Dimensional Supermarket - Chapter 15

The wind blows, bending the grass low, but it is warm, not a bit cool against the face.

A group of people walk through the woods, dressed in old and torn clothes, each carrying a heavy bag. They step over the uneven ground, but no one complains.

The man at the front is taller than the others. He holds a small round plate—an object The Lord Immortal calls a compass.

Wu Yan has heard of the sinan, but he has never seen one. The sinan he has heard of isn’t so small—so small it can be held in one hand—and it has a layer of “crystal cover” on the outside. It looks so delicate and ingenious.

“Let’s take a break. We’ll leave after noon,” Wu Yan says, stopping under a tree.

The trees tower above, their thick branches and leaves blocking most of the sunlight. Only a few beams of light break through, casting mottled shadows on the ground.

The employees remove their bags and place them next to the tree trunks. They drink water and eat in an orderly manner. Hot food is impractical outside, and in this weather, no one feels like eating anything hot.

“If we were back at the supermarket, we’d definitely have cold dishes today,” someone unscrews a bottle cap, takes a sip of water, and sighs longingly. “Chicken shredded cold noodles!”

Chicken shredded cold noodles are a delicious treat. Now, Cao’er’s Mother is willing to add seasonings like salt and vinegar. If you can handle spice, adding a small spoonful of chili oil and a bit of sugar makes it even better. Paired with a bowl of half-cold white porridge, it is so tasty it could make you forget your tongue.

It is delicious and easy to make. The supermarket has plenty of meat, not to mention fruits and vegetables. Even though there is a daily quota, the employees have never eaten all the fruits they receive each day.

They always leave some behind for the next day. When the next day’s fruits are handed out, they finish up the leftovers from the day before.

So, each person has a small stockpile of their own.

“Crispy dates are delicious!” one of them says with a greedy look. “Not sour at all, crispy and sweet, and juicy.”

Another person chimes in, “Pineapples are delicious! After soaking in salt water, the core is crispy, the sides are soft, and a little sour, just perfect!”

What they talk about most on the road is the food and fruits from the supermarket.

Especially the fruits.

In the past, it was hard to get enough food. Fields were used to grow grain, and only the landlords dared to grow fruit. Aside from the wild fruits in the mountains, they never had the luxury of real fruits, and even the wild ones were often bitter or sour. If they could find sweet ones, it was a gift from God.

Moreover, wild birds are also after the ripe fruits. Often, when they find them, they are left with only the leftovers, with only a few intact fruits left.

“The Lord Immortal even asks us to bring sugar,” one of the employees licks his lips. “I never dreamed I’d live to see the day I could eat sugar.”

Sugar is a luxury—not just for peasants, but even for moderately well-off families. Maltose is the most common form of sugar, but it requires grain, which is better used to fill stomachs. Who would waste precious food that could fill bellies just to make something for flavor?

Even if there are vendors selling it, for most people, it isn’t cost-effective to buy.

As for brown sugar and honey—those are reserved for nobles.

The idea of eating so much sugar that you’d grow sick of it—that used to be nothing more than a fantasy. Even in their most extravagant dreams, they never imagined having this much sugar.

Wu Yan chuckles. “Why are you all always thinking about food?”

The employees gather together and respond in unison, “What else can we think about if not food? My parents don’t need me to support them anymore. They do their own work and the Lord Immortal pays them wages. I’ve finally got room in my head to think about food!”

“If The Lord Immortal returns to heaven someday, I can tell my descendants that their ancestor once ate sugar until I was full!”

“Do you think The Lord Immortal will return to heaven?”

Suddenly, the group falls silent. Everything they have now depends on The Lord Immortal.

If The Lord Immortal leaves, they will return to their previous lives—empty-handed and trampled by others.

Seeing the gloom settle over them, Wu Yan quickly speaks up. “The Immortal is here to overcome tribulations! He told me himself—he needs to save ten million good people to succeed!”

Ten million?!

The employees gape at him in shock. “How many is ten million?”

“I can only count to a hundred!”

“I can get to a thousand—and even a thousand people look like a solid black wall!”

Wu Yan doesn’t actually know how much “ten million” is, but that doesn’t stop him from going on. “Maybe even after we’re all dead, the Immortal will still be around!”

The employees are somewhat relieved by this statement.

“The Lord Immortal is immortal. Maybe even my grandchildren will still work for The Lord Immortal!”

“Let’s work well for The Lord Immortal, even if he really leaves. He’ll still take care of us.”

After eating and resting, the employees pack up their bags and set off again. They are all in their prime and have recovered their strength. Thanks to the flashlights, they can keep moving even after dark. It takes them two days to reach the edge of the woods.

After two months, there is no one at the edge of the woods—either they have left or died, and all that remains are rotting corpses.

The bodies emit a foul stench due to the high temperature.

Wu Yan can’t help but cover his nose but finally takes a breath and says, “Let’s go south.”

They have long grown numb to the sight of dead bodies on the road to escape, but now, seeing these decayed corpses, they can’t help but feel compassion for their own kind.

“If we have time when we come back, we should dig a pit and bury them…” someone murmurs.

