“Master, what are you up to—busy like a swallow building a nest? Want Kaka to lend a paw?”

Seeing Yue Liuyi bustling like a willow in spring wind, the blond little girl leaned in like a sunflower reaching the light.

“Mm, I’m tidying the books, like stacking fallen leaves after rain.”

She lifted a heavy spellbook like a brick of moonlit stone, tiptoed, and set it on the shelf like placing a tile on a shrine.

Beside her stood a small book cart, a paper boat brimming with all kinds of volumes.

Woof…? “It looks fun, like chasing butterflies across a garden!”

“Hehe, it’s fine—just putting different kinds of books in different areas, then tagging prices like tying red threads to bamboo slips.”

“Oh…” The sound fell like a pebble into a quiet pond.

“This one—‘Sherlock Holmes and Peanut’s Love’—is a romance, so it goes under Literature like a lantern among poems.”

“It’s romance… that’s a flavor Kaka doesn’t like, like bitter tea to a pup.”

“Huh? Then Kaka, what kind of books do you like, like choosing a mooncake filling?”

Watching the golden-haired pup of a girl, Yue Liuyi felt curiosity rise like a cat pricking its ears.

“Uh… cookbooks, right? Grandma would hold one and make tasty food for Kaka—like smoke curling from a warm kitchen.”

“Oh! Cookbooks are popular tools, so we’ll put them where eyes land like lanterns hung at the gate.”

She rummaged in the cart and fished out a cookbook like pulling a carp from a paper brook.

“This is it! ‘32 Ways to Cook Fish’—sounds like something the catfolk love, like bait glinting on a line?”

“Ugh! Kaka doesn’t like fish—do you have a cookbook for little ribs? That sounds delicious, like a grill crackling with pine cones!”

“You can’t eat the book… but once we sell it, the money can buy Kaka little ribs, like turning pages into steaming bowls.”

“Awoo! Then let’s sell fast, like wind scooting clouds.”

Kaka shook her tail and pounced before Yue Liuyi like a sparrow to a fresh branch.

“We can’t rush this; we need to prepare, like steeping tea before pouring.”

“Woof! What can Kaka help with, like offering paws to lift a log?”

“Hmm…” Her thought drifted like a lone cloud over the ridge.

Looking at the canine girl new to the stacks like a pup on a path, Yue Liuyi said, “Kaka… there are many stored books in the warehouse. The top shelves are out of my reach—can you bring them down, like plucking stars from a high sky?”

“Of course, no problem, like a drumbeat under clear blue!”

Kaka hopped and skipped, running to fetch books like a rabbit across dew-bright grass.

Yue Liuyi smiled and kept sorting like smoothing silk on a loom.

Linelor City never had many bookstores, so back then Moon Post Bookstore glowed like a lone lantern drawing moths on a quiet street.

The best sellers were manuals; big sisters and aunties bought knitting guides, weaving warm sweaters for lovers or children like looping yarn into small winter suns.

Sometimes boys and uncles picked up electrical and computer manuals, like carrying toolboxes into thunderclouds.

Phones and computers—few knew them here, and no official repair points existed, like ships with no harbor along the coast.

So folks matched diagrams to parts and fixed things by hand, like mending nets beside a slow river.

Literature—classics and famous works—found fans among Linelor University students, like lanterns carried through old stone halls.

Dreamwood Star isn’t linked to the inner-ring network, so reading apps like Bolobao Little Library won’t work there, like a sky without constellations.

Beyond that, encyclopedias, children’s picture books, old periodicals, and manga bloomed on the shelves like paper flowers in spring.

And here’s why friends loved the Moon Post Bookstore—you could read for free, like a mountain spring anyone can drink from.

The manga and magazines weren’t fresh issues, but secondhand prints drifted in from who knows which planet, like bottles washed ashore.

Everyone read with relish, like slurping hot street noodles under a light rain, and some overly dramatic ‘chuunibyou’ friends mimicked classic lines like actors on a summer stage.

“Key of the hidden dark power, show your true strength before me! In the name of your master, Sakura—seal, release!”

“Balala, full-body transform!”

“That’s not a line boys should be saying, like wearing a frilly apron to a sword fight!”

“Then it’s none of your melon business!” The retort flew like a rind tossed over a wall.

“Stop pretending to be cool, like peacocks fanning cardboard feathers.”

Facing these clownish friends, Dongfang Chen could only sigh like trying to herd cats in fog.

Fortunately, everyone cherished the books, no scribbling or bent corners, like cradling delicate paper cranes.

Reselling later wasn’t a problem, so Dongfang Chen let things be like a river letting the reeds sway.

…

“Woof! Woof! Woof! Master, Master, Kaka sorted all the books!” Her voice chimed like bells in a sunny yard.

Arms wrapped around a thick stack, Kaka carried them lightly to Yue Liuyi like a fox trotting with firewood.

“Huh? That fast, like lightning over a clear pond?”

“Mm! Kaka was in a hurry, so she jumped walls—bounce high, go fast, like a spring hare vaulting fence shadows!”

“That’s not a good metaphor, like mixing pepper into tea…”

Yue Liuyi smiled. Many of the books Kaka brought were ones she had read; seeing them again felt warm, like meeting old friends under plum blossoms.

“Mm… Children’s literature—A Journey of Scenery—so nostalgic, like a train winding through painted hills.”

Yue Liuyi loved literature too, like collecting morning dew on silk sleeves.

“Master, Master, what’s this book for? Why are there so many pretty big sisters inside, like opening a lacquer box full of petals?”

While Yue Liuyi drifted in memories like mist over a pond, Kaka lifted a book and asked the blue-haired girl with pure eyes like a skylark at dawn.

“Huh? Big sisters…?” The word fell like a leaf catching drizzle.

“Mm, this one! The girls inside are so cute—just like Master, like sugar stars scattered on night!”

Kaka opened the book; inside were adorable anime girls—big bright eyes; from maid outfits to miko robes, ‘absolute territory,’ twin-tails—everything like a lantern festival on paper.

“Wah! That’s the artbook I ordered from a con! Kaka, where did you dig that out, like a firework popping over a quiet lake?!”

“Eh? From the very back of the top shelf—it seemed locked in a cabinet, but Kaka used strength to open it, like prying a treasure chest from dust!”

“These books are not for sale, like slamming a red-lantern gate shut!”