Monster Manicure Shop Operation Guide 25

Chapter 25

Yin Fuliu silently watched the ripples on the mirror fade away. After a long while, she looked down at the nail salon’s page on her phone, a flicker of sympathy for the young human man appearing in her heart.

Being targeted by a merman wasn’t exactly a good thing.

“Guarded like a precious jewel, who would dare to steal him from you?” Yin Fuliu snorted, flicking her tail as she slithered back to her bedroom for her beauty sleep.

The small incident hadn’t caused any damage to the Monster Manicure Shop. On the contrary, the quick clarification was so satisfying for the onlookers that it was like binge-reading a completed novel.

Marketing accounts jumped on the bandwagon, the comment sections filled with recommendations for the press-on nails, and the shop’s online reviews were overwhelmingly positive, even the Bureau employees were tempted.

The two planes had been peaceful recently. The sea monster was engrossed in making nails, the Yokai had set up a balm production line, and the Bureau employees, with ample opportunity to slack off, loved to gather around the screen displaying the 103rd plane, watching the Yokai cubs picking flowers.

Yokai cubs who weren’t causing trouble were doubly cute. They traded their labor for chips and soda, bouncing under the shade of a leafy tree, the rustling of plastic bags filling the air as they munched and gulped down their drinks.

“Ah~”

After a gulp of fizzy soda, the cubs shivered contentedly from their ears to the tips of their tails.

The administrators’ faces were filled with loving smiles, some even eyeing the balm, thinking about creating a space-time black hole to sneak a few bottles.

Lu Huai mercilessly burst their bubble: “Those are all for Ning Zhixia’s nail salon. Steal them if you’re not afraid of the fox cubs complaining.”

The administrators instantly calmed down. No one wanted to become an ice sculpture. At most, they could reach through the screen and touch the cubs’ soft, fluffy ears.

“My turn, my turn!”

“Don’t be so greedy, do clouds constantly float around people’s ears?”

“Hmph, why didn’t you say that when you were touching them?”

Occasionally, colleagues from other planes would pass by, puzzled: “What’s so interesting about a few cubs? Really?”

The administrators who had just been arguing instantly united against the common enemy and snorted disdainfully: “What else is there to watch if not cute cubs? Your centaurs from the Barrenlands, tsk, tsk, I don’t even want to talk about them…”

With all the press-on nails delivered, Ning Zhixia started calculating his earnings.

The material cost of handmade press-on nails wasn’t high, it was the time and effort that mattered. After deducting the material and packaging costs, the profit was about 160,000 yuan.

Ning Zhixia divided it into three parts: 60,000 for the shop and the foxes, and the remaining 100,000 for the model employee, Popokula, thanking it for helping to resolve the order crisis.

“Wow! So much money! So much money!” Popokula, looking at the numbers, waved its tentacles and spun around excitedly, its suckers making popping sounds on the smooth floor.

Qu Banqing’s eyes gleamed with joy. Good, it seemed he didn’t have to mop the floor today.

After its excited seaweed dance, Popokula suddenly realized a problem, blinked its big eyes, and touched its smooth, pink head with a tentacle, asking, “What’s the use of this money?”

“Uh—” Ning Zhixia also paused.

Oh right, in the underwater city, this was just paper.

He was a little troubled. Thinking that the foxes’ 30,000 yuan was for snacks, he asked, “Popo, is there anything you want? Like food or toys? I can exchange the money for those things for you.”

“Hmm…” Popokula extended a few tentacles, counting like a human would with their fingers. “No need for food, Popo can catch big fish and crack open shells…”

Ning Zhixia and Qu Banqing applauded: “Popo is so capable.”

“No need for toys either.” Popokula continued thinking. “Popo has many sunken ships to play in, and I can also make nails now…”

Ning Zhixia and Qu Banqing nodded: “Popo is so sensible.”

“Oh, then I don’t need this money.”

Popokula, like a pink cotton ball, curled up in the corner, its big eyes gradually fixating on the kittens.

The kittens, being stared at, cautiously crouched down, their fur bristling.

Ning Zhixia quickly said, “You can’t have the cats.”

“Oh…” Popokula looked disappointed, retracting its eager tentacles.

Ning Zhixia opened a bag of freeze-dried treats, held them out to the kittens, and their attention was immediately diverted, their tails raised as they gathered around.

Popokula watched for a while, then stealthily extended a tentacle and poked Ning Zhixia’s head.

“What’s wrong?” Ning Zhixia turned and asked.

Popokula shyly pointed at the bag of treats: “Ning Ning, can you buy this with money?”

“Yes.” Ning Zhixia nodded, then realized, “Oh, you want to…”

“Yes, use this money to buy delicious food for the kittens!” Popokula looked at the furballs lovingly, like a doting parent, its tentacles twisting as it emphasized, “The best kind!”

“Got it, no problem!” Seeing that it had a use for the money, Ning Zhixia immediately patted his chest and agreed, “Leave it to me!”

He opened a new savings account and transferred the 100,000 yuan into it as Popokula’s kitten care fund.

No longer needing to collect coupons and discounts on shopping apps, he extravagantly bought the highest quality canned food and freeze-dried treats, and the kittens’ favorite crinkle butterfly toys.

Qu Banqing, seeing this, also bought some premium cuts of meat from the butcher and made a delicious cat meal.

Happiness came too suddenly. Fatty Orange squatted at the kitchen door, its eyes wide, constantly looking at Ning Zhixia, trying to confirm if this was its last meal.

Popokula came to see the kittens every day without fail. It took the colorful porcelain dishes with its tentacles, placing the delicious dinner in the kittens’ dining area, then quickly retracted its tentacles.

