Plane Supermarket

The wind blew gently, along with the low grass. Iit was a warm breeze without a hint of coolness. 

Walking through the forest was a group of people wearing old and tattered clothes, each carrying a large bag on their back. They walked on the uneven terrain without a single complaint.

The man at the front was taller than the rest. He was carrying a small round disk . The immortal fairy said it was called a compass. 

While Wu Yan had heard of sundials before, he had never seen one. Besides, the sundials he had heard of were certainly not as small as this one. It was small enough to be held in one hand and had a “crystal cover” on the outside. How incredibly delicate and finely crafted is this?

“Let’s take a break. We’ll continue after noon,” Wu Yan said as he stopped under a tree.

The tall tree reached into the sky, and its complex branches and leaves blocked most of the sunlight. Only a few faint rays of light seeped through the gaps, casting mottled light and shadows on the ground.

The employees took their bags off and placed them next to the tree trunk, while they calmly drank water and ate in an orderly manner.

Eating cold food outdoors wasn’t the most appealing, but given the weather, no one was longing for hot meals.

“If we were still in the supermarket, we’d definitely be having cold dishes today,” someone said after unscrewing a bottle cap and taking a sip of water. They let out a long sigh of relief and continued, “Cold chicken salad noodles!”

Cold chicken salad noodles were indeed a treat. Now, Cao Er Niang is willing to use seasonings. There was salt and vinegar available, and for those who liked it spicy, there was a small spoonful of chili oil. Add a bit of sugar, and when paired with a bowl of slightly cooled white rice porridge, it was so delicious that it could make one swallow their tongue.

Not only was it delicious, but it was also easy to prepare. The supermarket never lacked meat, and there was no shortage of vegetables and fruits. Although they had daily rations, the employees never finished all the fruit they were allotted each day.

They always saved some for the next day. Only after receiving the fruit for the new day would they finish what was left from the previous day.

So everyone had accumulated a bit of extra food.

“These crispy dates are delicious!” one person said, his eyes filled with desire. “They’re not sour at all, so crisp and sweet, and there’s so much juice.”

Another person chimed in, “Pineapples are the best! After soaking them in saltwater, the core is crispy, the sides are soft, and it has a bit of sourness, just perfect!”

The topic they loved discussing the most during their journey was the food and fruits from the supermarket. 

Especially the fruits.

In the past, it was difficult to eat until they were full. All the fields were used to grow grains, and apart from the big landowners, who would dare to plant fruit trees?

Except for the wild fruits in the mountains and fields, they had never tasted proper fruits. Not to mention wild fruits were not often delicious. They were either bitter or sour. If they ever found sweet ones, it was a blessing from heaven.

Especially for them, wild birds often look out for ripe fruits. Many times, when they finally found these fruits, they were met with the leftovers of the wild birds, and only a few intact fruits remained.

“The immortal even told us to bring sugar,” one of the employees licked his lips. “I never dreamed of such a day.”

For farmers and even moderately well-off families, sugar was a luxury.

During gatherings and fairs, malt sugar was the most common, but its production required grains, the very grains that could fill one’s belly. Few people were willing to make sugar that could only be used for satisfying cravings.

Even if there were vendors selling it, for the average people, who were careful with their money, buying sugars isn’t a good deal. 

Not to mention brown sugar and honey. Only the wealthy could enjoy them.

To be able to eat sugar to one’s heart’s content seemed like an almost unattainable dream.

Even in the most extravagant dreams, there was never this much sugar.

Wu Yan chuckled, “Why are you all always thinking about eating?”

The employees gathered around, speaking all at once, “If we’re not thinking about eating, what else should we think about? My parents don’t need me to support them anymore. They’re working themselves, and the immortal is paying them a salary. It’s not like I can only think about eating.”

“In the future, if the immortal lord returns to the heavens, I can tell my descendants that their ancestors once ate sugar to their hearts’ content!”

“Do you think the immortal lord will return to the heavens?”

The employees fell silent all of a sudden.

Everything they had now relied on the immortal lord. If the immortal lord left, they would be back to where they started, with nothing, subject to being trampled on.

Seeing their downcast expressions, Wu Yan quickly reassured them, “The immortal lord is here to transcend the tribulation! He revealed to me that he needs to save tens of thousands of good people!”

Tens of thousands!

The employees looked at Wu Yan in astonishment. “How many is ‘tens of thousands?’”

“I can only count to a hundred!”

“I can count to a thousand. A thousand people would already be a densely packed crowd.”

Wu Yan didn’t actually know how many “tens of thousands” was, but that didn’t stop him from continuing, “Maybe we’ll all be gone, but the immortal lord will still be here!”

The employees felt relieved just because of these words.

“The immortal lord doesn’t age or die. Maybe my grandson will still be able to serve him!”

“Let’s do our best to serve the immortal lord. Even if he really leaves someday, we can still take care of ourselves.”

After eating and resting, the employees shouldered their bags and set off again. They had improved their health, and they were strong adult men in their prime. With flashlights in hand, they could continue walking even after dark.So, it only took them two days to reach the edge of the forest.

After two months, there were no more people at the edge of the forest. Those who remained were either on the run or dead, leaving behind rotting corpses.

The stench from these bodies was unbearable and was intensified by the heat. Wu Yan couldn’t help but cover his nose. After taking a deep breath, he said, “Let’s head south.”

They had become somewhat used to corpses during their escape, but now, looking at these badly decomposed remains, they felt a strange sense of pity for them. It was a feeling of sorrow for their own kind.

“If we have time when we come back, we should dig graves and bury them,” someone whispered.

