Chapter 138 Since We're Here (Unedited) "As expected, they don't rip off the poor."...
Tair Membership Store is a mid-to-high-end warehouse-style membership shopping club with the most diverse product range, the best quality goods, and the best service among several neighboring cities.
In their daily lives, these people would never patronize this type of shopping mall.
According to reliable sources, in order to enter the Telecom Member Store to purchase goods, one must first pay a membership fee of 588 yuan and register as an annual member before being eligible to enter the product area.
For each of them, six hundred yuan is a huge sum of money that requires careful consideration. Whether to use it as an admission ticket to a high-end shopping mall or to buy snacks to satisfy their appetites, everyone probably already has a plan in mind.
At this moment, the seven of them stood firmly in the lobby of the Telecom Member Store, their resolve growing stronger.
Since it's free now, why not indulge in the feeling of being rich!
The passageway that used to require membership card recognition to open automatically has completely stopped working. Two barriers that do not serve any purpose at all are placed in the middle, and players can walk right in with a light push.
Shopping carts, baskets, and other necessary equipment were all piled up in a designated area. Considering the large number of people and the fact that there was still plenty of space left in the carts, Liang Jun suggested that everyone take a cart and select items they might need.
The incredibly smooth rollers made a series of sounds on the polished floor. Besides the tiles that were so clean they reflected light, what shocked Liang Jun the most was the giant shelving that resembled a hospital warehouse.
Each category of item is clearly divided into corresponding sections, from daily necessities to snacks, and from fresh produce to frozen food, offering a wide variety of goods and services.
But it seems this place had been ransacked before.
The "snack food section" closest to the entrance is almost empty; the shelves are completely bare, with only price tags still affixed, proving that those high-end imported snacks once existed here.
"There aren't even any sandwich cookies left..."
Gu Keke pushed her empty shopping cart through the aisles. "These people didn't leave us even a tiny bit of food; they took almost everything they could..."
Ge Lin moved a folding ladder that was lying to the side, while Qi Zhixia stood beside him directing him to scavenge a box of overlooked canned potato chips from the very top of the shelf.
Qi Zhixia tossed the paper tube into Gu Keke's shopping cart. She turned to look at Gu Keke and said, "This is normal. After all, in a rule-based world, every player is independent. To put it bluntly, everyone is in competition and hostility. No one is obligated to leave behind items that can save the enemy's life."
Gu Keke blinked blankly, "Then what are you doing now?"
"It's simply because I don't like potato chips." Qi Zhixia snorted and continued pushing the shopping cart deeper into the store.
Perhaps because there aren't many players left, they leisurely strolled around the huge Tel Member Shop for nearly half an hour without seeing any other humans besides their own.
Moreover, or perhaps because the inventory of the Telecom Member Store was so incredibly large, they soon discovered that, apart from the "snack food area" closest to the entrance, which was almost completely emptied, the other areas were still fully stocked.
Especially the cold storage area.
As soon as everyone set foot in this area, their eyes lit up in unison. Even Ge Lin, who had just stepped out of the ivory tower, clearly realized that these various canned foods were the most important life-sustaining meals.
Sealed metal canned foods generally have a shelf life of one to five years. These foods can not only be stored for a long time and eaten immediately after opening, but most of them are also high in sugar, oil, and calories.
In a world governed by rules, this could be considered the best food for replenishing the body's energy.
Instead of remaining stunned in place, everyone decisively began a thorough sweep of the canned goods shelves.
Although Liang Jun wasn't particularly interested in canned goods other than meat, she still picked up some canned fruit and vegetables along the way, adhering to the principle of "why not take it if it's free".
Soon, the bottom of the shopping cart was filled with colorful canned goods.
But clearly, this is far from enough.
They did not stop when passing by the "fresh produce" and "frozen produce" sections.
These ingredients, which are extremely sensitive to storage conditions, simply cannot play a long-term role in a rule-based world. Moreover, if not stored properly, these ingredients are highly likely to rot and spoil, which could even endanger the health and safety of the players.
With this in mind, the group changed course and went to the "home appliance section".
Although the entire society is currently shrouded in gloom, fortunately, the water and electricity supply here has not been ruthlessly cut off by the system. This means that if they can find a place with electricity, and use the canned food and pots and pans they have, preparing a relatively sumptuous meal would not be difficult.
The highest-end small household appliances were placed at the very top of the shelves. Fortunately, each shelf was equipped with a folding ladder, so Ge Lin and Luo Chuange used the ladders to climb to the top of the shelves and carry down the kitchen utensils that everyone needed. Then, the other people on the ground transferred them to their respective shopping carts.
The crazy yet enjoyable shopping spree has come to a temporary end.
The only downside was that Xin Sang searched the entire Telecom member store but couldn't find the compressed biscuits she was longing for.
"Such a big supermarket, and they don't even have any compressed biscuits," Xin Sang muttered as she pushed her shopping cart toward the exit. "That's just not right."
