Dimensional Supermarket - Chapter 49

If the supermarket is operating under normal conditions, it should have between thirty and sixty employees—even during non-peak hours.

When things get busy, they will need at least another ten to twenty temporary workers.

Ye Zhou doesn’t expect business to be this good. The supermarket is packed with shoulder-to-shoulder crowds. Even if he splits the original thirteen staff in half and makes each one do the work of two people, that’s still only twenty-six—it still isn’t enough.

Among those thirteen are also the elderly and children—he has ultimately failed to turn the children away.

Originally, Ye Zhou wants to wait longer, thinking that once the rush is over, business will slow down, and the existing staff can handle it.

But after seeing the employees and their families lying exhausted on the ground after the supermarket closes, he decides to recruit temporary workers before opening the next day.

The staff are exhausted, and Ye Zhou himself isn’t in much better shape. He can only sit and watch the security footage for a short while before heading out to swap shifts with Sarah and the others, constantly scanning items and explaining things to customers—so tired that even breathing makes his chest hurt.

Despite all this, when the supermarket closes, there is still a long line outside, and there is another tough day to face tomorrow.

So when he sees Chen Gang volunteering at the back door before dawn, after the supermarket has closed, Ye Zhou still has an idea.

Chen Gang has never been a soldier and doesn’t have that kind of military temperament. Zou Ming has also noticed that he doesn’t have calluses on his hands or shoulders, and he often carries photos of his family.

According to Chen Gang, he has been married for a long time, and both his parents and his wife’s parents are at the Luoyang Base. His wife and two children live at the Changfeng Base, and the couple has been separated for a long time.

Changfeng Base is an industrial base that produces 30% of the country’s industrial products. Only workers can live there, and each worker can bring only two family members. After discussing it, the couple decides that since their daughter is still young, it isn’t good to leave her mother behind.

So, Chen Gang, who can’t become a worker, brings the elderly to Luoyang, which is easier to settle in. The youngest of the four elderly people is over 60 years old, and in this “new world” where the average life expectancy is less than 50, they are considered old. Even if they work as temporary workers, no one wants them.

Chen Gang’s wife is struggling with two children and needs him to send food and tickets from time to time. But Chen Gang’s salary isn’t high, and he is still a temporary worker, so he has built good relationships with people in his team and started a logistics business.

The authorities have turned a blind eye to this—they can’t really cut off people’s livelihoods.

For small matters, they are willing to turn a blind eye.

But now, everyone is tightening their belts to survive, and no one can send anything to relatives or friends anymore.

Chen Gang’s life isn’t particularly bad. When business is good, he saves more corn cakes; when business is bad, he saves less. He has traded all the corn cakes he has stored at home for rice and bacon. After sending some to a few regular customers, he keeps the rest at home and sends it to his wife. So now, Chen Gang is completely broke, supporting the lives of four elderly people.

Although Ye Zhou isn’t sure how much of what Chen Gang says is true or false, or how much is exaggerated, his supermarket is indeed short on staff. And if he wants to recruit people, he can only recruit from the base. And since he can only hire from within the base, even if he manages to screen out one bad apple, he can’t screen them all.

After thinking for a moment, Ye Zhou says to Chen Gang: “I don’t recruit permanent employees, only temporary workers. The salary will be in the form of materials. Each month, you’ll earn points that can be exchanged for goods—you can pick what you want. If I ever catch you stealing, or doing anything shady, no matter what excuse you give, you’re out. Immediately.” Ye Zhou looks into Chen Gang’s eyes. “Do you understand?”

Chen Gang opens his mouth in shock, looking at Ye Zhou in disbelief as though what he is hearing is an illusion.

Ye Zhou adds, “If you agree, you can start working now.”

Chen Gang, afraid Ye Zhou might change his mind, shouts loudly: “I agree! I agree!”

Ye Zhou continues: “The supermarket is short on staff right now, but not everyone will be hired, and don’t even think about bringing all your relatives in. It just so happens the store isn’t open yet. I want you to go into the base and find a few people.” “Actually, since we’re not open yet, I want you to go into the base and find a few people.” Ye Zhou doesn’t want nepotism creeping into his supermarket either.

He doesn’t know much about Feng Ling and the others—just their names.

“If you can’t find them, that’s fine too,” Ye Zhou says. “We open at seven. Make sure you’re back before then. Do you have a watch?”

Chen Gang shakes his head. “Watches are in short supply. I bought one before to trade for corn cakes.”

Ye Zhou says to Zou Ming: “Get him an electronic watch.”

Plastic electronic watches are cheap, sold in large quantities, and there are plenty of them in the supermarket. Few customers come to exchange them.

“By the way, the supermarket provides food but not accommodation,” Ye Zhou adds. Recently, working hours are long and the workload is heavy, so there will be subsidies, but once things stabilize and customer flow decreases, salaries will stabilize too.”

Chen Gang has no objections. He is overwhelmed with gratitude. At that moment, if Ye Zhou had said the sun was square, he would’ve cast aside everything he knew and wholeheartedly believed it.

After everyone leaves, Ye Zhou leans back on the sofa, eyes heavy with sleep, and weakly asks Zou Ming: “Are you sleepy? I’m so sleepy.”

The supermarket closed at 10 o’clock the previous night, but that doesn’t mean their work is finished. Restocking relies entirely on manpower. Men, women, old and young in the store are mobilized. It isn’t until 2 o’clock in the morning that all the goods are restocked.

