Ch 51: My Multiverse Supermarket

Dayue, Guiyang Prefecture.

At the home of the Inspector Zhu family.

As the Dragon Boat Festival approached, Zhou Wanniang’s sister-in-law was returning home for a visit. Zhou invited several close friends over to weave five-colored silk threads and wrap zongzi together.

When her sister-in-law, Zhu Li’er, arrived and saw her, she couldn’t help leaning closer to sniff. “Sister-in-law, you smell so nice!”

“Shoo! What kind of shameless talk is that?” Zhou Wanniang teased, laughing.

“I’m not joking,” Zhu Li’er said earnestly. “You really do smell good. Are you secretly using some new kind of fragrance powder behind my back?”

“That reminds me,” said Zhou Wanniang. “I didn’t use any powder. I used something called scented body wash and shampoo.”

“Body wash? Shampoo?”

“Body wash, as the name suggests, is like soap pods—something you use for cleaning your body. Shampoo is for washing and perfuming your hair,” Zhou explained. “These have become very popular in Guiyang lately. Even Magistrate Dong’s wife and the family of the Mint Treasurer use them.”

“Where did you buy them?” Zhu Li’er asked.

“Not long ago, several traveling merchants came pushing small carts through Guiyang. They said they’d come from the Immortal Village at Yangshan Pass.”

“Yangshan Pass?” Zhu Li’er frowned. “When did a village appear there?”

She had lived here since childhood and had never heard of such a place.

“Probably built in recent years,” said Zhou.

“I’ll have someone look into it another day,” Zhu Li’er said.

“No need,” Zhou replied. “When I bought mine, I also got you a set. Use it once every few days—it’ll last you months.”

Zhu Li’er’s face lit up. “That’s so generous, thank you, Sister-in-law! You always spoil me.”

“As long as you like it,” Zhou smiled.

Each set cost three hundred copper coins. Considering it lasted about three months, that was just a hundred coins per month—or only three or four coins a day.

Each set contained a bottle of shampoo, a bottle of body wash, a bag of laundry liquid, and a bar of soap.

Zhou gave the soap to her husband and kept the rest for herself and their children.

“There are many scents and effects,” she added. “You can pick one you like best later.”

She had bought plenty, but she also planned to give some away, so she couldn’t spare too much for Zhu Li’er.

Even so, Zhu Li’er was thrilled to have her own set.

As they chatted, Zhou’s close friends began arriving.

They gathered in the waterside pavilion, chatting and weaving the festival threads.

Someone, seeing how everyone clustered around Zhou, complained playfully, “You’ve all hogged the seats near Wanniang long enough. Let me sit there too!”

Zhou laughed helplessly. “The pavilion’s wide enough—there’s plenty of room.”

“I don’t care. You smell too good; that’s why I want to sit here,” her friend said, laughing.

“Why do you smell so nice?”

Swarmed by teasing friends, Zhou finally had a servant bring out the gifts she’d prepared.

“I’d planned to give these to you when you left, but it looks like you can’t wait.”

“So this is your secret!” her friends exclaimed, suddenly understanding.

Zhu Li’er chimed in, “Sister-in-law said I get to pick first.”

“No one’s fighting you for it,” Zhou said with a smile.

Each woman received a set of the bath and care products and couldn’t stop admiring them.

But Zhou noticed that one friend, Hua Xiangzhi, though holding her gift, looked uneasy.

“What’s wrong, Xiangzhi? You don’t like it?” Zhou asked.

Hua Xiangzhi snapped out of her thoughts. “I love it! I just… need to leave early.”

“Why so suddenly?”

Hua Xiangzhi hesitated, embarrassed. When Zhou pressed, she quietly pulled her aside and explained she was probably about to get her period. Translated on hololonovels. She had no menstrual cloths with her and was worried she might bring bad luck to the Zhu household.

Zhou sighed in relief. “I thought it was something serious! I’ll give you a sanitary pad for now.”

“This…”

“Don’t worry—it’s new and unused.”

Zhou had a maid bring her a sanitary pad, and thinking Hua Xiangzhi might not have the small undergarments used to hold it, she also gave her a pair, showing her how to use both.

“These underpants are comfortable,” Hua Xiangzhi said curiously, “but why is the pad shaped like this?”

