Chapter 3: 003
Fortunately, while carefully reading the ‘Store Opening Guidelines’, Zhu Ran discovered that the ‘Xinggou APP’ was currently encouraging new merchants to join.
As Xinggou became more widespread and the number of merchants increased, the homogenization of shops grew increasingly severe, and the content being sold lacked novelty.
This led many netizens to complain: “If Xinggou hadn’t clung to the thigh of the supreme interstellar ruler, it would have been crushed on the beach by the newer waves long ago.”
Although this complaint was inevitably exaggerated, Xinggou had indeed entered a plateau phase and was showing a downward trend.
Therefore, to halt the decline, Xinggou was also racking its brains to introduce various policies.
The Newbie Incentive Policy was one of them.
Zhu Ran asked the Xinggou AI: “May I ask what activities are currently available for new store owners opening a shop?”
The Xinggou AI was a glowing pentagram floating in mid-air, about the size of a palm.
As long as someone called it, it would appear by their side.
Zhu Ran poked the AI light orb with his finger.
It was soft and warm, like a self-heating ball of wool.
“AI No. 0121 at your service.”
The little light orb emitted a toneless electronic voice.
“According to the Newbie Incentive Regulations, all shop owners who have never registered a store under their bound ID can receive a free 7-day newbie shop located on Mengxin Street.”
“Within 7 days, as long as the store owner’s turnover exceeds 30,000 Star Coins, the store owner will receive 1 month of free usage rights for a shop located in District 30, along with 1,000 in decoration funds.”
“If the 7-day turnover exceeds 100,000 Star Coins, you can obtain 1 month of free usage rights for a shop in District 20, and 5,000 in decoration funds.”
“If the 7-day turnover exceeds 300,000 Star Coins, you can obtain 1 month of free usage rights for a shop in District 10, and 10,000 in decoration funds.”
“The area of the aforementioned shops is between 5 square meters and 10 square meters.”
Newbie store owners not only get to use a 7-day limited-time shop for free, without spending money, but as long as their sales reach the target within 7 days, they could get a month’s shop usage rights for free.
This level of support was very decent.
Zhu Ran: “How is the foot traffic for the newbie shop?”
AI light orb: “Equivalent to the foot traffic of District 40.”
With Xinggou developing to the point where the lowest district number was 70, giving newbies the foot traffic of District 40 was considered very good.
Zhu Ran went on to ask questions like ‘can plants be sold’, ‘will there be a penalty if a newbie can’t make money in 7 days’, ‘can the money be withdrawn immediately after the shop earns it’, and the AI light orb provided corresponding answers to all.
Zhu Ran finished asking his questions after half an hour.
He patted the pentagram tip on the light orb’s head, sent it back, and gave it a 5-star rating.
Having a free shop to use as a newbie without needing money was undoubtedly good news for Zhu Ran. He only had 70 Star Coins on him; if he had to rent a shop, he certainly couldn’t afford it.
Zhu Ran first logged out of the holographic mode back to reality. The instantaneous switch between virtual and reality made Zhu Ran feel slightly dizzy.
A second later, he felt the grounded reality of being back.
“I need to scan a holographic image for the Freesia first and apply for a Xinggou certificate.”
Thinking this, Zhu Ran used the built-in software in Xinggou to scan the Freesia.
After clicking the ‘Physical Item Scan’ function, a blue scanning light emitted from the rear camera of the optical computer.
Following the prompts, he used the scanning light to completely scan the Freesia from front, back, left, and right, before submitting it for review.
The review was done by AI and was very fast. The digital certificate was issued in just five hours.
[Item Category: Living creature, Natural Plant]
[Danger Level: F-grade]
[Species: Freesia]
[Digital ID: BI000003]
[Condition: Excellent]
[Rarity: Ultra Rare]
[Note: Extremely delicate natural plant, please handle with care.]
Zhu Ran originally thought selling a natural plant on Xinggou might get stuck in review, as it was said there were hardly any natural plants for sale in the entire interstellar space, so they might be stricter.
But he didn’t expect the certificate to be issued so quickly.
What Zhu Ran didn’t know was that, although natural plants seemed weak, useless, and prone to dying—basically fragile items—in the eyes of interstellar citizens, because of their rarity and slight spiritual appeasement effects, many wealthy people across the stars had invested money to set up research institutes. These institutes produced a few natural plants each month, most of which were sent to curry favor with the highest interstellar ruler.