Wu Yan waved his hand, “We’ll decide when the time comes.”

The group continued walking southward along the edge of the forest. 

Along the way, they encountered either dead bodies or skeletal remains. The bark had been stripped from the trees, and there was no sign of any wild vegetables. Occasionally, they saw pits near dried river beds—places where people had tried to dig for water.

They had been walking for over ten days. Just as  the night was approaching, they saw a glimmer of fire in the distance. Someone was ahead!

Wu Yan immediately led his group into the forest, using the cover of the trees to slowly approach the source of the fire.

There were quite a few of them, so to avoid being spotted, Wu Yan only allowed the two smallest and thinnest men to get closer. 

Li Si is the thinner one and Chen Liu the stronger one in these two men. They were among the poorest of the farmers. Their families couldn’t afford to educate them, and they couldn’t even afford a fortune teller to give them proper names. So, they ended up with rather unflattering names based on “dog eggs” and “cow dung.” As they grew older, they became less inclined to introduce themselves with such names and only used their rankings instead.

Li Si crouched behind a tree, and he quickly saw the figures around the campfire.

As soon as he saw them, his face turned pale, and all the blood in his face was drained.

He recognized these people!

They were bandits!

Even before the Great Drought, the northern regions were plagued by bandits, and their leaders were as numerous as fish in the river. 

Everytime they descended from the mountains or emerged from the forests, they would kill and burn everything in their path. The imperial court tried to suppress them several times, but every time they put down one group, several others would rise in its place again.

The common people were left with no choice but to offer their children, hoping that the bandit leaders would spare them. 

The men gathered around the campfire all carried long knives and wore yellow belts. They were the infamous Yellow Bandits!

Although Li Si never saw Yellow Bandits before, he had certainly heard their name. The Yellow Bandits were all fierce warriors in their prime. Simply mentioning their name could stop children from crying at night.

Rumors had it that these bandits can kill without blinking their eyes…

These were definitely not good people!

·

After the employees left, Ye Zhou had been restless, and he even forgot to inspect Lin You’s clothes. 

When he finally remembered, Cao Er Niang had already washed Lin You’s clothes twice. Fortunately, the clothes themselves didn’t have much dye, and the quality was decent, so they weren’t ruined.

Ye Zhou couldn’t scold Cao Er Niang either. She had good intentions. 

He went to the cash register to inspect the clothes after everyone fell asleep.

“These seem quite valuable.” Ye Zhou touched the fabric and realized that modern fabrics weren’t much better, possibly because of the materials used. This fabric felt soft to the touch but didn’t lose its shape too easily.

Ye Zhou checked the screen after scanning the clothes:

White Linen Robe x1

Income: 160, 200 yuan

Cloud-Soaring Shoes x1

Income: 84, 362 yuan

Ye Zhou couldn’t help but widen his eyes. He was stunned. 

These two items… were so valuable in this era?!

After converting the crown into money and purchasing self-defense equipment for Wu Yan and the others, he had around 220, 000 yuan left. Adding the money from the clothes and shoes, he now has nearly a total of 470, 000 yuan.

Although it was still not enough to afford even the cheapest firearms, he was only 30, 000 yuan away from the goal.

Ye Zhou took a deep breath. He saw the dawn of hope once again!

Ye Zhou suddenly remembered Lin You’s belt. The belt also seemed to be valuable! It should be worth more than the shoes.

Ye Zhou: “…”

Why couldn’t he have kept Lin You’s belt as well? 

Rich people were indeed different. Their clothing and accessories combined could be worth around seven to eight hundred thousand yuan. 

Meanwhile, refugees fleeing a disaster could barely fetch a hundred yuan for their entire outfit.

Ye Zhou didn’t know whether to mourn for himself for missing Lin You’s belt or for the working-class people, for their plight.

Watching the clothes and shoes disappear at the checkout counter, Ye Zhou returned to the rest area. He sipped instant coffee and looked at the computer screen. He was preparing to replenish the supermarket’s inventory.

After all, the supermarket’s employees had consumed quite a bit during this time.

These items could all be replenished from the trading system.

Just as Ye Zhou had opened the computer and was about to access the inventory section, pixelated fireworks suddenly burst on the screen.

It looked similar to the game console graphics he used to play in primary school, without a high-definition screen, relying solely on pixel points.

After the fireworks “displayed” for five seconds, a line of yellow text popped up:

“Congratulations, you have good credit and have obtained employment qualifications.”

Ye Zhou stared at this line of text in confusion. Didn’t he already hire employees a long time ago? What did they mean by obtaining employment qualifications?

After this line of text disappeared, a new employment section appeared next to the original three columns.

Without hesitation, Ye Zhou clicked into it to see what was inside this section.

As soon as he entered, Ye Zhou’s breath caught, and his body involuntarily leaned forward, almost pressing against the screen.

The computer has finally became a human!

In the employment section, there were several categories with numerous professions such as “chef,” “bodyguard,” “security,” “shopping guide,” and so on, all closely related to the supermarket.

In addition, clicking on the photos would bring up the individual information of the person.

Employment had a time limit. For example, hiring someone for 10,000 credits meant employing them for one month, with the minimum employment time being one month.

Most employment started at three months.

Ye Zhou looked at the computer with a “loving” gaze, and he even reached out to pat its “head,” “You finally realized your conscience.”

He needed to hire a bodyguard!

The kind with off-the-charts combat abilities, even though he didn’t know if they could bring their own weapons.

After all, he was a poor man who couldn’t even afford a small handgun.

Author’s note: The top will finally appear!

Among all the books I’ve written, this is the latest appearance of the top (although the top’s name appeared quite early in the story).