Ch 34: My Multiverse Supermarket

Hiring someone?

Zhou Li had thought about that before—back when she was still on Earth.

But after she began interdimensional trading, there was less and less actual work for her to do. Things only got busy when she returned to her original dimension to restock goods.

So if she ever hired anyone, it would make more sense to do it on the Earth side.

Still, she didn’t immediately refuse Lin Jianshan.

After thinking for a moment, she went downstairs and let Lin Jianshan in through the back door.

The back door opened directly into the storage room. The moment Lin Jianshan stepped in, she was stunned by the sight of the neatly stacked supplies.

Grain and oil took up nearly half the warehouse space.

Next came bottled water—three entire storage racks full of it.

Each rack looked about two meters long, one point two wide, and three and a half meters tall.

Then came other foods, beverages, and alcohol.

By modern standards, the stock wasn’t massive, but compared to the world’s current scarcity, it was jaw-dropping.

At present, this inventory alone could feed the three surrounding communities for at least a month.

Leaving the warehouse, Lin Jianshan noticed that part of the supermarket floor was also stacked with household goods.

She hadn’t paid much attention during her last visit, but now that she looked carefully, she was truly amazed.

This tiny supermarket seemed to have everything a person might need to eat, wear, or use in daily life.

In one corner, she noticed a cabinet with labeled drawers—each one marked with names like “Poria,” “Changshan”…

What was this?

She was still distracted by curiosity when they reached the checkout counter.

Zhou Li handed her a small plastic stool and herself sat down lazily in the hanging chair.

“Have you ever worked in a supermarket before?” Zhou Li asked.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Lin Jianshan replied, “I used to drive Orka transport trucks at the mines. Never worked retail, but after the mines shut down, I sold light-brain devices and even real estate.”

That caught Zhou Li’s attention. It reminded her of the delivery services back on Earth.

“So you have a driver’s license?”

“A driver’s license? Yes. I hold a flight permit.”

Zhou Li: ?

After a pause, she asked, “Then… can you ride a little electric scooter?”

Lin Jianshan: ??

Zhou Li sighed inwardly. Too bad her scooter hadn’t transferred along with the shop—otherwise, she could’ve had Lin Jianshan try it out and start making deliveries.

Normally, she’d park the scooter outside on the open pavement—never bringing it into the house or upstairs, of course.

Unfortunately, while the store’s protection field did extend out to the sidewalk, the teleportation itself only carried objects inside the building.

Not the scooter.

Although Lin Jianshan didn’t know what a “little electric scooter” was, she quickly said, “I can drive hovercars, flight bikes, and cargo haulers. As for the scooter… I can learn! Boss, I live right next door at Tzu Chi House. I don’t mind working overtime. If the supermarket needs anything, I can be here right away!”

“Whoa!” Zhou Li’s eyes lit up, full of yearning. “When you say flight car, do you mean it actually flies?”

“Most vehicles here use maglev technology,” Lin Jianshan explained. “It boosts speed by levitating a short distance above ground. It’s not true high-altitude flight.”

Her tone carried a hint of confusion—if the boss really came from Blue Star, how could she not know this?

“How much does one cost?” Zhou Li asked.

“The smaller hover models go for around forty thousand Orka. Flight bikes range from two hundred twenty thousand up to eight hundred thousand.”

Zhou Li: …

Suddenly, she felt that Orka being worth so much at auction wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

Earth already had magnetic levitation technology, used in high-speed trains, so she abandoned the idea of buying one to bring back.

She steered the conversation back to hiring.

“The supermarket doesn’t really need extra staff.”

A flicker of disappointment crossed Lin Jianshan’s face.

But Zhou Li went on, “However, with so many customers lately, the shelves empty out fast. Someone needs to restock from the warehouse. It’s a simple job, but repetitive, tiring, and you’ll need patience—especially without robotic assistance.

“Besides handling inventory, you’d also need to guide customers to shop rationally and maybe deliver some goods when needed.”

It wasn’t her original plan—she’d just changed her mind.

She realized this world differed greatly from ancient ones she’d visited before: more people, far more advanced transportation.

Despite the disasters and hardships, there were still hundreds of thousands of survivors on Mia Star.

And compared to the ancient world, this one’s technology was a hundred times more advanced.

Back in those earlier dimensions, she’d had to rely on distributors to spread her goods.

But here—between hovercrafts, interstellar drones, and advanced logistics—delivery was easy.

People could shop without leaving home.

So she didn’t need wholesalers at all.

Given her current inventory, just retail sales alone could clear her shelves within days.

Under those circumstances, hiring a stock clerk made perfect sense.

“I can do it!” Lin Jianshan said eagerly.

“I haven’t mentioned pay yet,” Zhou Li replied.

Lin Jianshan opened her mouth, wanting to say she’d work for 150 points a day, but worried that might sound too high and scare the boss off.

Zhou Li, meanwhile, mentally compared local rates with what Earth supermarket employees made.

In first-tier cities, supermarket stock clerks usually earned around seven thousand yuan a month.

The Good Life Supermarket was far smaller than those large commercial chains, so the workload wasn’t nearly as heavy.

In Zhou Li’s hometown—a small county—three thousand yuan a month would already be considered generous pay.

But taking into account the higher living standards of the interstellar era, she quickly came to a decision.

“You already know you can’t use Orka directly here, since I don’t accept it,” Zhou Li said. “Likewise, I won’t pay wages in Orka either. Here, you’ll be paid two hundred points per day. Translated on Hololo novels. Working hours are from seven thirty in the morning to ten thirty at night, with a one-hour lunch break. As an employee, you’ll have one special benefit—no purchase limits in the supermarket.

