After Han Qingying left the store, Qin Zhiyuan dismantled the store's roof, removing the covering to make it easier to work. He needed to tidy up the interior of the store.
He moved all the fake plastic products from the shelves out in one go. From now on, only real goods would be placed on the shelves. After cleaning up, he would reinstall the roof.
Expanding the store wasn't urgent yet; it required further planning.
Afterward, Qin Zhiyuan opened a shopping app and started making purchases.
In the extreme heat, the most important and best-selling item would naturally be water. He immediately bought a large quantity of bottled water.
Online shopping these days was very fast, with next-day delivery being the norm. If he ordered tonight, the items would arrive during the day tomorrow. For urgent needs, he could use Meituan for even faster delivery.
During this high-temperature apocalypse, no customers would come during the day. That was perfect—he could prepare during the day and open for business normally at night.
His fingers swiped rapidly across the screen. After purchasing everything he could think of for now, he looked up and saw the first light of dawn breaking at the horizon.
Qin Zhiyuan rubbed his tired, sore eyes and dragged his exhausted body into the bathroom. Warm water sprayed from the showerhead. After a quick wash, he collapsed onto the bed and soon drifted into a hazy sleep, catching up on rest.
With his father and the caregiver watching over things at the hospital, he didn’t need to worry. His top priority now was earning money. Cancer treatment was burning through cash every day, and the hospital kept sending one bill after another. Only with money could he solve this urgent problem.
He sent a WeChat message to his father, saying he had found a well-paying job and was going to earn some money, so he wouldn’t be visiting the hospital for the next couple of days.
He slept soundly until broad daylight. When he woke up again, sunlight was already streaming through the window, spilling onto the floor of his room. Qin Zhiyuan groggily checked the time and realized it was well past noon.
From now on, his schedule would be reversed—he had to adjust his sleep cycle to match the shopping hours of the little people.
In the Sand Table, the bottle of water was still in its original place. If Han Qingying came, the System would wake him up. Since she hadn’t come earlier, she probably wouldn’t return until after sunset.
Qin Zhiyuan splashed some water on his face to wake himself up and ordered takeout on his phone.
Before long, the food arrived at his door. Qin Zhiyuan opened the door, took the delivery, returned to his room, and sat casually on the edge of his bed. He opened the container and shoveled the food into his mouth, hastily finishing the meal.
In the afternoon, the packages started arriving one after another. He got up and made several trips to the door, carrying the parcels back to his room.
The scissors made a tearing sound as they cut through the tape and cardboard boxes. He had purchased various sizes of square plastic dispensing bottles. From now on, water would be sold in these bottles, as a 250ml bottle would be too large for the little people.
The 15ml bottle was 4.9cm tall, which was somewhat acceptable for little people around 20cm tall. Qin Zhiyuan designated this as the "small bucket" water. This size could be carried back with some effort, without needing a vehicle.
A 500ml bottle of water costing one yuan could be divided into over thirty small buckets. If sold for 1 Point each, that would be 10 yuan per bucket. Over thirty buckets would amount to over three hundred yuan. With this dimensional advantage, everything became highly profitable.
The 50ml bottle, 6.7cm tall, was designated as the "medium bucket" water. The 100ml bottle, 8.6cm tall, was the "large bucket," and the 200ml bottle, 10.9cm tall, was the "extra-large bucket."
Qin Zhiyuan began filling bottles with mineral water. He had bought a large number of empty bottles and had prepared several dozen of them for now. Looking at the neatly arranged water bottles, he nodded in satisfaction.
He opened the roof again and placed the newly filled bottles one by one on the shelves. This way, the little people could simply take what they needed when shopping, saving him the trouble of having to hand it to them each time. Items appearing out of thin air would be quite frightening.
Afterward, he installed a miniature camera inside, adjusting the angle. Observing the interior at his size was too cumbersome. With the camera in place, once the little people entered, he wouldn’t have to strain himself peering inside.
Qin Zhiyuan adjusted the font size appropriately, printed price tags using a printer, attached double-sided tape, and simply stuck them onto the shelves.
He dusted off his hands and looked contentedly at the newly renovated store.
The sun gradually sank westward, dyeing the horizon in shades of orange and red. Qin Zhiyuan sat in his room, quietly waiting.
Before long, a car slowly drove into the sand table and stopped in front of the store. Han Qingying had finally brought people over.
…
The wheels spun rapidly on the ground, kicking up clouds of dust as the vehicle sped out of the parking lot, racing like the wind in the direction Han Qingying had pointed.
Along the way, Han Qingying kept her eyes fixed on the window, afraid of missing any familiar landmarks. Her hands gripped the armrests tightly, her knuckles turning white from the strain.
Li Yang, meanwhile, focused entirely on holding the steering wheel, staring straight ahead at the road. Some Mutant Beasts, hearing the commotion, chased after their vehicle, but his skillful driving—swerving left and right—shook them off.
As the truck continued forward, the surroundings gradually grew more familiar. Han Qingying’s heart hung higher and higher, her breathing becoming rapid and heavy. Finally, after turning a street corner, the mysterious store appeared before them as expected.
Han Qingying let out a deep sigh of relief.
Thank goodness. This store that had appeared out of thin air hadn’t vanished. She had been so nervous, truly afraid that everything from last night had just been a dream—a hallucination from the heat.