Qi Zhixia and Xin Sang had the same idea: "But it's also possible that the previous players took it first. After all, everyone's primary goal is this, so there definitely won't be much stock left."
"But at least we got these canned goods."
Liang Jun walked to the checkout counter, intending to push the shopping cart directly out of the gate. "Although it's not as filling as compressed biscuits, at least there's a decent amount, enough to last us for a while."
As soon as she finished speaking, the front of the shopping cart slammed straight into the two barriers.
It was exactly the same structure as the entrance, but for some reason, Liang Jun's shopping cart couldn't push open those two thin partitions.
Following closely behind Liang Jun was Ge Lin. Seeing that the person in front of him was not moving, Ge Lin curiously peeked out.
"What's wrong, Sister Jun? Why aren't you leaving?"
"I can't open the door."
Liang Jun tried several more times with all her might, and even went up to push it by hand several times, but the barrier still did not budge.
No one else expected to get stuck here, so the players in the back of the line consciously pushed their shopping carts to other counters, but without exception, they all ended up in the same situation as Liang Jun.
"Was this place originally sealed off?"
Jiang Zhiling asked loudly from the passageway next to her, "Should we turn back and go out through the entrance?"
That might be one solution.
Fortunately, the entrances and exits of the Telecom Member Store are horizontal, which means they don't need to take a long detour; they can simply walk from one end of the store to the other.
But they were all dumbfounded when they noticed the words on the back of the entrance barrier—
"This device is a one-way gate; you cannot leave through this passage."
"The Telecom Member Store has adopted a self-checkout system. After the customer scans and enters all the purchased items, the exit gate will open automatically."
The group stood there, propped up with their shopping carts, looking at each other in bewilderment.
Jiang Zhiling's eyes were full of doubt. "Why do we have to scan the code ourselves? Do we have to pay for it?"
“Probably not,” Liang Jun decisively denied. “Surviving players can use the world’s resources at will—that’s what the system told me before.”
She turned the shopping cart around and said, "This is probably just one way to open the door. We can go and try it out first."
Coincidentally, the entire Telecom member store had exactly eight checkout lanes, and there were seven of them. To save time, they tacitly agreed to each occupy one lane.
Liang Jun chose the same counter where she had been turned away at the beginning. Instead of immediately putting the items in her shopping cart on the counter, she carefully observed the layout of the checkout counter.
The checkout counter uses a blue and yellow color scheme throughout, with a magnetic door slightly ajar, seemingly welcoming customers. Specialized equipment such as barcode scanners, receipt printers, cash drawers, and merchandise displays are all located behind the door.
Given Liang Jun's current position, even if she were to lie face down on the counter, she wouldn't be able to reach the barcode scanner at the bottom.
She sighed helplessly and finally decided to place all the items in her shopping cart on the counter. Then she opened the counter door herself, stood in the cashier's position, and performed her so-called "self-checkout".
After the barcode scanner recognizes the product barcode, it will flash a bright red light. In addition, the product display screen connected to it will also emit a prompt sound indicating successful data entry.
The familiar recognition sounds emanating from these seven checkout counters made it seem as if this luxury shopping mall had returned to its former glory.
Liang Jun didn't buy too many items. After successfully scanning the last can of food, she casually placed the scanner on the counter and then glanced at the product display screen.
The price unit above has not changed, and the flashing screen shows that the total price of these goods is 812 yuan.
So expensive.
"As expected, they don't cheat poor people."
Liang Xun muttered a complaint under her breath, then deftly pressed the "Checkout" button on the keyboard, and the cash drawer popped out with a "bang".
The drawer was empty, without any currency. Liang Jun casually fiddled with the wallet a few times before pushing it back into place.
The display screen detected that the checkout process had been completed, and the receipt printer placed to the side began to spit out Liang Yun's long shopping receipt.
But she didn't even look at it, after all, it was just a piece of waste paper to her.
Fortunately, there was an empty trash can right next to her. Liang Jun pulled the still-warm receipt out of the machine, crumpled it up, and threw it directly into the trash can.
It was because of this action that she noticed the shopping bag hanging at the bottom of the counter.
Carrying these individual cans of food separately is not very convenient, but putting them in bags will save a lot of unnecessary trouble.
Since we're already here...
Thinking of this, Liang Jun bent down, grabbed a shopping bag, and then put all the goods on the counter into the oversized bag.
She tried to weigh it in her hands, but she had completely underestimated the weight of the pile of metal cans. Liang Jun almost lost her grip and dropped it to the ground.
Carrying it out like that is definitely not practical. Not only would it take a lot of effort, but the bag might also break halfway through.
Liang Jun decided that after the other person walked out of the counter, she would put the shopping bag into the shopping cart, push the cart out of the supermarket, and then directly load it into the trunk of her Highlander.
But before this plan could even be conceived and implemented, it was completely aborted.
Liang Jun discovered that she couldn't open the magnetic counter door.
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Author's note: The bug preventing the sending of red envelopes in the backend has been fixed!
If all goes well, I've sent them to everyone again.
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