Back at the orphanage, the narrator tells his mom that he's not going to open a book shop because his family's "skin" is so "fishy" that he can't even make a living selling it. He also tells her that his old house has been torn down and given over to the government, which means that he has to live in twenty new houses instead of the one he was given when he was in the hospital. He's bummed that his house is being torn down, but he still has to work hard to make ends meet. The ice cabinet is finished, and the sign for the store is ready. The narrator offers to make the sign himself, but the sign is already made, so he'll have to sell candles and sticks instead. He tells the narrator that he heard that the store has been "leveled up" by the "volume name" of "fantastic tales" by "ji xiaolan" . He asks the narrator to listen to his stories without taking them seriously because he heard of them from other people. He says that the world is "full of mysterious things" , but not all of them are allowed to be talked about because they kill the fun of talking about them. Such as mountain spirits, fox fairies, and demons, he says, and how true the stories would be if they were designed to convey "a message." The narrator asks if he can visit the orphanage. The orphanage is open, and he asks if the narrator can read books there.