Chapter 34: The Convenience Store

The two walked in side by side. The glass room was small, covering roughly twenty square meters.

It was entirely empty. Sunlight streamed through the glass, casting their overlapping shadows onto the floor.

Lu Li leaned toward Shen Bing and said, "Check your light-brain and see if that convenience store app is there."

Shen Bing opened his light-brain as instructed. Sure enough, a new app named "Lu Li's Convenience Store" had appeared on the main interface.

How utterly direct.

Shen Bing curled his lip, his finger twitching with a momentary urge to uninstall it. However, he clicked on it subconsciously. The light-brain screen was overtaken by a milky-white background, followed immediately by a rendering of the glass room.

Lu Li reached out, curious, and swiped the screen, discovering that she could rotate the view three hundred and sixty degrees without any blind spots. Along the side was a column of small icons: floor tiles, a front desk, shelves, and so on.

It was very much like the management games she used to play in the 21st century, where one could decorate the convenience store to their heart's content.

Shen Bing felt that shelves were the most essential item; one couldn't exactly leave the merchandise scattered messily on the floor, could they? He tapped the shelf icon, and a variety of styles popped up—two-tiered, three-tiered, single-sided, double-sided; everything imaginable.

Shen Bing was momentarily dazzled, until suddenly, a fair hand appeared on the light-brain screen, tapping a few times. She set the price range to the lowest possible, and then Lu Li said nonchalantly, "Pick."

After Lu Li's adjustment, the screen immediately became plain, even the colors turned monotonous. He took a look—items were between 10 and 100 points. Shen Bing clicked his tongue inwardly: Points? Could they be exchanged for crystal cores?

Lu Li, ever timely, held out a "Fortune Cat" (Zhaocai), a smile on her face as she urged, "Hurry up. No middlemen to take a cut here."

Shen Bing understood. He silently produced some crystal cores. Thinking about the future decorating needs, he fed over a dozen Level 1 crystal cores into the system before stopping. After feeding it, he subconsciously checked the point balance in the top right corner of "Lu Li's Convenience Store."

Very good. 650 points. If he was careful, it should be enough... right?

Feeling the pressure of the points, Shen Bing chose two mid-to-low-range four-tiered tin shelves. Since the inventory was small to start with, he wouldn't need many shelves, he reasoned, his gaze falling on the Fortune Cat.

He asked tentatively, "Where did you buy that?"

Lu Li lowered her head, and with a "whoosh," she placed an order, flashed her payment QR code, and said as a matter of course, "20 points each."

Before Shen Bing could speak, he saw her holding a Fortune Cat in each hand, both identical in style. He had to accept his fate, scan the code to pay, and then spitefully snatched the cat from her hand to hold it himself.

His somewhat naive, yet blank and feigned indifferent face contrasted sharply with the exaggerated, comical Fortune Cat clutched to his chest.

It looked completely jarring. Lu Li stepped back a few paces and used her light-brain to capture the scene.

"Click—" The sound of the light-brain camera was deafening, accompanied by a bright flash.

Shen Bing looked over, his eyes fixed on her. The scene fell into silence. Lu Li laughed it off, "I was photographing the glass."

Shen Bing curled his lip, turned slightly, and moved the newly purchased shelves out of the software. He stood about 1.83 meters tall, and the tin shelves reached his shoulders. With four tiers, they looked decent enough. He placed the two shelves back-to-back against the wall on the left side of the entrance.

Once the shelves were set, Shen Bing looked around to see what else was needed, only to catch a glimpse of Lu Li in the corner teasing the cat.

Boss Lu was never serious for a single day.

Shen Bing looked away, but her gentle profile remained in his mind; the faint smile on her lips while playing with the kitten was impossible to ignore.

"Boss Lu, when are we opening?" Shen Bing walked over and squatted beside her, making conversation.

Lu Li raised her hand, a light screen appeared before her, and after checking the calendar, she said casually, "Tomorrow, I suppose."

If it was tomorrow, why were you even checking the calendar? May I ask?

Shen Bing was a bit speechless, but given Boss Lu's usual authority, he didn't dare to question her, only nodding in agreement.

Lu Li had assumed he had finished decorating, but when she turned back, she saw only the two tin shelves. They stood isolated in the middle of the glass room; it was far too sparse.

She turned back to glare at him. "That's it? What have you been doing? Just two shelves? You intend to open like this?"

Shen Bing stated matter-of-factly, "It's enough."

She stood up, walked around the shelves twice, and then stood with her hands on her hips, surveying the room.

"There's no front desk; where do you intend to process payments? There's no freezer; in the middle of summer, don't you want a cold drink?" Lu Li asked, uncomprehending.

"Expensive," Shen Bing spat out the word.

Lu Li had nothing to say. It was a truly realistic problem. She patted Shen Bing on the shoulder earnestly and said, "Young man, this..."

She couldn't bring herself to lecture him, as she was just as penny-pinching herself.

She shifted the topic, "Well, we'll decorate properly once we have money. You hear me? Don't ruin my reputation as Lu Li."

Shen Bing nodded obediently and reached out his hand, "The goods."

Lu Li had a sudden realization. She turned her back to open the light-brain, scrolled to the near-expiry product category, and then turned back. "Choose from here."

Shen Bing leaned in, moving close to the light screen. For a moment, they were quite near each other. She reached out and swiped the screen, pushing it toward him to make it easier to see.

The near-expiry products were mostly food and daily necessities, but all were items with long shelf lives, such as bread, biscuits, ham, and pre-made meal packs—nothing like fast food that needed to be cooked and eaten immediately.

As Shen Bing browsed, he clicked his tongue in disbelief. It was too cheap. If calculated at one crystal core to fifty points, the sack of crystal cores in his storage space could probably buy enough here to last for years.

At this thought, Shen Bing suddenly said with gravity, "Boss Lu, don't let anyone else see this page. Otherwise, it might invite lethal trouble."

He then recalled Boss Lu's miraculous abilities; if she wanted, he figured no one could even get near her. Shen Bing looked down at her slender arms, which were within reach. If he wanted to, he could freeze her into an ice sculpture without a sound.

The thought flashed through his mind, and Shen Bing was startled by himself. How could he have such despicable thoughts about Boss Lu?

Lu Li reached out and patted the back of his head. Because of the height difference, she had to stand on tiptoe. With an air of impatience, much like she would have with a younger brother, she scolded, "Hurry up and look."

Shen Bing snapped out of it, rubbed the back of his head, curled his lip, and resignedly went back to looking at the light screen.

He selected several items that were relatively scarce in the apocalypse: mineral water, biscuits, bread, ham sausages, crispy noodles, and instant noodles...

They were all durable, popular items in the apocalypse that could be eaten immediately when hungry. If one were out on a mission in the wilderness, having a bowl of hot instant noodles after a long day would be nothing short of divine.

Shen Bing didn't buy too much at once, fearing they wouldn't sell. He bought thirty bottles of mineral water and twenty of everything else.

Lu Li leaned in to look at his selections. They were reasonable, and the prices were moderate.