"This is the place!" she exclaimed excitedly, her voice filled with barely contained excitement and joy.
Li Yang slowly brought the vehicle to a stop. The team members jumped out of the truck one after another, their eyes fixed intently on the store before them, filled with shock and confusion.
Just like Han Qingying on her first visit the night before, they were utterly astonished.
They had been navigating this city for three years and were intimately familiar with every building and road. In their memory, this should have been an empty lot… When had such a store appeared out of nowhere? When was it built, and how did it just pop up?
At the entrance of the store sat the bottle of water Han Qingying had left behind, still in its original spot, waiting for her to retrieve it. It was clearly an oversized version of mineral water.
Li Yang and his teammates widened their eyes and couldn’t help but murmur in unison, "There really is… water this big."
He stared at the giant mineral water bottle in shock for a while before snapping back to reality. Waving to the team members, he said calmly, "Don’t just stand there. Let’s load the water onto the truck first."
A female team member took a deep breath. The cool air flowed through her nostrils and straight into her heart and lungs, instantly dissipating most of the stifling heat in her body. "Wait… don’t you think something feels off here?"
Only then did the team members snap out of their daze, suddenly realizing how pleasantly cool the surrounding temperature was.
The male team member beside her suddenly seemed to snap out of it, slapping his thigh in realization and exclaiming, "That's right! It's so cool here! We're in a High-Temperature Apocalypse—how can there be such a cool place?"
His voice trembled with excitement, his eyes wide with disbelief, his face a picture of astonishment.
"It's like another world, completely different from the scorching heat outside," Han Qingying murmured softly, her gaze intense.
If only they could live here, but unfortunately, this cool spot was just a small area, and the shopkeeper ran a Store, not a hotel… He definitely wouldn't allow them to sleep at the entrance and disrupt business.
"How on earth was this achieved?" Li Yang muttered to himself. Having such a cool place in a High-Temperature Apocalypse was truly unbelievable.
And this made them even more curious about the shopkeeper.
Han Qingying glanced at her large bottle of water, feeling a headache coming on. "Ah, let's move the water first."
The group sprang into action, lifting the enormous bottle of mineral water. The water was so heavy that the team members stumbled as they walked.
After some effort, they finally managed to place the water securely in the truck's cargo compartment. This was Han Qingying's payment for guiding them—she had shared this good spot with them, and Li Yang's team helped her move the water back.
Once the water was safely stored, she led Li Yang and the others to the Store entrance, knocking on the door with practiced ease. "Shopkeeper, are you there?"
Since they were already here, they might as well buy some more supplies.
"Thank you for keeping my water safe. We'd like to buy some more supplies," Han Qingying said nervously. Her belongings had been left here for so long—she hoped the shopkeeper wouldn't be angry.
"I'm here. What do you need?" Qin Zhiyuan's voice echoed out of nowhere as usual, audible but unseen, startling Li Yang and the others.
However, Han Qingying had already briefed them about the situation on the way, so they were mentally prepared.
Whether he was human or ghost, as long as they could get water and buy supplies, he was "my god"!
Noticing that the shopkeeper didn't sound angry, Han Qingying breathed a silent sigh of relief. The shopkeeper was so kind, so good.
Li Yang couldn't take his eyes off the water and eagerly asked, "Shopkeeper, do you still sell water? How much for a barrel?"
"The water is placed on the shelves inside. Small barrels are 1 Point each, medium barrels are 3 Points each, large barrels are 6 Points each, and extra-large barrels are 10 Points. If you need even larger ones, they can be custom-made."
Qin Zhiyuan adjusted the prices slightly, but overall, they remained affordable and of good quality. Han Qingying wasn't shortchanged either—she had bought around 260ml for 11 Points, which meant she actually got a good deal.
The group eagerly rushed into the Store, and as soon as they entered, their eyes were drawn to the rows of clear mineral water on the shelves.
In this High-Temperature Apocalypse, water was the scarcest resource. Seeing so much water before them made their throats unconsciously tighten, and thirst surged within them instantly.
"Oh my god, there's so much water!" a female team member couldn't help but exclaim, her voice filled with awe and delight as she licked her dry lips.
"Yeah, we're saved now!" another team member chimed in, his eyes sparkling with excitement.
They wished they could buy all the water and take it home, but a quick check of their pockets reminded them that their Points were limited. So, the group began pooling their resources, discussing their remaining Points one by one.
"I still have 26 Points here."
"I have 32 Points."
…
After pooling together, they managed to gather nearly two hundred Points.
With a grand wave of his hand, Li Yang set everyone into a bustling frenzy, hauling water onto the vehicle. Back and forth they went, panting and exhausted, yet their faces were beaming with smiles.
Standing at the checkout counter, Li Yang tallied the number and price of the water loaded onto the vehicle, his heart swelling with excitement and joy.
Just then, Han Qingying suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right, boss, do you sell any food in the store?"
"Anything edible will do, as long as it can be eaten. It doesn’t matter if it’s expired or slightly moldy…"
In the resource-scarce Post-apocalypse, food was equally precious. She had already eaten half of the expired biscuits she obtained last night, and though water was no longer a concern, she was still very hungry.
Upon hearing the inquiry, Qin Zhiyuan pondered, stroking his chin as he mentally scanned his own refrigerator. He recalled the remaining bag of bread inside.
"Do you want Toast or not?"
Author's Note: