Ch 108: My Multiverse Supermarket

The eldest granddaughter did not come home that afternoon.

By evening, Grandma Du reheated the meat soup, just as her granddaughter had instructed.

After thinking for a while, she bent down, reached under the bed, and pulled out an old iron tin. Hearing the faint rattle of rice grains inside, she squinted her eyes in satisfaction.

She had hidden that rice for many years. It used to be a full box, and whenever her granddaughter didn’t make it back in time, she’d secretly cook a little to fill her stomach.

Later, bugs got into it, and it even grew mold. When her granddaughter found out, she scolded her and forbade her from eating it.

But when the girl wasn’t home, Grandma washed the rice, dried it, and hid it again—this time even deeper. Her granddaughter never discovered it.

Opening the lid, she revealed a thin layer of rice.

Some grains had turned gray-green; the rest were a dull yellowish white.

She poured out a third of a cup. To save clean water, she didn’t rinse it—just dumped it straight into the pot.

After adding some coal to the stove, she said to her younger granddaughter, “Grandma’s making you porridge.”

Du Yishi: …

She wanted to stop her grandmother, but she couldn’t speak at all anymore.

She could only pray her sister would come home soon.

She didn’t care about dying—but she refused to die from her grandmother’s porridge.

And if she must die, fine—but Grandma must not.

“Open up! Routine inspection!”

The loud banging on the door interrupted her thoughts. Cursing under her breath, Grandma Du went to answer it.

Since the North Street riots, inspectors had been coming almost every day, going door to door.

Grandma Du believed they frightened her sickly granddaughter and was furious—but she also knew that not opening the door would bring worse trouble. So she grumbled, but complied.

The inspectors came in pairs. After looking around the house and finding no strangers hiding there, they prepared to leave.

“The registry says three people live here. Where’s the third?”

“Out working! How else would we eat?” she barked back.

The inspectors said nothing more.

Just then, Grandma Du heard movement upstairs. She leaned on the railing to take a look—

And then she smelled something burning.

Her eyes widened. She rushed toward the kitchen.

As she feared, the coal fire had gotten too hot, and she’d forgotten to put the lid back on. The water in the pot had long evaporated; the porridge was now a blackened crust.

Grandma Du clutched her chest in dismay.

Her precious rice—ruined!

There was nothing to be done. Her younger granddaughter couldn’t chew solid food, and this scorched mess was inedible.

So she spooned out the minced meat from the soup and fed it to Du Yishi instead.

By the time she was done, the sky had darkened completely.

Then she cleaned the girl—wiping her face, her body, changing her soiled cloths.

Her joints ached terribly.

When she finally finished, she could barely straighten her back. Her stomach growled, but she was too exhausted to eat.

After resting for a while, she decided she’d eat the burnt rice after all.

Just as she was scraping the charred crust from the pot, she heard the door creak open.

Panic jolted through her. Her granddaughter always scolded her for sneaking food, so she tried to hide it—

But it was too late. Even before stepping inside, Du Xiaogan had smelled the burning.

When she entered and saw her grandmother’s guilty hunch, she couldn’t help laughing through her exasperation. “Grandma!”

Grandma Du grinned sheepishly. “Ah, my granddaughter’s home!”

She braced herself for a scolding, her posture defiant—being yelled at didn’t cost her any flesh anyway.

But to her surprise, Du Xiaogan didn’t scold her at all.

Instead, she left again—then returned a few minutes later carrying a bulging bag.

“What did you bring back?” Grandma Du asked, hurrying to shut the door. The usually cautious girl was being far too bold—didn’t she care about being seen?

“Everyone went out to harvest coral today,” Du Xiaogan said calmly. “Everyone’s coming back with bags like this.”

Meaning—hers wouldn’t draw attention.

“So you went coral-diving too?” Grandma Du asked.

Du Xiaogan nodded.

Setting the bag aside, she turned toward her sister. “Did you eat?”

Suddenly, Grandma Du gasped.

By the time she remembered to stay quiet, her granddaughter had already shut all the doors and windows and drawn the curtains.

“Granddaughter—where did all this come from!?”

Du Yishi’s eyes moved toward the bag. Seeing all the food and supplies inside, she too widened her eyes in disbelief.

“I sold the coral I harvested,” said Du Xiaogan, “on the artificial island. Traded it for money, and bought these from the supermarket there.”

Grandma Du began taking things out, one by one.

