Ch 40: My Multiverse Supermarket

The disappearance of the Good Life Supermarket couldn’t be hidden from the nearby residents.

Anyone who woke up early hoping to try their luck at the store, only to find the space beside the Tzu Chi House once again empty and barren, couldn’t help but feel terrified and bewildered.

“Didn’t the boss say she went to restock? Why is the whole supermarket gone?”

“Don’t tell me the boss really ran away with the money?”

Someone went to look for Lin Jianshan. “Aren’t you an employee there? Do you know where the supermarket went?”

Lin Jianshan was confused too, but she firmly believed the boss would come back.

She said, “The boss went to restock.”

“Restock? Did she have to uproot the whole building too?”

“Wait—what if the supermarket wasn’t a real building, but a spaceship shaped like one?”

“Like in those old dramas! Spaceships can be designed to look like anything—even houses—so when they land, they look just like normal buildings!”

Lin Jianshan: …

At that moment, a squad of city guards approached. “Are you Lin Jianshan?”

Her expression turned wary. “What do you want?”

“We just have a few questions. You’ll need to come with us.”

“No,” Lin Jianshan said immediately. “If you’re arresting me, show the warrant. If you’re just asking questions, I have the right to refuse.”

Paul Bowman stepped out from behind the guards. “Don’t be nervous. We only want to learn a few things about the supermarket. We’re not here to hurt you.”

“I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed,” Lin Jianshan said calmly. “I may work there, but I know nothing about the supermarket or the boss.”

Paul Bowman glanced toward the Tzu Chi House and said, almost casually, “There are still children here. Someone will have to take over soon.”

Lin Jianshan clenched her fists.

That was unmistakably a threat.

The Tzu Chi House wasn’t private property—it was owned by City Hall.

Since the last director had been dismissed, no official staff had returned.

Lin Jianshan and Ting Linzhi acted as caretakers, but without formal approval.

That meant City Hall could expel them anytime and send someone else to “take care” of the children.

But whoever came might not see the children as siblings to protect—they might just see them as burdens.

And once City Hall stationed new people here, they’d have the perfect vantage point to monitor the supermarket.

Lin Jianshan silently cursed their shamelessness.

Paul Bowman said, “If you don’t trust us, we can talk inside the Tzu Chi House.”

Lin Jianshan agreed.

Ting Linzhi was at work, and the children had gone out to collect recyclables.

She led the City Hall officials into the dining room.

There was a large table there—good enough for their “conversation.”

Because there was no sunlight outside, the dining room was cold and dim. Paul Bowman instinctively reached for the light switch—but nothing happened.

Lin Jianshan gave a sharp little laugh. “The power’s been cut for six months, Agent Bowman.”

Paul Bowman looked genuinely shocked. “In this freezing weather, how do you keep warm?”

She pointed toward the kitchen fireplace.

They all fell silent when they saw the thin blankets and piles of firewood inside.

Paul Bowman said, “We’ll restore the power and heating here.”

Lin Jianshan raised an eyebrow. “In exchange for giving you the building, right?”

Paul Bowman smiled slightly. “The Tzu Chi House will reopen. It’ll take in more orphans and the elderly who need help. We’ll be appointing a new director… but perhaps you’d like to stay here?”

Lin Jianshan understood immediately.

Their true goal was the supermarket.

No place offered a better base for watching and approaching it than the Tzu Chi House.

“Then say it directly,” she said coldly. “What else does City Hall want?”

“You’re sharp,” Paul Bowman said approvingly. “You work in the supermarket. Help us find out where the boss came from and where she went.”

“I can’t do that. Even if you throw me out of here, my answer won’t change—I can’t.”

Her defiance left the City Hall officials frustrated.

So they tried another approach.

“Do you realize,” Paul Bowman said slowly, “that the Good Life Supermarket may be Mia Star’s only hope? To be frank, we suspect its owner came from Blue Star, and that her goods may have come from the lost transport ship.

If we can locate that ship and recover its data, we might be able to bring all of Mia Star’s people to Earth—no longer trapped here waiting to die.

Our resources are dwindling, food is running out… You’ve received relief rations yourself—you must have noticed. Translated on Hololo novels. Even with City Hall working at full capacity, we can’t stop the collapse.”

Lin Jianshan fell silent.

She knew he wasn’t lying.

But—

“Who am I,” she asked quietly, “that City Hall would entrust me with the hope of all Mia Star?”

