Chapter 86
Busy times always passed quickly, and that day marked the agreed-upon time to conduct business in Lan City.
Shen You sent messages to everyone and handled the studio’s affairs since she wouldn’t be going there today.
While she sat at the entrance preparing to order milk tea delivery, she suddenly thought about the customers from the apocalyptic world who probably hadn’t enjoyed such treats for a long time. She switched to the mini-program and placed orders for twenty-five cups each from two Snow King shops, then drove out to pick them up herself.
Since Wen Zhi had cleared too many mutants last time, the past week had brought peaceful days along the road to the shop during daylight hours.
Nevertheless, he still came, and when he arrived, Shen You had just finished arranging the milk tea across the small round table at the entrance, with two large bags placed on the ground.
“Do you want some?” Shen You looked up at him, her face brightening with a smile as she generously invited him to choose whatever he liked.
Wen Zhi looked puzzledly at the array of plastic cups before him, both cold and hot varieties scattered everywhere. “I still prefer using the coffee machine.”
Shen You pointed toward the interior of the house and let him help himself.
“After I finish this business transaction, I will head to the Great Qi side and purchase more equipment for the studio.”
Wen Zhi came out carrying his coffee cup. “I can give you directions, but can you still go to that side?”
“The problem is not significant.”
She could now purchase experience cards, although the safety guarantee remained limited to two hours, refreshing once per month.
The system indicated that her shop level was insufficient, preventing any upgrades to the security services.
Wen Zhi had come during his spare time, shared lunch with Shen You, confirmed that no wandering mutants lurked outside, then prepared to leave.
“Can your shop’s random entrance specifically allow designated people to enter?” He asked.
“The access I granted you includes only one slot, otherwise I would also want to give one to Fang Qi since they face difficulties every time they leave the shelter to enter Lan City.”
Wen Zhi’s handsome brows furrowed. “Who is Fang Qi?”
He had assumed Shen You would grant this privilege only to him, yet now another person had appeared from somewhere.
“Captain Fang who visited the shop last time.” Shen You held her second cup of milk tea and asked with confusion, “Why are you suddenly asking about this? Do you want someone to enter the shop?”
“It’s nothing, someone was exiled a few days ago, and I want to save his life.” Wen Zhi’s lips curved upward casually.
Saving someone wouldn’t prove difficult for him, and if that person could reach the shop, it would provide additional protection.
Too many methods existed on the exile route that could destroy a person, and he currently lacked the time to personally intervene.
Shen You replied, “I never know when customers will enter through the random entrance since everything depends on fate.”
“I understand.” Wen Zhi nodded and was about to leave when he turned back with concern. “You won’t transfer my access privileges to someone else, will you?”
Shen You patted her chest in assurance. “I won’t.”
Only then did Wen Zhi leave with peace of mind.
Shortly afterward, the customers who came to collect goods arrived.
Shen You had already placed everything in the courtyard, and when Fang Qi entered with his people, they saw the clean outdoor equipment on the ground, vegetable seeds, various flavored canned foods, self-heating rice, and even several self-heating hot pots.
“Classic braised pork canned food!”
“There’s also preserved vegetable and pork belly! This is so luxurious, are we celebrating New Year?!”
Compared to the team members who screamed with excitement, Fang Qi maintained some rationality. “The previous list seemed to include only lunch meat canned food.”
Self-heating rice and hot pots might prove very expensive.
They still wanted to keep some gold for emergencies since lacking gold would create difficulties if they urgently needed supplies in the future.
“I noticed these canned foods looked quite good, so I added some for you, and all prices remain the same.”
She had specifically chosen brands with the most generous portions for ordering, and she had even tasted one can herself, finding the flavor quite acceptable.
Hearing Shen You’s words, Fang Qi breathed a sigh of relief, and only then did they notice the vast spread of milk tea.
Everyone couldn’t help but swallow hard, since who could have imagined that milk tea still existed in the apocalypse!
“These are gifts for you.” Shen You added.
The previous two transactions had earned her over ten million, so she took maintaining this dimension’s only customer base seriously!
“How can we accept this with good conscience?”
Everyone felt somewhat reserved, though not for long, because after hesitating for a few seconds, team members had already quickly grabbed cups and started drinking.
“Thank you, boss! It tastes wonderful!”
This wasn’t a dream! The long-missed flavor revitalized their entire beings with just one sip! For that moment, they felt as though they had returned to the civilized era.
“All of these are really for us?” Fang Qi held the lemon water, her eyes gaining several points of brightness.
“Yes.”
After receiving Shen You’s confirmation, Fang Qi happily collected all the remaining milk tea into her storage bag, then placed the gold on the round table.
Thirty gold bars were arranged neatly, along with a sapphire brooch.
The originally agreed price was in gold bars, and Fang Qi explained that the brooch served no purpose for them, so they were offering it as thanks for the extra items Shen You had prepared.
They recognized gold bars but couldn’t easily distinguish jewelry, and since it was difficult to trade separately, they only brought some as backup.
“Consider it a deposit for next time.” Shen You collected the items and continued, “I need to restock afterward, and when I return to Lan City next month, the shop will have a batch of medicine.”
Hearing this, everyone quickly confirmed with Shen You that she wouldn’t leave permanently and never return, only then feeling relieved.
The next disaster hadn’t yet arrived, and they were currently stockpiling supplies in advance, which was related to the shelter’s survival, so naturally everyone hoped the boss wouldn’t leave.
Since this shipment contained many items and the storage bag couldn’t accommodate everything, Fang Qi and her team each carried two boxes of the remaining compressed biscuits, easily taking them out.
The modified vehicles pressed over the black bloodstains on the ground, dust floating in the air grew increasingly thick, and cloud layers churned at the horizon.
After the customers left the shop, Shen You closed up and counted the gold in the cash register system once more, with a gleaming pile spread before her eyes, really enjoying this feeling of sudden wealth.
She checked the current world’s gold prices and discovered they had risen again!
Thinking back to a year ago, she had casually purchased a few hundred yuan’s worth on her phone, but due to poverty at the time, she couldn’t buy much and feared losing money would cause heartache.
She had planned to accumulate a little each year so she could eventually exchange it for physical gold beads to string on bracelets.
However, shortly after purchasing, prices skyrocketed continuously, and within a few months, the per-gram price exceeded her purchase price by nearly three hundred yuan.
Shen You regretted deeply in her heart for failing to seize that money-making opportunity.
Now with so much gold, her heart felt secure.
She divided the gold bars into two portions since the bars bearing bank names that didn’t exist in the current world needed to be melted down first and recast into restored jewelry.
Since she could craft them herself, she didn’t need to worry about discovery.
The remaining bars bearing gold shop names and auspicious dragon patterns posed no problems and could be stored as they were.
Two days later arrived the time agreed upon with Mr. Zhang for delivering the phoenix crown.
Shen You punctually brought the item to the studio, wrapping the phoenix crown in multiple protective layers to prevent any damage during transport, then carefully carried it to the car.
When Mr. Zhang came to collect the item, he would definitely bring an appraiser along.
Completing the transaction at the studio would allow these people with certain influence in the circle to see her workspace.
This explained why she had worked overtime at the studio for the past two evenings.
And now, although the interior remained somewhat spacious, the reception tea room had already taken proper shape.
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