Ch 11: My Multiverse Supermarket

News of Zhou Li’s upcoming departure quickly spread among the refugees.

At first, their concern was that they still had unused balances on their membership cards. But soon, that anxiety turned into fear of a looming shortage of supplies.

The three new distributors, who had just spent large sums to secure dealership rights, grew even more nervous. They surrounded Zhao Changyan, pressing her for details.

Only when Zhao Changyan said, “There’s no need to worry. The Little Boss has merely gone into seclusion so that she may bring blessings to more people across the land,” did they fall silent.

“Is that true?” someone asked suspiciously.

Zhao Changyan frowned. “How dare you doubt the divine lady? Before you suspect her of running off with your money, think first of all the food, clothing, and tools you’ve received these past days. Search your hearts—have you truly lost anything?”

She deliberately switched her way of addressing Zhou Li—calling her “the divine lady” instead of “the Little Boss”—to further emphasize her sacred status.

The refugees were speechless.

They knew perfectly well the real worth of the items they had traded away.

Take Xian Sanniang’s lacquer box for example—sold elsewhere, it might have fetched a few hundred coins at most. That amount could buy only one dou of rice in this chaotic era.

But in Zhou Li’s supermarket, a dou of rice cost only thirty-six coins.

Every household had managed to store at least one shi of rice.

Not to mention the precious oil, salt, and sugar—things they’d never had such steady access to before.

Since the supermarket appeared, they’d been eating better and feeling stronger.

When clearing land and building shelters, their efficiency had improved dramatically.

Beyond physical change, the supermarket had given them something even rarer—hope.

Their lives now had direction again.

Yet that hope came with growing dependence.

Xian Sanniang sighed. “Please forgive everyone, Qiniang. We’ve suffered through too many bitter years. When a divine lady suddenly appears and then disappears again, it’s natural for people to feel uneasy.”

Zhao Changyan understood her feelings.

When she’d first heard Zhou Li speak of leaving, she too had felt that same nervous, reluctant fear.

Even though Zhou Li had warned her from the beginning that she would eventually have to go, Zhao Changyan hadn’t yet realized what the supermarket’s presence truly meant to these people.

She said, “The divine lady has already said she will depart tomorrow, but only temporarily. So, she will lift the purchase limits today. She also promised that if anyone truly fears she won’t return, they may request a refund of their remaining balance.”

Zhou Li, anticipating that some might attempt to withdraw funds, had used her own savings to exchange for some of their coins—at a fixed rate of one coin for three yuan—and had Zhao Changyan handle the process.

Since the refugees had no outside trade, their coins circulated only among themselves.

Zhao Changyan thus easily collected several thousand coins—some copper, some lead.

Lead coins were called “big coins,” each worth ten copper coins.

But to Zhou Li, whether lead or copper, each was worth only three yuan.

Naturally, most refugees had no intention of canceling their cards.

How could a single coin in their hands ever buy as much as a yuan could in the supermarket?

Still, one clever fellow thought, If I refund my balance and then later exchange my coins again at three yuan each, wouldn’t my money triple?

But Zhou Li had already foreseen that trick.

After all, in the modern world there was a similar scheme—illegal foreign exchange trading—profiting from rate gaps between multiple currencies.

So she had Zhao Changyan relay a new rule: “Anyone who cancels a card may not reapply for another membership or trade items for money within one year.”

That was practically the same as being banned from the supermarket altogether.

The schemers immediately abandoned their plans.

The divine lady, it seemed, could read their very thoughts!

Their awe of Zhou Li grew even deeper.

*

Fearing Zhou Li might be gone for a long time, the refugees rushed to the supermarket before her departure, making massive purchases while the limits were lifted.

By the end of the day, most shelves were empty.

Only the least practical or least desirable items remained.

That night, as Zhou Li went over the remaining inventory, she said, “The drinks aren’t selling well—probably because of the price. A single bottle of soda costs as much as a jin of rice. For these people, that’s a luxury item. I’ll order less next time.”

Ice cream wasn’t selling either.

The children loved it, of course, but only a few parents were willing to spend several coins on something that melted after a few licks.

Stationery had barely sold at all, since most refugees couldn’t read or write.

Then Zhou Li heard Zhao Changyan’s voice from outside.

“Little Boss.”

Zhou Li turned to see Zhao Changyan standing at the doorway, bowing formally.

Zhou Li blinked in confusion.

Before she could speak, Zhao Changyan’s figure faded into the night.

Zhou Li tilted her head, puzzled, then shut the door and whispered excitedly to the system, “System, gogogo!”

At the peak of Qitian Ridge, a burst of white light flashed. The dense fog churned and scattered.

The next morning, when the refugees climbed up the mountain to check if Zhou Li had truly left, they found the mountaintop empty—no trace of the supermarket remained.

If not for the marks pressed into the ground where it had once stood, they might have believed the whole thing had been a dream.

*

China, New Union Village, Changtian Town, M City.

The moment she returned to her own world, Zhou Li flung open the door and ran outside.

She saw the familiar road, the crosswalk lights counting down, and the elevated railway not far away…

Everything looked just as it had before.

Then the rich aroma of snail noodles drifted over from next door.

