Ch 12: My Multiverse Supermarket

With her mother finally giving her full authority, Zhou Li immediately began reorganizing the supermarket’s layout.

She reduced the number of shelves and grouped similar products of different brands together to save space.

Price tags were placed side by side; even if customers didn’t read them carefully, the register would still display the correct prices at checkout.

She then added two new sections: a fresh produce area and an outdoor goods section.

The inspiration for the outdoor goods came from the refugees’ survival needs.

She thought, If people had tents, who would still want to sleep under the open sky?

Even if the refugees couldn’t afford them, there would always be a market for such items in other worlds.

However, most outdoor gear manufacturers only partnered with specialty stores or large supermarkets.

Her little shop was far too small, and it was doubtful any factory would bother supplying her directly.

So she created an account on a wholesale platform and decided to source from there instead.

A two-door, two-window tent with a moisture-proof mat that could fit 2–4 people cost about 100 yuan wholesale, with a one-unit minimum order.

On retail platforms, the same tent went for at least 180 yuan.
In physical stores, the price would easily reach 200–300 yuan.

After some negotiation with the supplier, Zhou Li secured 30 small tents at 93 yuan each and 20 six-person tents at 128 yuan each.

Along with tents and mats, she also ordered portable stoves and kettles—essential camping gear.

Although her supermarket already sold electric kettles, she knew stainless steel ones would be more practical in places without electricity.

Since some refugees had brought ceramic pots for boiling water and were used to making outdoor fires, Zhou Li didn’t stock too many stoves or kettles.

Instead, she ordered 500 thermos bottles.

Whether made of 304 or 316 stainless steel, the 500ml flasks cost only 15 yuan each wholesale.

She planned to sell the 304 ones for 29 yuan and the 316 ones for 59 yuan.

Now that she had distributors, she wasn’t worried about those 500 flasks failing to sell.

*

After purchasing most of the items on her procurement list, Zhou Li asked Mu Kun to watch the store and then rode her electric scooter to the town’s large supermarket to observe and learn.

When she checked out, she noticed the self-service checkout machines.

An idea struck her. “System, can you integrate with those machines?”

“Of course,” replied the system.

After all, the current checkout system in her supermarket was already being managed by it.

Zhou Li immediately called her mother. “Mom, I want to install two self-checkout machines in the supermarket.”

Zhou Hao sounded incredulous. “Two? Our tiny village store needs self-checkout machines?”

“Then one,” Zhou Li said quickly.

Zhou Hao sighed. “Fine, I’ll order it.”

“Oh, and the two freezers we have aren’t enough anymore. Let’s get another one.”

Previously, one freezer held ice cream and the other held frozen foods.

She planned to use the new one for meat and other perishable items.

Zhou Hao agreed.

Zhou Li returned home feeling refreshed.

At the entrance, Mu Kun was swatting flies. Seeing her, she called out, “You’re remodeling the supermarket again?”

She said “again” because the shop had originally been a general store.

After the two roads near the village were built, Zhou Hao had quickly renovated it overnight into a small convenience-style supermarket.

Zhou Li smiled. “Not remodeling, just rearranging the space.”

She paused, then asked, “By the way, Aunt Mu, do you know where I can buy farming tools?”

“Farming tools? You mean like hoes?”

“Exactly.”

“Your mom used to sell them back when the store was still a general shop. But once fewer villagers were farming—and since a good hoe lasts for years—she stopped selling them. Why, you planning to stock some?”

Zhou Li nodded. “Yes.”

“There aren’t really any farming tool shops left in town now, but on market days you can find peddlers selling them by the roadside.”

“When’s the next market day?”

“Tomorrow—but you’ll need to go early. They pack up by late morning.”

Zhou Li thanked her.

Just then, customers arrived at the snail noodle shop, and Mu Kun waved her off and went back inside.

*

The next morning at 6:30, before the supermarket opened, Zhou Li gulped down a boiled egg, hopped on her scooter, and headed to the market.

The town was lively—vendors lined the roadside selling buckets, brooms, tissue, clothes, and more.

After circling the area and adding several small peddlers on WeChat, she finally found an elderly couple in their sixties selling farm tools.

On a patch of yellow mud covered with striped tarp, they displayed hoes, shovels, and rakes bundled neatly together, with wooden handles stacked nearby.

Customers chose a tool, and the couple assembled it on the spot.

Prices were 30 yuan for a hoe, 15 for a shovel, 12 for a rake, and 8 for a sickle.