Even without reading the labels, she could tell what most were just from the packaging—

Two slabs of ribs, a pork leg bone, a large carton of eggs, several packs of noodles, bottles of mineral water, milk, senior formula, and a huge bag of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Household goods—knives, thread, tissues, clothes, socks, soap, and shampoo—everything they could ever need.

“How much did all this cost!?” Grandma Du exclaimed.

“About two thousand,” Du Xiaogan said.

“So cheap!?”

Grandma Du was skeptical—surely her granddaughter had downplayed the price.

Du Xiaogan didn’t bother to explain. Instead, she said to her sister, “Tomorrow, I’ll take you to Newborn Island. They have advanced medical equipment there—they can examine you properly.”

At the word examine, pain flickered through Du Yishi’s eyes.

But Grandma Du was overjoyed—she could hardly wait for morning to come.

She grabbed her granddaughter’s hand and asked how much the examination would cost.

“The coral I sold is enough to cover it,” Du Xiaogan said.

The exam itself wouldn’t be expensive—treatment would be.

But that didn’t matter. As long as she could still work, she could always earn more.

…

The next morning, Du Xiaogan left home as usual.

The streets were bustling.

Those who had gone coral-diving after yesterday’s broadcast were now heading to sell their harvest.

Those who hadn’t caught much were teaming up to fish today instead.

Amid the clamor, faint cries could be heard—someone was weeping.

People on the island were talking about how someone had been bitten by a drowned corpse the previous day. When he returned to shore, he tried to force his way through a checkpoint and was caught by the soldiers.

By today, he had already turned into a zombie and was executed. His family was now cursing Xu Jiayi, accusing her of luring them into harvesting coral.

Ordinarily, such words might have swayed public sympathy.

But now, every islander had a carrot dangling in front of them—and until they got to take a bite of it, none of them dared offend Xu Jiayi.

Du Xiaogan didn’t know how Xu Jiayi would handle the situation. She slipped into Dr. Chu’s small clinic once again.

Dr. Chu spoke first: “Still no news today.”

Du Xiaogan was silent for a moment, her expression showing faint resignation.

She had already prepared herself to take her sister to Newborn Island for an examination—but a small part of her still hoped for another option.

“Thanks. I’ll think of something.”

Seeing that the clinic was empty, she quietly placed a small bag of haw flakes behind the doctor’s desk.

Dr. Chu blinked in surprise.

“Bought them from that supermarket on Newborn Island,” Du Xiaogan said.

Dr. Chu understood immediately—it was a reminder to hurry and stock up while supplies from that island were still available.

Feeling warmed, the doctor pulled out a small jar of medicinal ointment. “Old Lady Du’s joints ache often, don’t they? Take this for her.”

Du Xiaogan hadn’t brought the candy for favors, but since it could ease her grandmother’s pain, she accepted it gratefully.

As soon as she left, Dr. Chu locked up the clinic.

When Du Xiaogan got home, Grandma Du had already made breakfast.

After eating, the three of them set out together.

Lonewind Island hadn’t yet banned civilians from going to sea, but to be safe, Du Xiaogan chose to board a large fishing boat.

Many others had the same idea—they were also heading toward the artificial island.

After all, not everyone believed what the authorities said.

Sensing Xu Jiayi’s permissive attitude, the islanders made no effort to hide their true intentions.

Seven or eight people stood aboard the fishing vessel; most of them knew each other.

One man greeted Du Xiaogan. “Well, this is rare—you’re actually bringing your family out?”

She gave a small smile but said nothing.

He leaned closer, whispering, “You got some insider info, didn’t you? Otherwise, you’d never risk bringing them.”

“You’ll see when we get there,” Du Xiaogan replied.

The man, convinced he’d guessed right, was thrilled—if she was bringing her family, that meant the island wasn’t dangerous.

When they arrived, Lonewind’s patrol boats had already occupied Newborn Island’s pier, so the fishermen had to stop near the beach and let passengers swim the rest of the way.

But in her sister’s condition, swimming was impossible.

Luckily, Du Xiaogan had prepared for this.

She inflated two small rubber rafts—one for Grandma, one for her sister—and swam alongside them, pulling both to shore.

The patrol boats had already cleared the area of drowned corpses, so they had little to fear.

“Oh my, this place is so comfortable!” Grandma Du exclaimed.

Du Xiaogan thought to herself: of course it was. The greenery here had clearly been planned—trees, flowers, lawns—it looked like a vacation island.

“But why are there so few buildings? And hardly any people?”

“This is just the outer area, Grandma,” said Du Xiaogan. “They don’t let outsiders into the central zone.”

To keep her from wandering, she added, “You remember those escort ships the Li family lost, right?”

