Dimensional Supermarket - Chapter 45

“Are there any customers?” Ye Zhou has just gotten out of the car and stops in front of the store. He is wearing a neat suit—not tailored, so it hangs a bit loosely on him. But instead of looking like a child in adult clothes, he gives off the impression of a rebellious young master who refuses to play by the rules.

Zhou Wen, who is waiting at the door, immediately greets him. “More than a dozen people, all young, no more than fifteen.”

Ye Zhou frowns slightly but soon relaxes. “Got it, get busy.”

He originally thinks that Yang Guoqin will try to hide the existence of the supermarket, but after thinking it over, he realizes that the base is here, and the soldiers have already seen the supermarket. If Yang Guoqin wants to hide it, he can only do so from other bases. It is a fool’s dream to hide it from the people here at the base. Yang Guoqin can’t stop the locals from coming.

Ye Zhou has just negotiated a big deal with Yang Guoqin. Yang Guoqin has gritted his teeth and assured him he will definitely buy the photon cannon, but it will take time to raise the money. As for the bullets, someone will come to transport them in the afternoon.

Sarah also gets out of the car. Yang Guoqin has prepared a vehicle for them and even provided a driver.

Usually, this car is parked outside the supermarket. In case of a zombie tide, Ye Zhou and his friends can use it to leave.

Though the car isn’t necessary for Ye Zhou, it is a token of Yang Guoqin’s sincerity. After refusing twice, he has finally accepted it.

Dealing with Yang Guoqin isn’t tiring or annoying. After all, it is a seller’s market now, and buyers have no leverage to bargain.

“What do they use to pay?” Ye Zhou asks as he walks to the temporary disinfection table at the entrance of the supermarket.

Zhou Wen replies, “Corn cakes. Brother Wu told them that one corn cake is worth fifty.”

Ye Zhou nods. Smiling, he says, “Looks like Yang Guoqin thought of that too.”

Zhou Wen can’t hear the smile in his voice, so he just lowers his head and says nothing.

Since Yang Guoqin is the highest commander of the base, although he is a general, it doesn’t mean he lacks education. On the contrary, when he learns that the prices in Ye Zhou’s supermarket will remain unchanged, he immediately considers the base’s own currency.

Ye Zhou is here to do business, not charity. If he really intends to give out charity in such a large base, he’ll be out of business in less than a month. Since the supermarket’s prices remain fixed, the only thing that will change will be the value of the local currency.

The corn cake might be worth fifty now, but its value could fluctuate in the future.

Yang Guoqin has specifically asked, “Is the value of the corn cake specific to our base, or is it standard across other bases too?”

Even Ye Zhou hasn’t thought that far ahead.

After some discussion, the two conclude that if Luoyang Base is the only one doing business with the supermarket, then the value of the corn cake might drop, but not by much—it will stabilize over time. But if other bases also begin trading with Ye Zhou, then the corn cake will depreciate faster and more severely—possibly becoming cheaper than the supermarket’s packaged cornmeal.

In other words, if only Luoyang Base is “fleecing” the supermarket, it can go on for a long time, because the prices from other bases will help balance things out. Even if a corn cake eventually isn’t worth fifty, it won’t drop to twenty.

If at Luoyang Base the value drops to just one coin per cake, but in other places it is still worth fifty, then the supermarket’s exchange system will calculate an average based on population sizes across all bases.

The supermarket calculates the average value across the entire plane, not just one base’s currency.

Yang Guoqin is now trying to raise funds to “fleece” the supermarket while he can.

Ye Zhou, on the other hand, doesn’t care about the fleecing—it is the system being fleeced, not him. He isn’t losing anything.

But in the end, both he and Yang Guoqin agree that rather than relying on an unstable commodity like corn cakes, a stable currency is far more important.

Luoyang Base does have paper money—most people just don’t want to use it. With resources scarce, cash can’t buy much.

But now that they have Longsheng Supermarket, maybe paper currency can be reinstated as actual money.

The zombie tide has just receded yesterday, and today, people are already arriving.

These are people who aren’t afraid to die.

Sarah turns to Ye Zhou. “Didn’t Yang Guoqin say that those who cleaned the battlefield were over fifteen? Why are children under fifteen here now?”

Zhou Wen whispers, “They probably found a way to slip past the officers.”

The group of children wears masks and is bundled up, even in the heat. Though they do need to be fully armed to clean the battlefield, they are dressed excessively.

To the recruits, they might look like they are afraid of dying, but to Zhou Wen and others who have escaped famine, it is obvious they are hiding something.

Sarah looks at Ye Zhou. “Should we tell Yang Guoqin?”

Ye Zhou hesitates for a moment. “Let’s wait until they finish shopping.”

Children under fifteen are precious to the base. They will become the future workforce, both in battle and production. Losing a child would be a huge blow to the base.

Ye Zhou adds, “After all, it’s the supermarket’s first order here. Give them a 20% discount when they check out.”

