The Queen of Scrolls never admits defeat

Descending the stairs to the first floor of the castle, in the corridor to the left of the reception room, several wooden doors of different styles stand side by side.

Sylvia tilted her little head, stood on tiptoe, and read the witch's script on the doorplates one by one:
"Witch's Eatery, Witch's Tavern, Witch's Bookstore, Witch's Perfume Shop, Witch's Candy Shop... Witch's General Store! Found it!"

She tiptoed and pushed open the oak door, behind which was a small, neatly arranged room of about thirty square meters.

The walls are a warm light wood color, and a magic chandelier hangs from the ceiling, emitting a warm yellow light.

On one side of the room, there was a long, dark walnut wood counter with a smooth, polished surface.

Inside the counter stood several rows of wooden shelves, each divided into neat rectangular compartments for storing cards.

About three steps away from the counter was a seemingly ordinary wall.

Moran carried Sylvia to a swivel stool that had been lowered to a specially lowered height by the counter. The little girl's feet couldn't reach the ground and swayed gently in the air.

“Look here,” Moran pointed first to a brass forged wrench on the inside of the counter:

"This is the door opener for the general store. Gently push it down—"

She held her daughter's small hand and helped her press down the wrench.

A soft grinding sound filled the air, and the entire room seemed to come alive, smoothly sliding outwards from the castle.

At the same time, the wall outside the counter slowly receded and folded, eventually disappearing completely into the walls on either side. The flowing scenery outside was revealed, replaced by a small wooden porch with a rain shelter extending outwards.

Meanwhile, a wooden sign hangs above, with the words "Witch's Grocery Store" and "Little Miracles on the Road" written in fluorescent paint in two lines, one large and one small.

“Push it up again, and the door will close.” Moran pushed the wrench back into place. The doorway gracefully retracted, the outer wall closed again, and everything returned to normal.

She then gestured for her daughter to try it herself.

Sylvia operated it several times with great interest, her eyes sparkling as she watched the room extend and retract like an obedient box.

Moran then picked up the thick, hardcover booklet from the counter. The booklet had a dark blue leather cover with brass corners and an embossed pattern of cards and scales in the center.

She opened the booklet. The inner pages were made of soft, specially treated parchment, and were currently blank.

"This is the general store's catalog. Stick the cards you want to put on the shelves onto the pages..."

Moran demonstrated by taking out a {Food Card - White Bread}. The moment 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, neatly and beautifully formatted.

"It will automatically record the card information. Then you fill in the price here."

Moran traced a line of elegant numbers next to the "Price" column with her fingertip. "When customers come, we'll show them this booklet, and they'll know what products we have in the store."

She tapped the blank space after the card name again: "If you can't remember which shelf a card is in, you can add the number here and find it by the number. You'll never get it wrong."

Sylvia listened attentively, flipping through the catalog with her little hands. Although it was still blank at the moment, she could almost see the bustling scene in the future, filled with product names and illustrations.

"Mommy, I understand!" She closed the booklet, her little face full of eagerness. "Let's choose product tags! I want to fill all the shelves!"

Moran smiled and sat down behind her, pulling her daughter into her arms. She raised her hand and swept it in the air, and the semi-transparent interface of the Witch Edition Card Shop unfolded leisurely. Thousands upon thousands of card thumbnails and information were neatly arranged by category, price, and popularity. A gem coin symbol flashed in the corner, displaying the account balance.

“Choose,” Moran gently nuzzled her daughter’s head, her voice full of temptation:

“My dear little shopkeeper, I’ll allow you to purchase goods on credit for 1000 gem coins – this is your start-up capital.”

Poor little Sylvia, although she was born with a natural understanding of witch's language and could count from one to one thousand in one breath, had no real concept of how much 1000 gem coins could actually buy.

All she knew was that counting from one to one thousand would take a very, very long time, which meant a lot of money. She nodded happily and waved her little hand proudly.
"I want to buy lots and lots of useful cards! I'll fill the whole shelf!"

Moran smiled without saying a word, only adjusting the height and angle of the screen to present it fully in front of Sylvia, allowing her to explore and choose for herself.

Anyway, once the initial investment of one thousand gem coins is spent, it's gone.

Some truths can only be understood by trying them out yourself.

Sylvia was immediately dazzled by the wide array of items in the card shop.

Her fingers slid across the screen, and the card information flowed by like water.

At first, she remembered that she was selecting goods for a grocery store, carefully browsing the {daily necessities cards} categories: {cleaning cards} {food cards} {tool cards}...

But soon, her attention was drawn to the {Magic Item Cards} category.

“{Mobile Dwelling Card - Pointed-Roof Cabin}…” She clicked on a detailed preview of a card, and a 3D image spun before her eyes—the cabin looked exactly like their home in Cuixi Plain. “You can even put it in a card and take it away, how amazing!”

She looked at the price list and whispered, "One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand... So expensive!" She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.

Undeterred, I scrolled down again.

"The {Space Tent Card} unfolds to a 50-square-meter area and comes with a temperature-regulating magic array... It's still so expensive!"

"The basic space card, one cubic meter of personal space... I still can't afford it..."

With each image I look at, my eyes light up a little more; with each price I check, my shoulders slump a little more.

The images of those cards, gleaming with an alluring luster, spun before my eyes, while the price tags beside them felt like buckets of cold water.

Sylvia's little head drooped completely, her forehead resting on the cold countertop, her voice muffled:
"Why... are they all so expensive..."

She secretly glanced at her mother.

Moran simply looked back at her gently, without saying a word.

Not long after, Sylvia suddenly straightened up, took a deep breath, clenched her small hands into fists on her knees, and her eyes regained their light:
"Just because I can't afford it now doesn't mean I won't be able to afford it later! As long as I run the general store well, carefully select and sell the goods, I'll definitely be able to save up gem coins! Then I can buy whatever I want!"

After speaking, she pointed to the "Price Filter" option in the screen's settings and unhesitatingly set the "Highest Price" to "1000". (End of Chapter)