Ye Zhou doesn’t even calculate the turnover before taking a shower and going to bed. Because of Chen Gang in the morning, he has gotten up before six o’clock.

All in all, he has slept for less than four hours. He has just forced himself to talk to Chen Gang, and now that he is gone, Ye Zhou’s eyelids begin to feel heavy.

Zou Ming sighs. “Go sleep in the bed. You hired a temp today, so you can rest properly. I’ll take care of everything.”

Ye Zhou mumbles with his eyes closed, “I’d feel bad.”

Zou Ming is silent for a moment. “It’s fine. Back then—”

Ye Zhou yawns and doesn’t hear Zou Ming’s words clearly. “What did you say? I didn’t hear.”

Zou Ming shakes his head. “I said, if you keep holding on like this, you won’t be able to work tomorrow. Go rest.”

Ye Zhou looks puzzled. “You said that much just now?”

Zou Ming doesn’t say anything else. He watches as Ye Zhou takes off his clothes and crawls into bed to sleep. Only after making sure Ye Zhou is asleep does he leave the break room.

The other staff are also up, working while yawning. They have stayed up too late restocking and only just have the energy to start cleaning now.

Fortunately, most customers stay in just one or two areas. Otherwise, cleaning alone would have worn them out.

“Brother Zou!” Wu Yan, with huge dark circles under his eyes, runs over to Zou Ming. Panting, he asks, “Is the Immortal resting?”

When there are no outsiders around, they are still reluctant to call Ye Zhou the boss.

Zou Ming answers, “He’s tired.”

Everyone in the store now believes that although Ye Zhou is an immortal, he has descended to the mortal realm to undergo trials, so he is in a human body—meaning he can get tired, thirsty, hungry, and even die. Of course, when an immortal “dies,” they return to heaven—it’s not the same as a mortal death.

So they’ve become much more considerate of him.

Zou Ming walks around the supermarket, making sure everything is ready before heading to the door.

Outside the glass door is a long line of base residents, each carrying bags of various sizes, and some even bring suitcases. They stand outside the supermarket, surrounded by their belongings, while some are setting up tents.

They turn a blind eye to the zombies wandering outside the barbed wire.

Countless eyes stare at the supermarket door, ready to rush in when it opens.

Zou Ming thinks about the base he has come from, which is completely different from this one.

Here, there is still a human society with rules and laws. People haven’t yet been pushed to the brink of despair.

Although their lives are mechanical and hopeless, they haven’t fallen into a deeper despair. At least now, they don’t need to sell their children or themselves.

As long as the country still exists, their safety and dignity are guaranteed.

But once the population declines sharply to the point where production can no longer be sustained, and the country collapses, human dignity will become meaningless. People will sell themselves, and survival will override morality.

Resources will always be controlled by those at the top of the pyramid.

The people at the bottom will fight for whatever little the upper class has.

Zou Ming looks at the eager eyes of the residents in line.

He probably has those same eyes at some point—eyes filled with the desperate hope of escaping trouble, of finding the stable life the supermarket represents, of longing for the warmth of the lights and the person running the store.

Chen Gang walks along the road to the base, feeling a bit dazed, as though he isn’t stepping on solid ground but instead walking on clouds.

He is so dizzy that he keeps asking everyone who Feng Ling is and where he can find her.

Although he only knows the name, he is determined to find her. This is his first task given to him by his boss, and he has to complete it!

“There are too many people named Feng Ling. I know three. Which one are you looking for?” Finally, someone answers his question.

Chen Gang immediately perks up, a smile forming on his face as he asks eagerly, “She’s not yet fifteen, and her complexion doesn’t look good.”

The person who answers shakes their head. “The three I know are all adults.”

Chen Gang doesn’t give up. After thanking the person, he continues on his way.

He casts a wide net, searching street by street, and finally arrives near the public service center.

“Oh, Feng Ling!” An enthusiastic uncle points at the service center and says, “She’s inside. That child has had a rough life. Who are you to her? A relative?”

Chen Gang shakes his head. “Someone asked me to find her.”

The uncle eyes him warily. “You better not have bad intentions. This base isn’t big, and if something happens, you won’t be able to run.”

Chen Gang smiles wryly. “Don’t worry, sir. I’m heading there right now!”

He runs into the service center and quickly finds Feng Ling, who is eating.

The public service center provides for a group of elderly, sick, and disabled people. They have no income, and sometimes they do some voluntary labor, but due to their physical conditions, they are mostly dependent on a minimum living allowance.

They get two corn cakes a day, nothing more.

However, the government doesn’t just give them corn cakes. Occasionally, they send pickles, pickled mustard, potatoes, and sweet potatoes.

The people here are all somewhat malnourished, though to varying degrees.

Feng Ling has taken all the rice she bought and, with the teacher from the center who had stood in line the day before, exchanged all their cornbread reserves for rice, preserved meat, and sausages. Now, everyone gathers around, inhaling the fragrant smell of rice, their mouths watering.

Even Chen Gang can’t help but swallow his saliva at the aroma.

There are so many elderly people at home, and he can’t bear to eat the rice himself. He’s bought it, but hasn’t had a chance to eat it yet.

He has swallowed so many times that his tongue is sore.

He can’t help wondering—if the supermarket provides meals, what would he get for lunch?

He doesn’t dare hope for anything fancy. Could he at least get a slice of bacon?

It would be perfect if it’s all fatty meat, dripping with grease, the smell of fat filling his mouth. The kind that fills your mouth with flavor. He could die happy in that taste.