wanted to help, but the Ye family's uncle and aunt made things difficult for them.
This couple doesn't care about their reputation, but the master does. If they go to the media and say something distorted, they might not only fail to save the girl but also get themselves into trouble.
Jiang Yuexuan frowned after hearing this: "If it's only this bad, my family's influence is more than enough to handle it. We can just take the little girl over and raise her."
“But we will take people out of this plane.” Ye Xu shook his head. “Usually, the police will follow up on cases of abused children and inquire about their recent situation from time to time.”
They don't even know if they'll send the person back, and even if they do, there's no guarantee they won't forget about it. In short, it's very troublesome, so it's best to do as the system says.
The system's previous suggestion to keep their identities hidden when taking the child away was to arrange for the death to be "accidental," and then it would fake a corpse. Ye Zhen's current relatives are all cunning and manipulative; even without her aunt and uncle, there are others waiting to exploit her. Completely severing ties with her original identity is the best solution.
Whether Ye Zhen plans to return to the current world is something she can decide for herself once she comes of age. If she wants to come back, the system is willing to provide her with a new identity, and by the time she returns, she shouldn't be a child anymore.
The system usually doesn't like to contract children as shop managers, and this is why. Adults' ages are frozen in this dimensional system; they don't continue to grow, but minors continue to grow until they reach adulthood.
Ye Zhen went out with them and came back so much older that she couldn't explain it, so she had to change her identity. The system could temporarily stop her from growing up, but with increased experience and the same age, not to mention whether she wanted it or not, the world's will wouldn't allow a "monster" with a child's body and an adult's soul to return.
“I think she might not want to come back.” Jiang Yuexuan said thoughtfully. “Why don’t we ask her opinion? Although she is still a child, you can’t ignore her thoughts and make decisions for her just because she is a child.”
Ye Xu thought so too: "Anyway, let's settle things with the interdimensional shop first, and then go find her. There haven't been any major competitions lately, so she's mostly just staying home practicing the piano every day. The situation isn't that urgent."
Of course, it would be best to get the person away as soon as possible; the child's mental illness needs early intervention and treatment. Fortunately, the system shop also has special medicines, and Luna also said that the elven healing spells combined with the Elven Song can heal the wounds to the soul, so they should be able to bring the person back as quickly as possible.
"Then it's settled. The shop shouldn't need me. I'll go back and arrange things at home." Jiang Yuexuan nodded.
She doesn't know how many years it will be before she returns this time. Even if she comes back at the same time, she still needs to make all the necessary preparations.
Ye Xu watched her rush out, paused for a moment, then turned to explain the situation to the others. Sister Xuan had finished her manuscript; they needed to pack up and prepare to leave.
Fortunately, the high temperatures in this dimension only last for a few months and are now nearing their end. Once the weather cools down, the number of customers at the restaurants in the mall that cater to the peak summer season will plummet. Even if they don't close down, they'll have to find a new way to operate, so leaving now is actually the most suitable option.
Since he was leaving, he needed to take care of a few accounts in advance. It was fine for others; Han Yingchen's account could simply be shut down. But Mo Bei couldn't do that, since he was now a fairly famous streamer.
Since Hanfu became a hit, Mo Bei has become a celebrity, and his fan base has grown as his livestreaming time increased. This has indeed brought a lot of foot traffic to the mall, but now that they want to leave, it has become a problem.
A top streamer is doing well, and suddenly they want to retire? How can their fans accept that? When Ye Xu did mukbang, she deliberately avoided Han Ying's die-hard fans, just to prevent that. Ordinary fans would say "best wishes," and although they felt regret, they could accept it calmly. But die-hard fans might not be able to accept it, especially streamers like Mo Bei who have a lot of female fans.
Seeing the crowd gathered around Mo Bei from afar, Ye Xu decisively abandoned his plan to go. If he dared to ask Mo Bei to leave the entertainment industry in front of so many people, he would be torn apart by the fans.
