The Fake Daughter Want to Be Villainess - Chapter 13

“Of course we will.”

Jiang Shu stole a glance at the wrinkled bill, then leaned forward a bit, pinching one corner of the note before quickly pocketing it.

The small supermarket was located at the center of the village; it was a makeshift shed made of iron sheets with a small sign written by hand hanging outside.

The store didn’t look very big. Jiang Shu hesitated for a while at the entrance before stepping inside.

In contrast to the narrow storefront, the inside was densely packed with goods. Half of the room was filled with miscellaneous items that one might use at home, while the other half neatly displayed a shelf of snacks.

The shopkeeper was sitting at the entrance, resting his hand on a box covered with a quilt, and he was engrossed in watching short videos on his phone, clearly uninterested in interacting with customers.

This was Jiang Shu’s first time buying things from such a small store. She stood in front of the shelf for a moment, cautiously picked a few items that looked very inexpensive, and placed them on the box.

“How much is it?” she asked a bit anxiously.

The shopkeeper finally lifted his head. After shuffling through the items Jiang Shu had piled up, he replied, “Thirteen.”

Jiang Shu’s eyes widened.

“Is it really that cheap?!”

She turned to glance at Pei Wang, who was standing outside, and then tentatively picked up a pack of white drink, quietly asking, “How much is this?”

The shopkeeper shot her a glance and raised one finger, saying, “Ten yuan.”

Jiang Shu was quite stunned. She squeezed the bill in her hand, suddenly feeling like it was a huge sum. She returned to the shelf, searched a bit more, and aside from a few bags of decent-looking snacks, she also grabbed two packs of instant noodles and a bottle of mineral water.

Placing everything on the box, she asked, “What about now?”

The shopkeeper took a calculator from a nearby shelf and pressed the buttons vigorously. The calculator announced loudly in its mechanical voice, “Thirty-seven.”

He looked up at Jiang Shu.

Jiang Shu handed over the bill she had been holding tightly.

The shopkeeper returned the calculator to the shelf, took the money with one hand, stuffed it into a nearby iron can, then retrieved the change he needed and handed it to Jiang Shu along with a new plastic bag, saying, “Pack it yourself.”

Jiang Shu meticulously counted the change, then opened the bag and started to put the snacks in one by one.

As she was packing, she brushed against the quilt covering the box, feeling that the edge was slightly damp and cool. Curious, Jiang Shu asked, “Boss, what’s this?”

At last, the shopkeeper shifted his gaze from his phone.

He looked at her with a puzzled expression, saying, “It’s a freezer.”

The shopkeeper lifted his hand and pushed the quilt aside, opening the door of the freezer, revealing what was inside. “Do you want to buy popsicles?”

Besides a small portion of frozen food, the freezer was filled with popsicles. Jiang Shu glanced at the bright sun outside and felt a bit tempted.

Worried that she might not be able to afford it, she reached in and took the smallest one, quietly asking, “How much is this?”

“Little pudding,” the shopkeeper replied casually, “One yuan.”

Jiang Shu was astonished. She quickly grabbed two more popsicles from the freezer and handed the shopkeeper the extra three yuan. Then, carrying the bag in one hand and the popsicle in the other, she stepped outside.

The supermarket was too small for the cinematographer to enter, so he set up his camera and waited outside with Pei Wang.

Jiang Shu walked over to Pei Wang, first lifting the hand that held the bag and confidently calling out, “Pei Wang.”

Pei Wang looked down and reached out his hand toward her.

Then he saw Jiang Shu suddenly retract that hand, turn to the side, and bring out the other hand that had been hidden behind her back.A cold object was pressed into his palm.

It was a very small popsicle.

Pei Wang froze for a moment and instinctively looked up at Jiang Shu.

Jiang Shu had walked over to the Camera Brother, handing him another popsicle and quietly saying, “We won’t be moving for a little while, you can temporarily set your camera up here.”

She turned her head and asked Pei Wang, “Right, Pei Wang?”

Pei Wang nodded lightly.

So the three of them stood in front of the makeshift supermarket, under the blazing sun, enjoying the little pudding popsicle in their hands.

It was a strange feeling.

Jiang Shu cherished biting down on the last remaining stick, reluctantly tossing it along with the wrapper into the trash can at the entrance of the small supermarket.

Pei Wang and the Camera Brother had also finished theirs. She wiped her face and hands clean with a tissue, then looked at Pei Wang, “Shall we go find that Uncle?”

The fish had been sold, and they had the vegetables; those two tasks were completely done.

They walked back to the previous intersection.

The Uncle was still sitting by the roadside, probably trying to avoid the sun, as he had pulled his straw hat down low, completely unaware of anyone approaching.

Jiang Shu wanted to call out to him, but Pei Wang softly called her name, “Jiang Shu.”

He set the bags he was carrying down on the ground and pulled out a tomato from them.

Jiang Shu tilted her head to look at him.

Pei Wang lowered his gaze, “You wait for me here, okay?”

Jiang Shu didn’t understand what he was planning to do, and she looked at Pei Wang in confusion for a moment, “Are you going to secretly keep these vegetables?”

The task assigned by the Program Team had a loophole; although it required vegetables, there was no limitation on the quantity. So as long as the Uncle didn’t see, even one tomato would suffice to complete the task.

But what could they do with these vegetables and fish left over?

Jiang Shu sighed. She didn’t want to delve into it and nodded, “You go ahead.”

She watched as Pei Wang approached the Uncle. He didn’t give the Uncle any cash, but simply handed over the tomato along with two blue cards, and they exchanged a few quiet words. The Uncle then took a stamp out of his pocket and stamped it onto the card.

Pei Wang turned back, still holding the two stamped blue cards.

“I got the points.” Pei Wang tucked the cards away, bent down, and picked up the bags.Then he turned his head and handed something out to Jiang Shu: “It seems we’ve found a loophole in the Program Team’s rules.”

It was the ten yuan she had intentionally left when buying things.

Jiang Shu was momentarily stunned, and Pei Wang’s voice continued, “The Program Team must have set a trading point where those fish can only be sold for ten yuan, and ten yuan is only enough to buy a little bit of vegetables.”

However, they sold the fish to the fishmonger and got the vegetables for free from the old lady.

As middlemen, they made a net profit of fifty yuan.

“Illegal profits might be confiscated.” Pei Wang looked at her and asked, “Is there anything else you want to buy?”

Jiang Shu clutched the cash, somewhat dazed, and walked back to the small supermarket in front.

The owner was still leaning on the freezer, earnestly scrolling through a short video, and the loud music reverberated repeatedly in the small supermarket.

Jiang Shu glanced at him and was just about to enter when the owner suddenly dropped his phone and sat up straight: “Hey, it’s you again.”

He loudly complained, “I just know you’re here to walk around and not buy anything!”

Jiang Shu: “?”

No, she had bought something! Don’t slander her—

Suddenly, Jiang Shu realized this rehearsed line, this exaggerated and hypocritical act, was exactly the same as that Uncle.

She had triggered a task.

Author’s note:

Old lady: Yes, that’s right, I am the loophole.