NOVEL WEB Chapter 5: Fang Fang Pets
"Digital?"
"Yeah," she said, gesturing casually with her chopsticks. "Set up a cloud store. Do online sales instead of running a physical shop. You don't need to deal with high rent or staff, or utilities. You save a ton, and let's be honest, most people buy online anyway."
She reached for the soy sauce. "Especially with corporations buying out all the street-level spaces."
Lin Fang stared at his bowl, her words sinking in. "But, it is a pet store. Pet food can be bought online, but what about the eggs?"
Zhi Yan looked up. "People buy them, too. Honestly, these days, you don't have to own any physical store to run the business. Just rent a storage room to keep your stuff and sell through an established online business as a seller. When you earn enough money, you can open a physical store."
Lin Fang's mind raced. "Hmm… that's right. I get eggs from the system store anyway, and I just have to register a business and bind the system to it. With my inventory space, I don't even need a cloud storage facility."
His eyes lit up at that thought. "I could work right from here. Handle orders online. Use a shipping service. It has minimal cost. I could even invest the leftover funds into fixed deposits. Just the interest alone would cover rent, meals, and bills."
Lin Fang leaned back, visibly moved by her idea. "You've just… solved everything."
He gave her a sincere look. "Thank you. Truly."
Zhi Yan smiled over the rim of her bow. "Don't mention it. It's not much."
They laughed lightly as their conversation shifted to other topics, nothing serious, just casual ones, like sharing small things, two friends catching up with each other. That's all.
After dinner, Lin Fang transferred the 1,000-credit deposit and the first 400-credit rent to her account.
He bowed slightly before leaving. "Thanks for the dinner. I'll come with my things by next week."
"Bring your ID," she reminded, smiling faintly. "Don't forget."
As the door clicked shut behind him, the apartment slipped back into calm.
Moments later, Li Liu emerged from her room, her fingers still twitching from a recent gaming session. She plopped onto the couch, frowning slightly.
"You really gave the room to him?"
Zhi Yan raised a brow. "Why not?"
Li Liu's ears turned slightly red. "He's… he's handsome," she mumbled, crossing her arms. "You know I don't do well with that type. It'll be… weird."
Zhi Yan grinned like a fox.
She walked over and draped her arm around Li Liu's shoulder. "Exactly. That's why I gave it to him."
Li Liu looked horrified. "What?!"
"You need exposure therapy, milady," Zhi Yan said, clearly enjoying herself. "Maybe, with his presence, you'll try to lose some weight."
Li Liu groaned into a pillow. "I'm not fat."
Zhi Yan laughed, tossing her a snack from the table. "I never said you were. But if you continue to sit around all day and eat all sorts of junk day, some day, you will be."
Li Liu opened the snack and sulked. "I can't do anything about it. I eat when I get stressed."
But despite the grumbling, she didn't leave the couch.
*
Lin Fang returned to his residence, well, former residence, parking his motorcycle with a tired but focused energy. The cool evening breeze brushed against his face, but inside, his thoughts were already racing.
He locked the door behind him and sat at his desk. The little panda swiftly climbed up his legs, then curled up in his lap like a warm, sleepy ball of fur. Lin Fang tapped open his terminal and took a long breath.
"Alright. Let's not waste any time," he muttered.
He opened the National Business Portal, entering his citizenship number and passing the identity verification checks. The sleek government interface loaded, offering several business types and structure forms. He chose:
New Registration, Individual Proprietorship
Next, it asked for a business address.
Lin Fang didn't hesitate. He selected the Cloud Storage Facility option. It was a relatively new designation, created for digital-era sellers who didn't operate from a physical storefront.
The website warned:
You have selected "Cloud Storage Facility" as your business location.
Note: This option restricts sales to online platforms only. Offline retail is not permitted under this license type.
Lin Fang leaned back, arms crossed. "That was fine. All I need is a kick start to revive my business."
Finally, the website prompted him for a business name.
Lin Fang hesitated a moment, then typed it in with a small smile.
Business Name: Fang Fang Pets
He submitted the form.
Application Accepted. A digital business certificate will be issued in 24-72 hours. You can sell your products under the name in the meantime. A temporary ID has been sent to your Email.
But Lin Fang wasn't done. He opened the country's largest online merchant hub, NovaMart Online, a marketplace with integrated logistics and a booming pet supply section.
Within minutes, he registered as a seller account, linking it to Fang Fang Pets, and registering the temporary ID.
Instead of self-shipping, he chose the Marketplace Fulfillment Model, a convenient system where all he had to do was ship stock to one of NovaMart's warehouses, and the platform would handle packaging, shipping, and even customer complaints.
As soon as he completed the setup, a chime echoed in his head.
System Notification:
[Detected new business registration: Fang Fang Pets. Would you like to bind the Summoner System to this store?]
[Warning: The system can only be bound to one store. Multiple bindings (physical or digital) are not supported.]
[Confirm] [Cancel]
Lin Fang didn't hesitate to click on the confirm button.
*Ding!
[Confirmed.]
The world blurred for a moment. Something clicked deep inside his mind, like a key turning in a lock. And then a series of notifications were sent one after another.
[System Binding Complete]
[Exchange Rate Feature Unlocked]
[Credit-to-Coin Conversion is now active]
[Pet Inventory] - Unlocked
[Main Quest is updated]
[New Side Quests: Added]
Store Level: 1 (Bound)
Character Interface:
Name: Lin Fang
Age: 24
Ethnicity: Manchu
Citizenship: Northern Yan
Profession: Summoner, Store Owner
Business name: Fang Fang Pets
Rank: E
Bank Balance: 1,372,441 Credits
Store Earnings: 0 Credits
Store Balance: 62 coins
Monsters: Luminous Panda (level-1)
[Exchange]
*
[SKILLS]
Active:
Summon: The host can summon soul-bound monsters from anywhere in the world. Cooldown: 24 hours
Passive:
Lord of the Summons: The soul-bound monsters will listen to every command of the host. They have, forever, true loyalty to their master, regardless of the treatment the host gives them.
True bond: The tighter the emotional bond the host has with soul-bound monsters, the greater the probability of them willingly protecting the host from any sight of danger, regardless of the command.
*
[Quests]
Main Quest: Become a Rank-D summoner
Reward: Training Grounds (unlock)
Side Quests:
Side Quest 1: Obtain a second monster
Reward: 300 coins
Side Quest 2: Raise a monster to Level 10.
Reward: 100 coins.
Side Quest 3: Earn 100,000 credits from selling the monster eggs.
Reward: 1000 coins
Side Quest 4: Raise Luminous Panda to Max level.
Reward: x11 Lottery pick ticket
Side Quest 5: Hunt down a wild monster for the first time
Reward: Varies (monster's rank and grade)
Side Quest 6: Clear your first dungeon, solo
Reward: Evolution Ticket
*
[Inventory]
[Pet Inventory]
[Summoner Shop]
[Lottery Wheel]