So Ye Xu secretly sent a message through the system chat group. Mo Bei, who was chatting and laughing with his female fans just a second ago, saw the message the next second. The system panel was very hidden, and Mo Bei didn't take out his phone to check the information. If he announced his retirement from the entertainment industry on camera at this time, he naturally couldn't blame anyone for instigating him.
Mo Bei did the same thing. He wasn't stupid. He pretended to suddenly remember something and said to the camera, "There's something I forgot to tell you all. I've been doing live streams to help out my boss. I just graduated from university and haven't found a job I like yet. My boss is a friend of mine, so I'm here to help promote his dessert shop."
This explanation was something everyone had discussed beforehand, and Mo Bei spoke without any guilt. The fans, however, immediately realized something was wrong; why would he say something like that out of the blue?
Sure enough, the next sentence was: "Now the dessert shop is moving, and I've found a job I want to do. I probably won't have time to do live streams anymore. Thank you all for your support during this time."
fan:"??"
fan:"!!"
Her retirement from the entertainment industry came so suddenly; who could accept it? The live stream chat exploded, and Mo Bei's fans were in an uproar as well.
Ye Xu was so frightened that he took three steps back to get away from the spot, lest he be discovered as the "dessert shop owner who was moving away." As for how Mo Bei would appease the fans, he could worry about that himself.
Fortunately, the person in charge of this mall is Jiang Yuexuan, not him. When the mall closes down, everyone will just curse Jiang Yuexuan for being such a jerk who went home to write articles instead of doing her side business halfway through, and she'll be the one taking the blame. Sigh.
Over the next few days, several shops successively put up signs announcing their closure. The ice cream and cold noodle shops were the first to do so, which didn't attract much attention, since the temperature had already started to drop and it was normal for these two items to sell poorly.
But soon, other shops whose business was unaffected by the winter also began to prepare to close. Bubble tea shops, dessert shops, and other businesses that were clearly thriving suddenly shut down, creating a bizarre scene.
Some people think these shops might be operating at a loss, so despite the high customer traffic, they're actually losing money, which is why they can't continue. But many more people believe that Jiang Yuexuan is behind it all, refusing to continue renting the shops to their current owners, forcing them to relocate.
Whatever the reason, the once wildly popular shopping mall vanished without a trace within days. No one could find out where the shops had moved to, and everyone reasonably suspected that the owner was Jiang Yuexuan herself, who simply didn't want to continue running the business and therefore hadn't looked for a new location.
There are so many interesting things happening in China every day. The closure of the shopping mall only sparked a discussion among netizens for a day before they were quickly forgotten. Customers who had eaten there, however, still fondly remembered it, but shops that never return are always replaced by new ones.
Two months later, a small shopping mall reopened on the original site, basically replicating the model of the previous dimensional mall. Clearly, some clever people had learned from the previous experience.
Before this, Ye Xu and the others had quietly arrived at the location indicated by the Encounter Ticket. They used the designated teleportation point and, taking advantage of the half hour that their aunt and uncle were away from home, teleported directly to Ye Zhen's house.
Trespassing is wrong, but in these special times, there's no time to worry about that. The system said Ye Zhen's situation was special, and it had already informed the little girl beforehand, so there was no need to worry about her being frightened by a sudden appearance. Otherwise, Ye Xu would have had a headache trying to persuade the little girl to come with him.
A note from the author:
In the next ancient world, without extreme weather, the people will split up and open four different shops.
Chapter 38 Branch Stores
As soon as everyone arrived, Luna flew out and cast a healing spell on Ye Zhen, while also singing an elven song. However, due to the suppression of special abilities in the modern dimension, the effect was not very noticeable.
"Let's go back to the waiting space first," Ye Xu decided immediately. "Their abilities won't be suppressed there, and we can treat them there later."
After speaking, Ye Xu looked at Ye Zhen. The little girl stared at him with her bright black eyes, not blinking. Ye Xu wasn't intimidated. He had seen many children with various illnesses, including mental illnesses, in the orphanage, and he wouldn't back down just because she seemed a little creepy.