Zhou Li ran toward it and saw Aunt Mu, the owner of the shop, sweeping the floor.

“Aunt Mu, you’re closing this early?” she asked, beaming.

Mu Kun looked up and said, “Yeah—if I don’t close now, won’t I be disturbing the neighbors?”

Zhou Li muttered inwardly, Oh, so you do know what ‘disturbing the neighbors’ means?

She still couldn’t understand why anyone would open a snail noodle shop right at the entrance of the village.

Sure, Mu Kun ran it out of her own self-built house—but couldn’t she have chosen to sell anything else?

In the village group chat, Mu Kun had been complained about countless times because of the stench of snail noodles.

And of all the residents, the one who suffered most was the Zhou family’s little supermarket next door.

Zhou Hao and Mu Kun had argued about it many times.

During durian season, Zhou Hao would even pile up durians at the entrance of the supermarket just to “return the favor” to Mu Kun, who hated the smell, turning it into a full-blown olfactory war.

Mu Kun squinted at Zhou Li. “Were you just cursing me in your head?”

Zhou Li’s face stayed perfectly calm. “Of course not.”

Mu Kun said, “When Zhou Hao curses me silently, she wears the exact same face you have right now.”

Zhou Li: “…”

She forced a dry laugh. “It’s getting late, Aunt Mu. You should rest early.”

And before Mu Kun could say another word, Zhou Li slipped back into the supermarket and shut the door.

She wasn’t worried about anyone discovering that she and her supermarket had traveled through worlds.

Because no matter how long she stayed in another realm, time in her own world was completely frozen.

Naturally, her own body’s time was frozen too.

So there would be no case of “spending fifty years in another world and returning as an old woman.”

That was one of the perks of being bound to the system—she could gain decades of experience and knowledge within just a few years of her real-world time.

*

It was only 10:05 p.m., and Zhou Li wasn’t the least bit sleepy.

She called her mother, Zhou Hao.

The call connected, and as soon as Zhou Li said, “Mom,” Zhou Hao launched into a tirade.

“Zhou Xiaoli! Did you flood the whole mountain fighting the River Spirit? Why is the water bill so high this month? And the electricity bill—”

Zhou Li: “…”

She thought of all the refugees who had used the supermarket bathroom to wash off mountain leeches.

Surely they couldn’t have run up the bill that badly… right?

The system spoke up. “Oh, I forgot to mention—maintaining the supermarket’s utilities across dimensions comes at a cost. During interplane operations, your water and electricity bills are tripled.”

Zhou Li was stunned. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner!?”

The system countered, “If I told you, would you have stopped using water and electricity?”

Zhou Li replied, “No—but I would’ve charged the refugees for it.”

System: “…”

You really can’t take a single loss, can you?

To avoid more nagging, Zhou Li quickly changed the subject. “Mom! I got over thirty people to sign up for memberships at the supermarket!”

Zhou Hao paused. “Memberships? What kind of memberships?”

“Oh—you know how you said we should expand operations and learn from big chain stores? So I created our own membership card system for the supermarket.”

Zhou Hao: “…”

She asked cautiously, “You didn’t trick the eighty-year-old villagers into signing up by giving them free eggs, did you?”

Zhou Li: “Mom, I’m literally preparing for the civil service exam. You think I’d ruin my future like that?”

Zhou Hao made a sharp “tsk” but didn’t press further about where those thirty members came from.

“Are you getting the hang of managing things at the store?”

Zhou Li said, “Why don’t you check the reports? Oh—and could you also contact the suppliers? We need restocking. I’ll send you the new purchase list in a minute.”

Zhou Hao mumbled agreement and hung up.

Zhou Li sent over the list.

Not long after, her mother called back.

“Ten tons of rice? Are you sure you didn’t write the wrong unit? Tons, not bags?”

“Yup—ten tons,” Zhou Li confirmed.

Zhou Hao was silent for a moment. “…Our goal is to become a big supermarket, not pretend we already are. You don’t need to take such a big leap all at once.”

“Mom, just check the revenue,” Zhou Li said calmly.

Zhou Hao hung up again. A few minutes later, she texted on WeChat: Understood. I’ll make the arrangements.

And that was that—no more questions.

Zhou Li sighed in relief.

Good thing her mother didn’t ask why the supermarket’s revenue numbers looked so… unnatural.

But a new problem quickly arose.

Even if her mom helped with restocking, the warehouse space was limited. Ten tons of rice would fill it to bursting.

After thinking all night, Zhou Li decided to redesign the store layout.

Originally, the supermarket had a 120-square-meter retail area and a 60-square-meter warehouse built illegally from movable prefab panels.

She planned to cut the display area down to 60 square meters, turning the remaining 120 square meters—and part of the second floor—into storage.

Zhou Li called her mother to discuss it.

Zhou Hao said, “Do whatever you think is best. Oh, and I’ve sent you the supplier contacts and purchase prices. I’ve handled this batch for you, but you can’t rely on me for everything. You’ll need to start contacting them yourself next time.”

Zhou Li rubbed her temples.

Did her mom forget that this wasn’t her supermarket anymore? What a hands-off boss!

☢️☢️☢️