“As for the number of workdays, that depends. I close the store occasionally to restock, so there’ll be breaks between operations.”

Two hundred points a day was already higher than Lin Jianshan had expected.
And when she heard “no purchase limits,” her heart nearly leapt out of her chest.

She had no doubt that if the boss ever posted these job terms publicly, people would be fighting tooth and nail to get hired.

“I’ll take it!” she blurted, voice trembling with excitement.

Zhou Li blinked.

If someone didn’t know better, they’d think she’d just been proposed to.

“No need to be that excited,” Zhou Li said dryly. She then asked her system to check local labor laws—just to make sure the pay terms didn’t break any regulations.

“The labor laws here protect workers quite well,” the system replied. “If you hire her as a full employee, you’d technically violate some clauses. But if she’s hired as a part-timer, you can bypass most of those restrictions.”

Zhou Li nodded. “This counts as part-time work,” she told Lin Jianshan. “So there’ll be no health or social insurance. Are you okay with that?”

“I can accept that.”

“Alright then, wait here. I’ll go print the contract.”

Zhou Li ran upstairs and, following the system’s guidance, printed a contract compliant with Mia Star’s Long City District part-time employment laws.

Once Lin Jianshan signed, the system automatically tagged her identity as a “temporary worker.”

“Come to work the day after tomorrow,” Zhou Li said. “Don’t be late.”

“Boss, are you really not opening tomorrow?”

“No, I’m not.”

Lin Jianshan hesitated.

After a moment, Zhou Li added, “Even though we reopen the day after tomorrow, your employment starts today.”

Lin Jianshan instantly understood. She tried to keep her voice steady. “Boss, I’d like to buy something.”

“It’s not ten yet. Go ahead and pick what you need.”

Lin Jianshan selected a flashlight.

After she paid, Zhou Li headed upstairs to rest.

Before leaving through the back door, Lin Jianshan asked again, “Boss, can I come back to shop tomorrow?”

“You can—but come during operating hours. And don’t bring anyone.”

“I’ll come alone, quietly. No one will know.”

She slipped away through the back door, climbed the wall back to Tzu Chi House, and this time moved with surprising agility—she was clearly still in high spirits.

Because of the power outage, the orphanage was pitch black.
Only the faint firelight from the kitchen hearth illuminated a corner of the room.

The children were already asleep.

Ting Linzhi lowered her voice. “Where did you go?”

“I found a part-time job at the supermarket,” said Lin Jianshan.

“The supermarket… you mean—?”

“The one next door, the Good Life Supermarket. It’s only part-time, but the benefits are great.” Lin Jianshan eagerly shared her story.

Ting Linzhi smiled faintly. “You’re clever.”

The Good Life Supermarket had always seemed mysterious, and perhaps because of her recent head injury, Ting Linzhi had never even considered the idea of working there.
Or maybe she’d simply assumed such a place wouldn’t need stock clerks.

“Oh, right. I brought you this.”

Lin Jianshan handed her the flashlight.

Ting Linzhi was touched. “Thank you. I’ve also been thinking of finding work. Even if I only earn two Orka a day, it’ll be enough.”

Before the Good Life Supermarket appeared, it took at least a thousand Orka a month just to barely survive.

Now, two Orka could last several days.

High-paying jobs were scarce, but low-paying ones were everywhere.

“When I find something,” Ting Linzhi said, “I’ll give you the Orka. You’ve got the employee discount—no purchase limits.”

Lin Jianshan shook her head. “No. You should have your own membership card. You and Zihua and the others—all of you need one. Having a card means safety.”

“Alright,” Ting Linzhi agreed softly.

*

While Lin Jianshan and Ting Linzhi were busy planning their future survival, Zhou Li stayed up late revising her procurement list.

Many of the goods in her store were useless in an interstellar world. She planned to visit the ancient dimension soon to clear out that inventory and make room for supplies better suited for Mia Star.

From what the locals said, the planet’s temperature had been dropping for years.

In the past, the daily average had hovered around twenty to twenty-five degrees Celsius.

Now, even at the peak of summer, the temperature barely reached five degrees.

If it were only dry cold, it wouldn’t be so bad—people could simply bundle up.

But the planet was constantly plagued by hailstorms, hurricanes, and faint geomagnetic disturbances invisible to the naked eye.

These magnetic surges interfered with all signal-dependent devices, sometimes overloading circuits with massive electric currents and frying them completely.

Tech-based heating had become a luxury; people now relied on clothing alone to stay warm.

That meant she should start stocking up on winter wear—thermal suits, long johns, down jackets, heavy coats, and cotton-padded clothing.

She’d also noticed that local residents had a high demand for fresh produce, meat, and eggs.

It might be time to clear out the underperforming frozen snacks and use the freezer space for meat and seafood instead.

After finalizing her procurement plan, Zhou Li began outlining her next goal: “Operation Save Orka.”

She intended to use her own money to exchange for Orka, then buy a cheap used hovercar.

Author’s Note – Mini Theater

Because there was no compatible energy source, the hovercar Zhou Li bought back to Earth wouldn’t fly.

Zhou Hao: “So this is the twenty-thousand-dollar toy you bought?”

Zhou Li: “It can make me fly.”

Zhou Hao: “I’ll make you fly.”

Zhou Li: [clown emoji]

☢️☢️☢️