Dimensional Supermarket - Chapter 118

Early in the morning, Ye Zhou gets up and gets dressed. He still doesn’t know how to wear the clothes here—whether it’s underwear or outerwear, there are countless strips of cloth, no buttons or buttonholes, and he has no idea how many knots he needs to tie just to get dressed.

Usually, Ye Zhou wears his own clothes underneath and just puts on a coat over them. He only dresses neatly when he has to attend court.

At times like this, he can only ask Zou Ming for help.

At first, he thinks Zou Ming is a rough guy, but he doesn’t expect Zou Ming to be far more meticulous than he is.

Today, he’s going to meet a “talent,” so Ye Zhou wakes up early. After washing up, he asks Zou Ming to help him get dressed.

Although it’s a bit shameful to have someone else help him put on clothes, once he’s done enough shameful things, he stops feeling embarrassed.

Ye Zhou feels nothing now. He stands in front of Zou Ming, arms open, letting Zou Ming hug his waist and tie the belt for him. Ye Zhou lowers his head slightly in boredom and notices that Zou Ming’s ears are a little red. He stares at Zou Ming’s earlobes.

Zou Ming’s earlobes are thin and small. Ye Zhou gets more and more absorbed in looking, and before he realizes it, he naturally reaches out and pinches Zou Ming’s earlobe.

Both of them freeze.

Zou Ming slowly raises his head. Ye Zhou awkwardly chuckles twice and says stiffly, “Your earlobes are quite thin.”

Zou Ming looks into Ye Zhou’s eyes, but Ye Zhou already looks away.

Zou Ming doesn’t respond, just gives a soft “mm” and lowers his head to continue dressing Ye Zhou.

Although the materials here are poor, the dressing process is much more refined than in the modern world. Modern men wear a watch, and women wear necklaces or bracelets, and that’s considered refined. But here, both men and women wear all sorts of accessories.

Men have various crowns—jade crowns, leather crowns, tooth crowns, cloth crowns. Different ranks use different crowns, but aside from the commoners, both the wealthy and the powerful have a wide range to choose from. Besides crowns, there are rings, belts, jade sets, and pendants.

To show his sincerity, Ye Zhou has to dress properly before meeting Zhao Xue.

However, since Ye Zhou doesn’t grow his hair long, he always looks a bit strange no matter how well-dressed he is.

Still, he thinks he looks great. After all, who doesn’t enjoy a bit of “cosplay” once in a while?

Ye Zhou once opens his own shop and imagines himself traveling the martial arts world, becoming a peerless swordsman in white.

“Are you taking him to that house after you meet him?” Zou Ming asks as he fastens the jade ornaments on Ye Zhou and stands up.

Ye Zhou nods. “I think so. He’s really poor right now, so I have to find him a place to stay. But I definitely won’t pay extra for it. The house is already bought, after all.”

He pays for the house, but the funds for supporting the scholars come from Marquis Chen.

These scholars will work for him in the future. Even if they don’t, Marquis Chen wouldn’t drive them away.

Even if it’s painful, they still have to be supported for free.

Once Ye Zhou finishes getting dressed, he heads out with Zou Ming.

The others have to go to the supermarket to work.

The merchants and nobles who come to Linzi have been hanging around the supermarket almost every day lately. They have nothing to do and don’t want to interact with the noble families of Chen State. In their eyes, those nobles are no different from the common folk of their own countries—not worth engaging with.

But they love Ye Zhou and want to cling to him every day, monopolize his time, and make him explain things to one person or another.

Ye Zhou is fed up with them and decides not to go to the supermarket for now. Wu Yan and Cao’er are enough to manage things.

And with Chen Shu and Sarah there, even if something happens, it shouldn’t be a big deal.

But just as Ye Zhou and Zou Ming step outside and haven’t gone far, someone runs up shouting loudly from not far away: “Something happened! The supermarket is surrounded by soldiers!”

Ye Zhou and Zou Ming stop almost at the same time.

Even the most clueless bystanders know Ye Zhou owns the supermarket. Merchants have been coming and going from the house he rents for days now.

The one running toward them is a young noble from Linzi. He’s still under fourteen. While that counts as an adult here, his mind is still childlike. He often visits the supermarket to buy candy and has chatted with Ye Zhou several times. He’s especially fond of Ye Zhou.

He even loses a shoe while running and doesn’t bother to pick it up, rushing over in just his socks.

“Master, the Yang family surrounded the supermarket!” the boy says anxiously. “They said you’re a foreigner and want to throw you in jail!”

Ye Zhou doesn’t take it seriously. “Where’s Marquis Chen?”

The boy says, “He hasn’t handled state affairs for several days… I heard he’s sick.”

Ye Zhou frowns.

Marquis Chen is sick, and someone is coming to arrest him. What a coincidence.

He chuckles and pats the boy’s shoulder. “Good work.”