If life weren’t so difficult, why would a child of this age risk their life and hide their identity just to clean the battlefield?

Ye Zhou sighs. “Life isn’t easy here.”

Sarah replies, “Life isn’t easy anywhere, boss.”

She doesn’t think the people here are pitiable, nor had she considered the people of the Daliang Dynasty to be pitiful before. In her eyes, every place is the same. Where there are the rich, there will be the poor. Where someone rides in a sedan chair, someone else is carrying it.

If we start ranking who’s the most pitiful, there’s always someone even more pitiful. And people don’t have endless sympathy to spare.

Only the boss—who hasn’t yet visited enough worlds—still has the extra compassion to give.

Once he sees more, he’ll realize one person alone can’t change a thing.

Feng Yao, holding a bag of sugar and a large bulk bag of chocolate, seems to be walking on air. Although she has hypoglycemia, she hasn’t eaten sugar for a long time. The sugar factory has closed early, and all labor and equipment have been directed to ammunition and necessities.

If they want candy, they can only buy it with tickets.

“Corn cakes can actually be exchanged for corn flour?” Someone exclaims in disbelief. “Then let’s buy corn flour, make cakes, and trade for other goods, right?”

The question is directed at the store assistant.

Cao’er, wearing her red and white uniform, smiles politely. She doesn’t know the answer and says, “Please wait a moment, I’ll ask the boss.”

Cao’er thinks it will be impossible. If this continues, wouldn’t it turn into a loss-making business?

But when she reaches the break room, Ye Zhou says, “Sure, let them do it.”

Cao’er’s eyes go wide. She blurts, “But Immortal! If we let them do that, we’ll—”

Ye Zhou waves her off. “It’s fine. No matter what they do, I won’t lose money. Let them be.”

The system doesn’t pay him a salary; as long as he is earning, whether the system does or not isn’t his concern.

So, Cao’er can only return with a shocked expression and tell the boy, “The boss said yes.”

“Lingling, should we exchange for rice or corn flour?”

“The corn flour here is more expensive than rice!”

Ye Zhou’s supermarket doesn’t sell loose cornmeal—only packaged, name-brand ones. Naturally, the price is higher than for bulk rice.

Feng Ling’s eyes light up as she scans the shelves. They are like little mice who have fallen into a rice warehouse, wanting to take everything.

Feng Ling calculates she can still buy over ten yuan worth of items.

“Let’s get the cornmeal too. We’ll tally up the cost,” Feng Ling says excitedly. “Let’s scrape together the rest and stock up on rice.”

She then hesitates as she looks at the bag of mints in her arms, grits her teeth, and places the mints back on the shelf. She keeps the bag of chocolates though—she doesn’t dare to buy the packaged ones, only the bulk ones.

There are football-shaped chocolates and gold coin chocolates, all at very low prices.

“I want to buy a bottle of Coke,” the youngest girl says, standing before the beverage cabinet. She points to the large Coke barrels. Two big barrels together cost seven yuan.

Feng Ling’s voice is hoarse. “Buy it!”

“I’ll carry it for you.”

“Should we buy more masks?”

The masks are also in limited supply. If they run out, they won’t be able to leave the base to work part-time.

Some people didn’t want to freelance. Others couldn’t.

“Buy, buy, buy!”

“Right! We go out, make some money, and then come back to the supermarket to shop!”

“Then it’s better to make corn cakes at home.”

Feng Ling looks at the smiles on her companions’ faces, feeling a bit dazed. How long has it been since she’s seen such smiles?

In her memory, her companions rarely smile, and they haven’t had the energy to laugh. They just go through each day numbly. Even if they want a better life, they don’t know how to pursue it.

No matter what they do, they can’t change their situation.

The best outcome for them is to survive to age fifteen, join the battlefield, and die there.

There is no hope, no expectation for the future.

The boy, holding a bunch of cheap goods in his arms, has forgotten to push the cart or use a basket. He eagerly picks up fallen items, but more keep falling.

Wu Qi, Wu Yan’s wife, can’t stand it anymore. She hands him a basket with a smile. “Here, take a basket.”

The boy takes it, embarrassed. Perhaps Wu Qi seems friendly, so he whispers, “How much do you guys get paid here? Do you get room and board?”

To him, Wu Qi and the others don’t look like soldiers.

Wu Qi is taken aback. No one has asked her this before, but instead of giving a full answer, she simply says, “We’re paid well, and meals and lodging are included.”

The boy swallows hard.

He turns to look at the shelves full of goods and unconsciously swallows again.

And finally, he says what he’s been thinking.

“Is the supermarket… still hiring?”

Before anyone can reply, he quickly adds, “I’m okay with lower wages! As long as food and shelter are included! I can do anything! Dirty work, hard work—whatever you need!”

Wu Qi: “…”

She thought he was a customer—turns out, he is here to compete for her job.