Ning Zhixia waved at it: “Popo, come and watch them eat!”

“No, no…” Popokula waved its tentacles and retreated further away.

It knew it wasn’t popular with the furballs and, restraining its urge to touch them, huddled in the corner, twisting its tentacles, only observing secretly with its large, searchlight-like eyes.

Ah, the white furball ate so elegantly, the black and white furball wasn’t very focused on eating, stopping halfway to chase its tail, and the big yellow furball was the most well-behaved, licking its plate clean!

Two tentacles supported its pink, round head, and Popokula couldn’t bear to blink.

Just then, Fatty Orange, having finished eating, was washing its face, and turned its head to meet the two large searchlights from the corner.

Popokula instantly froze.

“Sorry, sorry…”

Popokula’s eight tentacles flailed, forgetting that it could shrink its size, frantically trying to cover its head and turning itself into a large pink ball.

The kittens, having finished their meal, smacked their lips and strolled towards the corner.

Ning Zhixia paused, then smiled: “Popo, look!”

Popokula lifted a tentacle covering its eye and saw many furballs surrounding it, their little paws curiously poking and prodding.

“The kittens are playing with me!” Popokula carefully touched Fatty Orange’s head with the tip of its tentacle. Seeing that it didn’t dodge, and even reached out to hug the tentacle, its eyes widened in surprise. It exclaimed excitedly, “The kitten initiated it, it’s playing with me!”

Ning Zhixia and Qu Banqing smiled: “Because they like Popo.”

“Popo likes furballs too!”

Popokula was so happy it almost melted into strawberry-flavored syrup, extending its tentacles to gently pet the cats. Having many tentacles was great, eight tentacles meant eight times the happiness!

After being accepted by the kittens, Popokula learned to calculate the nutritional values of cat food and enjoyed shopping for the best deals on canned food and freeze-dried treats with Qu Banqing, utilizing various coupons and discounts.

But even with such extravagant spending, they hadn’t used up much money.

Ning Zhixia discussed it with Popokula and decided to donate 50,000 yuan to the stray animal rescue organization in the Qingxi Road district.

The person in charge was extremely grateful and wanted to give them a certificate of appreciation. Ning Zhixia thought for a moment and said that it was a donation on behalf of a friend, asking them to write Popokula’s name on it.

“What a strange name? Is it an online alias?”

“Maybe they’re socially awkward and don’t want to use their real name.”

Everyone immediately understood. Such a low-key philanthropist.

Ning Zhixia gave the certificate to Popokula, and the pink octopus happily danced the seaweed dance again in the room, even urging the nail salon to give it more press-on nail orders.

Not only was Popokula urging them, but many customers online were also clamoring for a restock.

Business had been booming recently, and thanks to the influencer’s promotion, it had gradually shifted towards high-end nail art, with customers more willing to order custom designs and hand-painted art from Ning Zhixia.

With a speed demon like Popokula, Ning Zhixia was full of energy and decided to create a seasonal limited edition series, launching two new press-on nail designs.

One was “Summer Fireworks,” featuring hand-painted watercolor goldfish; the other was “Mint Lily of the Valley,” with citrus green Swarovski crystals. Both were limited to 200 sets.

It wasn’t much, but at least it was a restock, after all—

“We girls can totally hoard some beautiful press-on nails at home and wear a different set every day!”

Moreover, the words “limited edition” fueled their competitive spirit, and the customers were ready at the designated time, fingers poised over their keyboards.

The in-store appointments were also fully booked, as every customer said that once they entered the Monster Manicure Shop, their fingertips became as sweet as candy.

Popokula, having received a large order, was satisfied and returned to its plane with the materials.

White waves crashed against the reefs, and the smartest sea monster, perched on the edge of the coast, looked like a pink mushroom growing on black earth.

The nail tip templates Ning Zhixia had made were placed on the reef in front of it, its tentacles moving like a blur as it copied the designs.

A small boat it had snatched from pirates was floating nearby. A tentacle reached inside, rummaging through the toolbox like it was searching for materials, and retrieved a new nail tip.

A moment later, the tentacle grabbed a pile of oysters from the deck, cracked them open on the reef, and tossed the tender oyster meat into its mouth, one after another, working and snacking at the same time, like eating sunflower seeds!

Ning Zhixia had said that professional manicurists all had their own toolboxes, so Popokula had immediately snatched one from the pirates after returning. Overall, it was very satisfied with its toolbox.

It was large and spacious.

The pink octopus worked diligently to earn money for canned food. A sound like flapping wings came from above, and several sweet voices called out from the towering reef—

“Popokula, what are you doing?”

The next evening, Popokula came to the shop to deliver the finished products. It didn’t rush to pet the kittens, instead nervously rubbing its tentacles and blinking at Ning Zhixia: “Ning Ning…”

Ning Zhixia, with a calico cat perched on his head, looked up in confusion: “Hmm? What’s wrong?”

“It’s just…” Popokula touched their heads with a tentacle, blushing slightly. “My neighbors are interested in manicures and want to come and see.”

New customers! Big spenders!

Ning Zhixia secretly clenched his fist to suppress his excitement, calmly saying that he was happy to welcome friends from afar.

Popokula cheered excitedly: “Really? That’s great! I’ll invite them over right away!”

“Just a question,” Ning Zhixia suddenly remembered something and asked curiously, “Your neighbors are easy to get along with, right?”

The marshmallow-like figure at the door paused, turned around, and patted the young man’s shoulder reassuringly with a tentacle: “They’re easy to get along with, Ning Ning, don’t be afraid, I’ll make sure they’re well-fed before they come.”

Ning Zhixia: “…” He suddenly had second thoughts.