Then he turns to Zou Ming and says, “Why don’t you go tell Zhao Xue I’ll find him after I deal with this?”

Zou Ming replies, “I’ll go to the supermarket. You go see Zhao Xue.”

Ye Zhou shakes his head. “The supermarket is more urgent. You have to go. I won’t feel at ease otherwise.”

Zou Ming says nothing. Ye Zhou lifts his hand slightly.

Zou Ming understands. Ye Zhou now carries a pistol with him.

In this world, a pistol is absolute power. Even with its short range and poor accuracy, it only needs to bring one man down to exert overwhelming deterrence.

“I’ll be there soon,” Zou Ming says, knowing he can’t change Ye Zhou’s mind.

Ye Zhou is always like this. He seems mild and indecisive, but every decision is his. Once he makes up his mind, not even eight horses could drag him back.

“Be careful,” Zou Ming says before turning away.

Ye Zhou smiles. “I’m not a child. Go quickly and come back soon.”

They head off in opposite directions.

The young noble follows Ye Zhou and says as they walk, “The Yang family used to sell grain in Linzi. If any merchant wanted to do business here, they had to become part of the Yang family.”

Ye Zhou raises his brows. “Become part of the family?”

The boy replies, “Become a family slave, I mean.”

Ye Zhou laughs. “That’s quite the business model.”

It’s hard enough for merchants to make money. Now, they have to become the Yang family’s slaves just to trade.

The boy says, “Boss, don’t think I’m joking. People say that even if Linzi’s commoners don’t know the king, they know the Yang family!”

Ye Zhou asks in surprise, “Why don’t I remember this Yang family? How many cities do they control?”

The boy lowers his voice. “The Yang family has no cities and no high officials, but because they control Linzi’s livelihood, everyone respects them. I heard… they’ve also raised private soldiers.”

Ye Zhou twitches his lips. “Wonderful.”

Raising private soldiers under the king’s nose?

No, that can’t be right. No matter how useless Marquis Chen is, he wouldn’t let someone raise a private army in Linzi City.

They must raise them somewhere else, where Marquis Chen has no eyes or ears.

The boy doesn’t understand Ye Zhou’s reaction. He blinks, astonished. “Boss, do you approve of what they’re doing?”

Ye Zhou smiles. “Yes, they should do exactly that.”

The boy is stunned.

Ye Zhou adds, “That way, when Marquis Chen takes them down, he won’t hesitate.”

A sovereign can endure anything—except actions that pose a threat to his rule.

Even emperors fear a prince with military power, let alone ministers.

Without a carriage, Ye Zhou takes over half an hour to reach the supermarket.

Just as the boy said, the supermarket is surrounded by soldiers holding long spears.

Merchants inside try to get out but are blocked by the soldiers. Some even offer gold and silver to buy their way out, but the soldiers refuse.

“It’s not that we don’t want to let you out,” the soldiers tell them. “It’s just that the boss here is colluding with enemies and betraying the country. We don’t know if you’re innocent, so we can’t let you leave easily.”

That’s what they say, but in reality, they respectfully let the nobles from other countries go.

Ye Zhou stands at the edge of the crowd. The onlookers don’t know what’s happening, but they instinctively shield Ye Zhou. They all bought low-priced grain at the supermarket.

Ye Zhou tries to push forward but is grabbed by a girl.

“Boss, don’t go,” she whispers. “These people are always like this. They can’t stand seeing someone selling us grain cheap. They don’t care about our lives, only about their profits.”

People nearby huddle together, hiding Ye Zhou from the soldiers.

“They’re all jackals, helping tigers. Boss, don’t go. We’ll protect you. Let’s see who dares touch you!”

Ye Zhou is touched. He hasn’t even spoken to many of these people.

But just because he owns the supermarket and sells them grain, they’re protecting him now.

Still, he tries to explain, “Let me go. They won’t do anything to me.”

The crowd grows anxious. “If they catch you, they’ll never let you go. They’ll definitely make up charges. Even if they don’t, they’ll torture you!”

No matter how Ye Zhou explains, the people won’t let him pass.

He can’t fight the townsfolk, and he certainly can’t shout “I’m the boss” while hiding among them.

So he can only watch the situation unfold from within the crowd, half exasperated and half amused.

The soldiers keep the place surrounded until noon. Around midday, someone in charge finally arrives.

He comes in a carriage. The driver whips at the crowd like they’re livestock. The carriage rolls in smoothly, and Ye Zhou gets a clear look at the man inside.

A well-dressed middle-aged man, wearing a jade crown. He’s not short, looks proper, even gentlemanly.

If you only look at his appearance, he seems like a decent person.

He walks to the supermarket entrance, calls over the lead soldier, and gives him some instructions. After that, the soldier shouts into the supermarket:

“Let your boss come out! If not, we’re coming in!”

The soldier yells again, “Don’t be shameless! The Yang family’s master came here personally! If you’re willing to repent, all past offenses will be forgiven!”