“It’s called a menstrual cloth, made of soft cotton,” Zhou explained. “Each one lasts an hour or two and helps keep your clothes clean.”

“Only one or two hours? Then you’d need quite a few.”

“A pack of eight costs ten copper coins. That’s just a few coins a day, maybe twenty a month since your period only lasts several days.”

Using reusable cloth would be cheaper, of course—but after trying these, Zhou realized the comfort was worth the price.

Once used, they could simply be burned—no need to secretly wash them, no risk of leaks, no messy ashes or stains.

“When will those merchants come again?” Hua Xiangzhi asked.

“In a little while, they said. But last time they met bandits on the road and lost a shipment, or I’d have bought more.”

“Bandits?” Hua Xiangzhi frowned.

“On the road through Yangshan Pass. I’ve already asked my husband to pay attention to it.”

“Don’t worry,” Hua Xiangzhi said. “When I get home, I’ll tell my husband to send extra patrols and make sure there are no more bandits.”

Her husband was the military commander overseeing Guiyang’s troops.

That was exactly what Zhou wanted—to get her friend to whisper in her husband’s ear, strengthen patrols, and keep the trade route safe for the merchants.

By evening, Zhou had seen off her friends and her sister-in-law.

Her husband, Inspector Zhu, returned home from the office.

“Try one of my handmade zongzi,” she said warmly.

He took a bite, then frowned. “The flavor’s quite different from last year’s.”

“It’s made from a new kind of glutinous rice,” Zhou explained. “It’s softer and easier to eat, even if the taste isn’t quite the same.”

Common folk processed rice roughly, rarely polishing it, so glutinous rice usually retained the bran layer and had a coarse texture.

But the merchant women—Qiao Siniang’s group—sold fully polished rice at an affordable price, and Zhou had bought several stones of it without hesitation.

After hearing about these “merchant women,” Inspector Zhu suddenly asked, “They’re from the Immortal Village at Yangshan Pass?”

Zhou looked surprised. “You know of them?”

“I don’t know them,” he said. “But I read today’s court bulletin—Prince Wei reportedly went there himself to seek enlightenment from the immortal.” His tone was faintly mocking.

“So it’s true then?” Zhou asked.

“What’s true?”

“The merchant woman said the Immortal Village’s peak was the cave-dwelling of a goddess—an immortal who brought heavenly goods to the mortal world…”

Zhou had thought that story was just a sales pitch to raise prices and hadn’t taken it seriously.

But if Prince Wei himself had gone to seek guidance, perhaps it wasn’t just a tale.

“Should we send someone to investigate?” she suggested.

“And what would that accomplish?” Inspector Zhu asked.

“You really are dense!” Zhou snapped. “Once you know, you can act! Keep ignoring the world outside your window and someone will replace you soon enough.”

Fuming, she made a decision. “If you won’t go, then I will.”

“What for?” he asked.

“If it’s truly a goddess, then I’ll go to seek her blessing. That shouldn’t violate any official taboo.”

“Very well,” he said. “I’ll send guards to escort you.”

*

When Hua Xiangzhi returned home, her husband happened to come back from camp.

She told him about the bandits near Yangshan Pass.

He said, “A few days ago, a group of refugees actually delivered a captured bandit gang to our camp for punishment.”

“And what did you do with them?”

“What else? Executed them.”

Hua Xiangzhi sighed. “The world really is in chaos.”

“Chu is collapsing. Since we border Chu, of course things will grow unstable. Stay home more in the coming days,” he told her.

“I will,” she said. “But… I heard there’s an Immortal Village at Yangshan Pass, and that a goddess has appeared there.”

“I’ve heard that too. But she’s probably just another trickster, like all those fake witches.”

“This time feels different,” Hua Xiangzhi murmured—and said no more.

Her husband waited for her to elaborate, but she didn’t.

The next day, after bathing and dressing, Hua Xiangzhi prepared to go out.

Her husband caught a whiff of her scent and asked, “What fragrance is that?”

“It’s the lotion I used for bathing.”

“Huh?”

“A gift from Zhou Wanniang—she said it came from the goddess of the Immortal Village.”

Her husband paused for a moment.

Now he understood why she’d said this one seemed different.

☢️☢️☢️