Everyone else could only remark: Heh, monopolizing natural plants, research institutes, you sure are something.
In the past, it wasn’t as if no one had sold one or two stray natural plants on Xinggou, so the well-informed Xinggou review AI naturally wouldn’t hold up the certificate.
With the certificate, Zhu Ran’s last bit of worry vanished. So, he logged into Xinggou again and registered as a newbie store owner.
“Congratulations to user ‘Zhu’ for successfully registering the shop ‘Zhuying Anxiang’, receiving 50 decoration coins.”
“The shop is located at No. 76, Mengxin Street. Hurry and list your items!”
After the electronic prompt finished, Zhu Ran clicked the ‘Go to Shop’ button. Following a green data transition screen, Zhu Ran arrived at his own shop.
The shop door was currently closed; it would only open after the owner confirmed ‘Open for Business’.
Right now, the unrenovated shop was using the system’s default template. White walls, a white ceiling, and a gray metal floor, under the illumination of white lights, looked excessively cold and indifferent.
A 5-square-meter shop could only accommodate about 3 to 5 people. If it were to sell a large number of items, it would definitely appear messy and cramped.
Zhu Ran had never done shop decoration before. If he were to really do it himself, he wouldn’t even know where to start.
However, he only had one Freesia to sell for the time being, so he didn’t need to make major changes to the shop. Besides, he only had 50 decoration coins.
Zhu Ran first spent 20 decoration coins to buy a square, wooden-textured glass display stand with built-in display lights.
He placed the display stand in the center of the narrow shop, then put the holographic projection of the Freesia into the display stand.
Next, he spent another 20 Star Coins to change the walls and floor of the entire shop to a natural wood texture.
In an instant, the original gray and white default shop took on a warm yellow tone.
The deep yellow, wooden-textured walls occasionally featured a few darker swirls, looking just like the grain of real wood.
With this, the previously minimalist, metallic-style room was completely refreshed, turning into a very natural wooden cabin style.
Meanwhile, the lush green Freesia placed in the center brought vitality to the otherwise lifeless room.
Moreover, Xinggou’s holographic world could simulate the scent of the items sold, so as soon as one stepped into the shop, they could smell the faint sweetness unique to the Freesia.
Very healing.
After doing all this, 10 decoration coins were left, which Zhu Ran hoarded and didn’t use.
With a grand wave of his hand, Zhu Ran filled in the selling price: 30,000 Star Coins (crossed out).
Limited time 80% discount: [24,000 Star Coins].
Yes, exactly 24,000 Star Coins.
“Xinggou currently doesn’t have any natural plants on sale, so it’s hard to find a reference. But netizens said natural plants on Xinggou used to generally sell for 30,000 to 50,000. It’s very reasonable for me to sell it at a discount for 24,000 Star Coins.”
“As for the discount, it’s just a gimmick. How can you sell things without a limited-time discount?”
After finishing all this, Zhu Ran clicked the ‘Open for Business’ button and logged off.
After returning to the real world, Zhu Ran realized it was already late at night. Looking out through the narrow window, he could only see a dark blue sky veiled in gravel.
The wind outside was strong, whipping the gravel off the ground and slamming it against the exterior walls of the house, making ‘clatter clatter’ sounds.
The temperature had probably dropped a few degrees. Even though the small room was tightly sealed, the creeping chill could still be felt.
Zhu Ran breathed a puff of warm air onto his cold hands.
“I hope it sells quickly, so I can move somewhere else.”
He drank a tube of nutrient solution, briefly wiped himself down, then wrapped himself in the worn-out blanket, curled into a ball, and fell asleep.
The Freesia continued to emit its fragrance, mingling with Zhu Ran’s own scent to fill the enclosed space.
Having experienced an extraordinary day, Zhu Ran fell exhaustedly asleep amidst the faint fragrance.
His sleeping face was peaceful.
S-grade Planet—Jialan
Jialan was one of the three S-grade planets in the entire interstellar space, the residence of the current highest interstellar ruler, Zefaer Suoye.
This planet not only boasted the best schools, the strictest military bases, and the most mysterious research facilities in the entire interstellar space… but the top ten companies by market value also set up their headquarters here, seeking to break into the circles of the higher-ups.
Planet ‘Jialan’ presented an air of aloof sophistication.
Sleek hovercars sped past on immaculately clean metal roads.