Ye Xu walked over and squatted down in front of her, adopting the same gentle manner he used to use to coax the little children in the yard, and asked tenderly, "Are you willing to leave with us? Has Uncle System already told you?"
"Hmm." The little girl nodded delicately, then added abruptly, "Not uncle, but grandpa."
Caught off guard, Ye Xu: "..."
Huh? What grandpa? The system grandpa? Wait, did Ye Zhen start a voice conversation with the system? Otherwise, how would she know it's grandpa and not uncle?!
System: "!!" It's not Grandpa! It's in its prime, handsome and otherworldly!
No one knew the system's rebuttal. Ye Xu and the others were in a hurry to leave and did not immediately ask about the system, so they temporarily put the matter aside.
Since the girl and the system had already made arrangements, they didn't need to delay and could simply take her away. After they left, the system would arrange a fake corpse for her, indicating sudden death. Given how much the Ye family's uncle and aunt exploited their niece, the girl was practically a 007 overtime worker, so sudden death was perfectly normal.
Ye Xu didn't know if this "accidental death" would bring the two to legal punishment, but those who knew the inside story would at least morally condemn them. As for the property they obtained by exploiting their niece, the system, which always favored cubs, said it had already made arrangements.
"How was it arranged?" Ye Xu asked curiously after returning to the waiting space.
System: "They will frequently lose money in the future, and the lost money will go into Zhenzhen's account until it reaches the total amount of Zhenzhen's prize money from competitions over the years and her parents' inheritance."
Originally, Ye Zhen's aunt and uncle were supposed to pay for her food and lodging, but considering the harm they caused the girl, this amount was offset against the compensation. The system felt it had already done more than enough by not taking more money from them. If Ye Zhen felt the punishment wasn't severe enough when she grew up, she could come back and seek justice herself.
Ye Xu thought about it for a moment, felt there were no flaws, and nodded in agreement. After this topic passed, Ye Xu looked at the little girl receiving treatment next to Luna and couldn't help but ask the system, "System Daddy, I want to hear your voice."
The system immediately exploded: "I'm not an old man!"
"It's hard to say without evidence," Ye Xuyi said righteously. "Wouldn't it prove your innocence if you just spoke up once?"
The system scoffed. It wouldn't grant Ye Xu's request; this guy was too good at taking advantage of people. In these kinds of situations, you have to be in control and not let others lead you by the nose.
Fortunately, Ye Xu couldn't do anything about it either. Despite his persistent pestering, he couldn't get what he wanted and had to give up. He then became curious about another matter: why the little girl mistook it for her grandfather.
The system also wants to know the answer to this question, and since Ye Zhen's treatment has been completed, it can ask the person involved in person.
With the help of the special medicine from the system store, Ye Zhen became noticeably more lively and cheerful in just half an hour. However, she was still far from being a normal young girl and might have to wait a while. Even though her psychological issues had been cured, Ye Zhen's long period of silence meant she couldn't easily change her old habits and would have to adapt slowly.
Of those present, only Luna, who often interacted with children, and Ye Xu were able to get close to Ye Zhen; Ye Zhen was somewhat resistant to the others. When she saw Ye Xu coming over, the little girl's eyes lit up, and she reached out to hug him.
Ye Xu's heart melted, and he quickly pulled her into his arms, inexplicably feeling as if he had gained a little daughter. The connection between people is truly wondrous. Although it was their first time meeting, Zhenzhen was very nervous around others, but she was unusually close to him, even with Luna, she was merely not rejected by her.
"Zhenzhen, can you tell me why you feel that the system is your grandfather?" Ye Xu asked softly.
Zhenzhen instinctively clutched Ye Xu's clothes, afraid he would leave, before whispering, "Because Grandpa is very kind."
System: Uncles can be very kind too!
Mo Bei suddenly leaned closer, completely oblivious to the situation: "Zhenzhen, call me brother."