Paul Bowman: …

She went on. “Does City Hall think the boss came here to destroy Mia Star—or for another reason?

“Even if her goods came from that ship, if she were motivated by profit, she could have sold them for sky-high prices. People would still have paid, because survival is priceless.

But she didn’t. Seven Orka can barely buy a single egg out there—yet at her store, it can buy twelve hundred. She’s saving lives in her own way. Her compassion isn’t less than City Hall’s.

As for the transport ship… some people think that building was a ship. If that’s true, then she must have a far more advanced one. The fact that she hasn’t contacted City Hall means one of two things—either she thinks it’s pointless because even if you had the data, you’d never leave this planet, or she has nothing to do with that ship at all and came from somewhere else entirely.

Either way, she has the power to keep me and the people I care about alive. I have no reason to betray her.

Besides, she already knows who you are and that City Hall is watching her. If you truly want to save Mia Star, maybe you should talk to her openly, not hide behind threats.”

Paul Bowman realized there was no more to gain from her, so he withdrew.

The next day, however, two women arrived at the Tzu Chi House carrying official appointment letters from City Hall.

“Allow me to introduce myself,” said one. “My name is Chen Yuhui, the new director of this orphanage. This is my colleague, Vice Director Katrine Neumann. Starting today, we’ll be taking over operations here.”

Lin Jianshan felt a complicated mix of emotions.

She glanced at the children playing outside and asked, “You’ll restore power and heating—and take good care of them, right?”

Chen Yuhui smiled faintly. “I promise.”

“Then come with me. I’ll introduce you to the children.”

She stepped outside and called them in.

The kids, unaware of what had happened, gathered curiously around the two strangers.

“This is your new Director Mom,” Lin Jianshan said.

At once, the chatter stopped.

A few older children protested, “We don’t want a Director Mom! We only want Sister Jianshan and Linzhi!”

They’d seen too much of the outside world—the cruelty of people—and they knew what the arrival of a new director meant.

It meant this might no longer be their home. They could be sent away as burdens at any time.

It also meant that Lin Jianshan and Ting Linzhi, being adults, would be forced to leave.

Chen Yuhui didn’t seem bothered by their resistance. She turned to Lin Jianshan. “Two people aren’t enough to run this place. We still need a caregiver, a social worker, a cook, and several guards.

Even though you already have another job, perhaps you could take the social worker position. As for the other young woman, Ting Linzhi—she works at the clinic, doesn’t she? She can serve as the caregiver.”

Lin Jianshan was taken aback. They want both of us to stay?

Then she understood.

If she left, City Hall would lose its most convenient link to the supermarket.

By keeping her and Ting Linzhi here, they could watch the supermarket more closely through them.

“I’m not going to betray the boss,” she said flatly. “You can give up that idea right now.”

Chen Yuhui didn’t respond directly. “So,” she said, “do you accept the social worker position?”

Lin Jianshan: …

After a long pause, she gritted her teeth. “Fine. Will there be pay?”

“No. Since you already have a main job, this is a volunteer role. But I’m sure that won’t be a problem for you.”

Lin Jianshan: …

They’re not even pretending anymore.

Chen Yuhui continued, “Tomorrow the cook and guards will report for duty. Power and heating will be restored tonight.”

Lin Jianshan thought bitterly, Of course—they want everything in place before the boss comes back.

That night, for the first time in months, lights shone once again in the Tzu Chi House.

Even without the fireplace burning, the rooms slowly grew warm.

The next morning—the supermarket’s third day of absence—the new cook arrived with kitchen equipment.

Four uniformed guards took up their posts, rotating shifts.

It almost felt like the days before the catastrophe.

…

In the director’s office, Chen Yuhui said, “After today, it will have been three full days.”

Vice Director Katrine said, “The reports said three to five days. We can’t be sure she’ll really appear tonight.”

“Let’s hope she does,” Chen Yuhui sighed.

If the supermarket failed to return on schedule, City Hall would abandon the operation entirely.

They’d just gotten power, heat, and running water back—only to lose it again.

To give the children hope and then snatch it away… that would be too cruel.

*

Late that night.

At the guard post, the men assigned to “openly monitor” the area were dozing off.

One of them blinked blearily—and suddenly realized something looked different in his field of view.

Half a second later, his eyes went wide. He grabbed the radio.

“The supermarket—it’s back!”

☢️☢️☢️