Volume One, Chapter Three: Being a Shrewd Merchant Is No Easy Task!

“Don’t wait until tomorrow; let’s do it today. What if all the food gets snatched up by then?” Qi Zheng, feeling the long-lost sensation of fullness, asked.

Ning Jue thought it made sense. It was better to spend money while he still could.

Buy as much food as possible.

“The three of us will go together, bring the kayak, and carry a few extra bags.”

Two hours later, they arrived on the third floor of the museum.

The door to the Ancient Treasures Exhibition hall was quietly closed.

Ning Jue pushed it open, then turned back and said, “Here it is. Once we go in, it’s the grocery store.”

With that, he vanished right before Xie An and Qi Zheng’s eyes.

But when Ning Jue saw the familiar grocery store, he noticed his two friends hadn’t followed him inside.

Qi Zheng and Xie An panicked!

What was going on? Ning Jue had stepped into the treasures exhibition just moments ago, then disappeared into thin air.

They searched the empty exhibition twice around but couldn’t find him.

Ning Jue took a few steps back. The air around him grew heavy, and the scenery before his eyes transformed back into the pitch-black treasure exhibition.

“Hey! Where did you two run off to?” Ning Jue called out.

Xie An and Qi Zheng ran back to the door. “Damn! No way, is this place haunted?”

“You disappeared in a flash! We’ve been looking for you forever.”

Ning Jue suddenly understood.

That mysterious grocery store could only be entered by him.

“Give me all the gold bars you have; I’m going to buy supplies,” Ning Jue said as he stuffed the gold bars from both their hands into his pockets.

He stepped into the treasure exhibition again and vanished.

Just a moment ago, Qiao Yuan had heard the warehouse door creak and thought it was a beggar again, but when she looked up, there was no one.

“Boss!” Ning Jue suddenly appeared behind the counter.

“Holy crap! You scared me to death!” Qiao Yuan jumped up and took two steps back.

“Sorry, I was in such a rush I forgot to knock. I brought gold bars!” Ning Jue explained, pulling gold bars from his pocket.

One bar, two bars, three, four, five, six...

Qiao Yuan gasped.

Those were gold bars!

Bright yellow, gleaming gold, pure gold!

She tried to calm herself. “What... do you want to buy?”

Ning Jue looked at the shelves behind her, frowning.

There had only been three rows of shelves this morning, but now, just a few hours later, there was a fourth.

Moreover, it was stocked entirely with medicine. Seeing the floating corpses along the way, Ning Jue realized they needed to buy medicine in addition to food.

“I want 50 jin of compressed biscuits, 50 jin of other storable food, 100 bottles of drinking water,” he said, pointing at the fourth row of shelves, “and some medicine.”

Then Ning Jue hesitantly asked, “Will 20 gold bars be enough?”

“If not, I can go back for more. Besides gold bars, I still have plenty of valuable original jewelry and designer bags.”

Are 20 gold bars enough?

Qiao Yuan looked at the thick gold bars on the counter.

Twenty bars could buy out ten grocery stores!

She didn’t consider herself a swindler and couldn’t bring herself to cheat a beggar.

That would be truly heartless.

Seeing her hesitation, Ning Jue smiled wryly.

“Sorry. I know no one knows how long the apocalypse will last. You accepting gold bars is already more than generous.”

“Apocalypse?” Qiao Yuan asked, puzzled.

The two of them exchanged words and realized something was seriously wrong.

“Hasn’t your city experienced three months of continuous heavy rain?”

“No.”

“Or tens of thousands of people starving to death?”

“No.”

Qiao Yuan handed Ning Jue an ice cream, which he savored slowly.

“So, the door behind your warehouse leads to your city’s museum?”

Qiao Yuan nodded toward the warehouse door. “That’s the door to my warehouse. Inside are four walls. You’ve appeared twice now, both times coming out of there.”

“This is the real entrance,” Ning Jue said, looking at the glass door to the left. Through it, he saw a few ladies chatting and cracking seeds by the roadside.

He walked over and tried to open the door.

But to his shock, the moment he grabbed the handle, he reappeared behind the counter.

After several attempts, he realized he simply couldn’t leave the grocery store.

“I hesitated earlier because gold bars are very valuable in my world. Just two gold bars could buy my entire grocery store,” Qiao Yuan shrugged. “I’m thinking about whether I should become a shrewd merchant.”

Ning Jue laughed, a rare heartfelt chuckle after months of worrying about food and drink.

“You might as well be a shrewd merchant. I have money—plenty of it—and since it’s the apocalypse, even if I run out, I can just take some gold, silver, and jewels from the mall and trade them here for food.”

Qiao Yuan raised an eyebrow. Could it really work that way?

“Well then, I won’t hold back!”

Besides 50 jin of compressed biscuits and 100 bottles of drinking water, Qiao Yuan also handed over 100 bags of crispy noodles, 50 boxes of self-heating rice, and 50 boxes of self-heating hotpot.

Ning Jue made six trips back and forth before he finally cleared out the stock.

He returned to the grocery store and stood before the medicine shelves.

He wasn’t well-versed in medicine and didn’t know what to buy.

“My grandfather was a doctor. Maybe I can give you some advice,” Ning Jue said, explaining the current apocalyptic conditions to Qiao Yuan.

She stroked her chin thoughtfully.

The system’s missions were too targeted—it was as if they were made just for Ning Jue.

So she picked out 10 boxes of intestinal inflammation medicine, 10 boxes of antimalarial drugs, and for the 10 miscellaneous boxes, she chose aromatic herbal water.

“From what you say, the temperature is rising steadily. Be careful of heatstroke. Whenever you go out, be sure to wear sun-protective clothing and carry the aromatic herbal water.”

Ning Jue nodded. This owner was professional and kind.

“I don’t even know your name. We might have to work together long-term, so I can’t keep calling you ‘Hey, you.’” Qiao Yuan said.

“Oh, right, my oversight.” Ning Jue smiled, showing his white teeth. “My name’s Ning Jue.”

He extended his hand but then quickly pulled it back, wiping it carefully on his shirt.

Qiao Yuan shook his hand. “I’m Qiao Yuan. Nice working with you.”

“I’ll take those 20 gold bars, but let’s consider it a deposit—enough to cover a month’s worth of food and drink. How does that sound?” Qiao Yuan proposed a compromise.

“No need. I have three people at home, so don’t be polite.”

Since he said so, Qiao Yuan felt comfortable accepting the gold bars.

Ning Jue promised to return the next day.

He couldn’t shake the feeling that the apocalypse wasn’t as easy as the broadcasts claimed. Though the floodwaters receded quickly, the temperature was off.

Stockpiling supplies was absolutely necessary.

“I need to buy more water tomorrow. It’s too hot, and water runs out fast,” Ning Jue said, glancing at the empty mineral water shelf. “Please stock up as much as you can.”

Qiao Yuan nodded. “No problem. Whatever you need, I have.”

After Ning Jue left, Qiao Yuan immediately ordered a taxi through the app and headed back into the city.

Most banks only buy back their own brand of gold bars, so that was out.

Jewelry stores required appointments, and she couldn’t wait.

In the end, she went to a pawnshop. Though the price was a bit lower, the process was simple, and she could get the money immediately.

She arrived at the Green Mountain Pawnshop.

Wang Xin’s eyes lit up when he saw her.

“No way, another treasure?”

But when he saw the 20 gold bars, he was speechless.

The entire month’s sales target was met in one day.