Wu Yan waves his hand. “We’ll talk about it later.”

The group limps south along the edge of the woods.

Along the way, they see more bodies or dry bones. The tree bark has been stripped, and there are no traces of wild vegetables. Occasionally, they pass pits near dry riverbeds—remnants of attempts to dig for water.

They walk for more than ten days before, just as darkness is about to fall, they see a fire in the distance—there are people ahead!

Wu Yan quickly leads his group into the woods, slowly approaching the fire under the cover of the trees.

There are many of them. To avoid being seen, Wu Yan only allows the two smallest men to approach.

The thinner one is named Li Si, the sturdier one is Chen Liu. Both come from the poorest farming families. No one in their households can read, and they couldn’t afford to hire fortune-tellers to name their children, so they ended up with names like “Dog-Egg” or “Cow-Dung.” Once they grow older and don’t want to go by those names, they simply use their rank in the family as names.

Li Si crouches behind a tree, quickly spotting the figures gathered around the campfire.

One glance—and his face goes completely pale.

He recognizes them.

They’re bandits!

Long before the drought, bandits were rampant in the northern mountains and forests, and their numbers were as countless as crucian carp crossing the river.

Whenever they came down from the mountains or out of the forests, they would burn, kill, and rob. The court had tried to suppress them multiple times, but every time one group was suppressed, several more would rise in its place.

The people suffered terribly. In desperation, they offered their children and daughters, begging the bandits to show mercy and spare their lives.

The people sitting around the fire all wear long knives and yellow belts around their waists. They are the yellow bandits!

Although Li Si has never seen the yellow bandits, he has heard of them. The yellow bandits are known to be strong, fierce warriors. Just mentioning their names is enough to make children stop crying at night.

It is said that they kill without hesitation…

These are definitely not good people!

After the workers leave, Ye Zhou remains uneasy, so much so that he even forgets to scan Lin You’s clothes. By the time he remembers, Cao’er’s mother has already washed them twice—fortunately, the clothes haven’t been dyed with anything special and are of decent quality, so they haven’t been ruined. Ye Zhou can’t scold Cao’er’s mother either—she means well.

When everyone falls asleep, Ye Zhou goes to the cashier to scan the clothes.

“They look valuable,” Ye Zhou thinks, feeling that modern fabric isn’t much better than this. It might be the material—though soft to the touch, it is firm and doesn’t lose its shape.

After scanning the items, Ye Zhou looks at the screen:

White ramie shirt X1
Income: 160,200 yuan

Flying cloud shoes X1
Income: 84,362 yuan

Ye Zhou’s eyes widen in surprise. He is stunned. These two items… are this valuable in this era?!

After buying self-defense equipment for Wu Yan and the others, Ye Zhou still has 220,000 yuan left from the crown. Adding the money from the clothes and shoes, he now has nearly 470,000 yuan on hand. Although he still can’t afford even the cheapest firearms, he is only 30,000 yuan away from his goal.

Ye Zhou takes a deep breath—he sees a glimmer of hope again!

Then he suddenly remembers Lin You’s belt. It looks really valuable! It might be worth more than the shoes.

Ye Zhou: “…”

Why didn’t he think to keep Lin You’s belt too?!

Rich people really are on another level—just one outfit and some accessories could add up to 700,000 or 800,000 yuan. Meanwhile, a refugee fleeing famine might not even be wearing 100 yuan worth of clothing.

Ye Zhou isn’t sure whether to feel sorry for himself for missing Lin You’s belt, or for the working class.

After watching the clothes and shoes disappear at the cash register, Ye Zhou returns to the break room. While sipping on instant coffee, he looks at the computer screen. It is time to restock the supermarket. The employees have consumed a lot during this period, and the supplies can be replenished through the trading system.

Just as Ye Zhou is about to click into the goods section, pixelated fireworks suddenly erupt in the middle of the screen. It reminds him of the old game consoles from his elementary school days—no high-definition screens, just simple pixels.

After the fireworks “burn” for five seconds, a line of yellow words appears:

“Congratulations, you have good credit and have obtained hiring privileges.”

Ye Zhou stares at the line in confusion. He has already hired employees, so what does it mean to obtain hiring privileges?

Once the words disappear, another employment section appears next to the original three columns. Without hesitation, Ye Zhou clicks into the new column to see what it holds.

As soon as he opens it, he can’t help but lean forward, holding his breath, his body nearly glued to the screen. The computer is finally behaving like a human!

Inside the [Hiring] tab are several subcategories, with numerous job types: Chef, Bodyguard, Security, Sales Assistant, and more. Each entry has a photo, and clicking on the photo reveals personal information about the candidate. Hiring is time-limited—10,000 yuan for one month, with a minimum hire period of one month. Most hires start at three months.

Ye Zhou gazes at the computer with a “kindly” expression and even reaches out to pat it like a dog’s head: “You finally grew a conscience.”

He needs to hire a bodyguard first! One with explosive strength, but he isn’t sure if they will bring their own weapons. After all, he is a poor man who can’t even afford a small pistol.