Grandma Du, frightened by the mention, promised not to stray.

An Fengxuan happened to pass by on patrol. Seeing Du Xiaogan struggling to carry her sister while packing up the rafts, she came over to help.

Grandma Du, learning she was a security officer, immediately started asking her about the island.

An Fengxuan: …

I really shouldn’t have been so helpful.

Du Xiaogan sighed. “Grandma, please don’t trouble her.”

When they reached the supermarket, Grandma gasped. “My goodness, this must be where rich folks live!”

Du Xiaogan told her to look around while she took her sister upstairs to see Zhou Li.

“I’m coming too,” Grandma said.

But Zhou Li stopped her. “The space is small, and too many people spread germs. One person’s enough.”

Grandma reluctantly stayed behind in the stairwell.

Before going up, Du Xiaogan warned her, “Grandma, pick whatever you want, but wait for me to pay. And don’t take anything you shouldn’t.”

She was worried her grandmother might break the rules—getting blacklisted was minor; losing the chance for her sister’s treatment would be far worse.

“I know, I know,” Grandma muttered.

*

The medical pod finished its scan quickly, producing a full diagnostic report.

It even listed several treatment options.

What shocked Zhou Li was that—there was actually a curative plan available.

ALS—an untreatable disease even on Earth—had a cure here in the interstellar dimension.

But the required medications existed only there, which meant Zhou Li would need to return to that realm to procure them.

She didn’t mention that part to Du Xiaogan.

Instead, she produced the medicine she had bought the previous night through the auction system. “Here—these are the ones I told you about. I’ve reviewed her data; she can take them safely.”

Du Xiaogan’s joy was tinged with disappointment.

She was thrilled that medicine existed at all—but seeing the futuristic medical pod, she had briefly dared to hope for a miracle.

It seemed that was only a dream.

As Zhou Li escorted the sisters downstairs, a commotion broke out inside and outside the supermarket.

Grandma Du came bustling over. “Oh, little boss! Someone almost stole from your store!”

Zhou Li smiled faintly, watching her.

Grandma Du instantly grew nervous under that gaze.

Knowing her grandmother too well, Du Xiaogan frowned. “Grandma—you didn’t disobey me, did you?”

“I did! I mean—I didn’t!” Grandma stammered, sounding anything but convincing.

Zhou Li already understood. Grandma Du had likely been tempted to pocket something, but when she saw another thief punished, she quietly took out the items she’d grabbed and pretended she was going to buy them.

Zhou Li turned to the culprits outside. “This supermarket doesn’t run on charity. Anyone who wants something must pay for it. Stealing is theft, and theft has consequences.”

“You weren’t even here! How were we supposed to pay?” one of the thieves’ companions protested.

“My presence or absence doesn’t justify stealing,” Zhou Li replied coolly. “Right now I’m only punishing him. But if you keep arguing, I’ll blacklist you too—and you’ll never set foot on this island again.”

The man switched tactics, pleading that they were starving and would pay later.

“That’s enough,” Du Xiaogan snapped. “You’ve already shamed yourself once—don’t make it worse.”

The man faltered, then asked, “What’ll happen to him?”

“I’ll have Lonewind’s soldiers take him back,” Zhou Li said.

Since the thief had shown no real malice toward the store, the system merely knocked him unconscious and flagged him—nothing more.

When the matter settled, Grandma Du hurried to ask, “So how’s the test?”

“They have the medicine she needs,” Du Xiaogan said, swiping her membership card to buy it.

Over ten thousand points vanished instantly.

The price was far higher than the cheap SOD1-03, but the packaging looked professional, trustworthy.

It was worth every bit.

As they prepared to leave, Zhou Li suddenly called out, “Actually—your sister’s illness can be cured.”

Du Xiaogan froze. A heartbeat later, she rushed up. “What did you say?”

Smiling, Zhou Li asked, “Would you like to live here on our island?”

The idea had struck her just moments ago.

There were too few people on Newborn Island. Once she and An Fengxuan left, only Qi Jiayu’s trio would remain—and they might not be able to hold the island.

It was time to bring in new residents.

And rather than strangers, she preferred people like Du Xiaogan—someone with a weakness, someone who’d fight to protect what she loved.

If she knew her sister could be healed, she would never leave.

And when Zhou Li eventually departed, she would defend this island herself.

As expected, Du Xiaogan answered without hesitation, “Please take us in!”

[Author’s Note]

Du: I was already thinking about moving—now I’m definitely staying! [dog head emoji]

☢️☢️☢️