Zhou Li had checked prices online beforehand.

Small garden hoes cost as little as 18 yuan but were too flimsy for real farming—they’d break in no time.

Heavy-duty hoes cost around 35 yuan.

The couple’s hoes, however, were the sturdy, full-weight kind—thick, heavy, and durable enough to last over a decade.

Zhou Li asked, “If I buy everything, can you give me a discount?”

The couple didn’t quite hear her. “Huh?”

She repeated the question louder.

The old man shook his head at first—standard bargaining ritual.

Zhou Li smiled. “It’s not easy hauling all this heavy stuff out here. If I buy everything, you can pack up early. You won’t lose out.”

The old woman hesitated, then said, “Twenty-nine per hoe.”

“Twenty-four.”

“No, no, not that low. At least twenty-eight.”

After several rounds of haggling, they settled at twenty-seven yuan per hoe, with small discounts on the other tools as well.

The old woman counted their stock while the old man, grinning, asked if Zhou Li wanted them to attach the handles.

“No need,” Zhou Li said, “but could you deliver them to my store?”

The couple had a flatbed tricycle. Zhou Li helped load the tools, then led them back to her shop on her scooter.

She guided them to the back entrance and stored everything neatly in the warehouse.

After paying, she gave each of them a bottle of water.

The old woman glanced at the storefront and asked uncertainly, “This is… Zhou Hao’s place, right?”

Zhou Li was surprised. “You know my mom?”

The woman smiled. “Of course. Years ago, she bought quite a few tools from us—back when this was still a general store.”

Zhou Li laughed. “I see!”

After the couple left, she reviewed her checklist. “Grains, oil, condiments, drinks, cookware, tools… fresh food can wait for now.”

She planned to order vegetables, meat, and poultry in advance and have them delivered on the day she traveled again.

For the remaining odds and ends, she placed bulk orders through the same wholesale platform.

*

While Zhou Li was busy from dawn till dusk, Mu Kun was enjoying her leisure.

She came over to chat and noticed the large pile of goods stacked outside. “Aren’t you afraid of theft? I left a few boxes of soy milk outside the other day, and two bottles disappeared in a blink.”

Zhou Li sighed. “The inside’s a total mess right now—no space to move. I’ll bring it all in once the shelves are set up.”

“Good thing the city inspectors don’t come this far into the village,” Mu Kun muttered.

“Once everything’s in order, it’ll be fine.”

Mu Kun didn’t argue, but she often sat outside on a stool, keeping half an eye on things.

*

Two days later, the self-checkout machine arrived and was installed.

The suppliers delivered the new stocks of rice, oil, and flour.

The items Zhou Li ordered online also arrived one after another.

The supermarket’s shelves were reorganized, items neatly categorized, and new price tags attached.

Each tag now included both simplified and traditional Chinese alongside Arabic numerals.

Once everything was ready, Zhou Li contacted the vegetable vendors and butchers she’d added on WeChat, asking them to deliver fresh produce and meat before 10 p.m.

Before departing for the other world, she made one final check of her inventory.

Her eyes paused on the crossed-out “medications” section. After a moment’s thought, she went next door.

“Aunt Mu, I’m heading into town. Can you keep an eye on the store?”

“Go ahead,” said Mu Kun.

Zhou Li hurried to the town’s pharmacies to buy common over-the-counter medicines.

There were nine pharmacies in total, and she visited every single one, stocking up generously.

These drugs were bought in her own name, not entered into the supermarket’s system—since she didn’t have a pharmaceutical license, she couldn’t legally sell them in-store.

That night, around 8 p.m., the butcher arrived with a freshly slaughtered pig, cut into sections exactly as Zhou Li had requested.

A bit later, the vegetable vendors delivered their produce.

Some of the vegetables came directly from local farmers in the village.

Zhou Li weighed, packed, and labeled all the meat and vegetables herself.

By the end, her back ached so badly she could hardly straighten up.

The system prompted her, “Your scheduled time has arrived.”

Zhou Li checked the clock—10 p.m. sharp.

She locked up the store. “Let’s go.”

[Author’s Note]

Zhou Li: I’m exhausted. [collapses] “System, why don’t you have an ‘auto-restock’ feature?”

System: “I’m a trade system, not a supply system.”

Zhou Li: “…” [rolls eyes]

—

Because prices vary by region, all prices in this story are based on those around the area where the author buys instant noodles.

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