Electronic patrol bots floated in mid-air, blinking their red eyes as they monitored every movement in the sky. Once a danger was spotted, they would transform into specialized mechas capable of instantly taking down and immobilizing a speeding hovercar.
At this moment, ‘Jialan’ was shrouded in the veil of night, completely peaceful.
But in the dormitories of Jialan Comprehensive University, many favored children of heaven were just beginning their nightlife.
“Hey, bro, are you still planning to chase Mu Qingzhou? Although his face is undeniably gorgeous, someone that cold and unapproachable wouldn’t be much fun to date, right?”
Mu Qingzhou was the publicly recognized ‘high flower’ male god of Jialan Comprehensive University. Needless to say, his appearance was absolutely school-grass level, his grades were consistently first in his year, and his family background was highly ranked on the entire Jialan planet.
Many people liked him, and many confessed to him, but they were all rejected by Mu Qingzhou’s indifferent, ice-cold attitude, without exception.
Over time, although quite a few people still confessed to Mu Qingzhou every year, the number decreased annually.
Qin Ke, on the other hand, was a first-year student who had just enrolled this year. He had fallen in love with Mu Qingzhou at first sight and was currently working hard to win the male god over.
“I liked Mu Qingzhou the first time I laid eyes on him. No matter how difficult it is, I will absolutely not give up.”
Qin Ke said firmly: “He rejected the keys to the new model hovercar I gave him today; he definitely doesn’t like cold things like that. True, how could a mass-produced item like a hovercar be worthy of him? Today, I have to find a rare item that is worthy of him.”
Seeing Qin Ke so enthusiastic, his roommates stopped trying to persuade him otherwise.
If Qin Ke was happy doing it, then let him! The worst that could happen was that when Qin Ke finally gave up in despair, the bros would stay up all night drinking with him.
Qin Ke logged onto the Xinggou APP; he planned to see if there were any rare items for sale on Xinggou.
His avatar in Xinggou was a beautified version of himself. Qin Ke wasn’t very tall, only 177cm, and his build wasn’t particularly burly, so he sculpted himself in Xinggou into a 185cm broad-shouldered macho man.
A macho avatar wearing Qin Ke’s non-threatening face actually possessed a different kind of flavor.
“Let me see if there are any new arrivals on Mengxin Street.”
Qin Ke preferred browsing the newly launched Mengxin Street on Xinggou. Items in Mengxin Street were often interesting and full of novelty.
For example, last time, the shop ‘Call of the Ocean’ in Mengxin Street sold a ‘Specimen of an Eight-Legged Two-Clawed Hard-Shelled Creature’, which was very rare and cost only 2,000 Star Coins, not expensive at all.
Qin Ke had never seen such a creature, so he bought one, but after just one day, it was banished to the cold storage room.
Qin Ke was very familiar with Mengxin Street. He had already memorized which storefronts would be replaced with new shops today, so he went straight to the point.
“Selling DIY ice cream machines? Boring.”
“This one sells second-hand clothes. Skip, skip.”
“Replica firearms? I have real ones at home, why would I want fakes?”
…
After taking a quick look at the new shops, Qin Ke didn’t find anything he liked and couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed.
Until he twitched his nose and took two sniffs.
“What a good smell… is it a perfume shop? But it doesn’t smell like high-tech synthetic scents.”
As a student of Jialan Comprehensive University, Qin Ke’s physical fitness was naturally top-notch, and his sense of smell was extraordinarily sharp.
He wouldn’t mistake this special scent; it was very natural and didn’t seem like a synthesized odor.
Following this faint fragrance, Qin Ke involuntarily walked into a shop decorated in a very ‘un-technological’ way.
The walls and floors of the shop were made of wooden materials, with concentric rings of dark grain that looked remarkably close to the real thing.
Stepping on the wooden floor also felt softer than on metal materials.
The shop was empty, with only one product displayed in the center.
However, just this one product captured all of Qin Ke’s attention.
What rushed to his face was a vibrant, life-filled green, emitting the unique fresh scent of a plant.
And the small white flowers blooming at the top were delicate and pure, flawless as white jade, unstained by a speck of dust.
The small flowers emitted a faint sweetness, not as overpowering as chemically mixed perfumes, but the fragrance was deeply soothing to the heart.
Qin Ke’s eyes reflected the lush, vibrant green.
His pupils trembled, and he blurted out: “A natural plant!”
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