Chapter 108
“This…this is…”
Old Li pointed at the building that disappeared before his eyes, so shocked that he was speechless.
"This is the safety barrier, also known as the guard barrier." Tang Yu'an explained to him with a smile, "After 6 pm, when it enters non-business hours, it will automatically open."
He bent down, picked up a stone, and threw it forward with force. The stone encountered an obstacle in the middle of the way and bounced back with a whoosh.
Tang Yu'an explained: "Not only can it hide the shop, but it can also isolate it from danger."
Old Li widened his eyes. He also bent down, picked up a stone and threw it towards the location where Building 1 was previously located, but he also encountered an obstacle.
He reached out, but did not touch anything where the stone blocked the way. Instead, he passed through it easily.
"Because you have been hired as an employee of our branch and have been granted entry, you will not be blocked." Tang Yu'an looked at Zhou Qi.
Zhou Qi nodded imperceptibly and said, "If you want to try, I can temporarily disable your permissions."
"Yes, Brother Xiaoqi is the store manager of No. 1 Store. He has management authority!"
This was also what they had discussed before.
Zhou Qi operated on the interface. He could recruit employees for No.1 Store and naturally had management authority, but Tang Yu'an's authority was higher than his.
As Zhou Qi shut off Old Li's access to the safety barrier, Old Li felt a force on his hand.
The next moment, he appeared a few meters away from where he was.
["Liangzai Zhou" has revoked your accommodation benefits]
[It is not business hours now, you cannot enter "Ping An Grocery Store No. 1"]
Looking at the system prompt, Old Li gave Zhou Qi a strange look.
"Handsome porridge?"
Zhou Qi's body froze noticeably, and he said helplessly, "Yes, it's a title given by the mysterious businessman."
Old Li nodded, remembering the bowl of bacon porridge he drank after being rescued by them.
“That’s quite fitting.”
She is beautiful and the porridge she makes is also beautiful.
Zhou Qi: “…”
Glancing at Tang Yu'an, who was holding his head high and looking extremely proud, he didn't really want to continue this topic.
Old Li continued forward, touching the invisible barrier, and couldn't help but marvel at it. "Can this barrier block all dangers?"
"The store's business hours are from 8am to 6pm. Except for employees who receive housing benefits, no one else is allowed to enter during non-business hours."
Zhou Qi said, "Also, mutant creatures that are judged to be dangerous and destructive natural disasters can be blocked."
Old Li's eyes lit up when he heard this.
"That means that except during the day, safety is basically guaranteed at night."
Of course, it is hard to say what will happen to natural disasters such as ground subsidence and earthquakes. Without a foundation, the building will collapse the moment business hours arrive, right?
But it’s already good. Now is not the time of great disaster. After decades, the intensity of natural disasters has weakened a lot.
"This is really a nearly perfect shelter..." Old Li exclaimed.
As for daytime? Being guaranteed safe for 14 hours a day is simply a luxury in the wasteland, okay?
Moreover, the light is good during the day, and the danger itself is much lower than at night. As long as you can get a good night's sleep and recharge your energy, you can deal with most dangers.
This is probably one of the things that the two young men rely on to gain a foothold in the deserted city full of crises?
And now, it has become his reliance.
Seeing Zhou Qi adding his permissions back again, even the old man Li, who had seen a lot of the world, was delighted. Looking at the two young men, in addition to warmth, he also felt deep gratitude.
At Tang Yu'an's urging, Old Li walked through the barrier and saw the building of No. 1 Store appear before his eyes again.
However, when he saw Jin Lili sitting at the door, he couldn't help but ask, "So, Tie Jin's daughter was also hired as an employee?"
Isn't this age too young?
"No." Tang Yu'an said, "This seems to be Lily's ability. When she stays with animals or plants for a long time, she will acquire the same mimicry."
Old Li suddenly realized that the protective barrier would not isolate ordinary animals and plants, which made sense.
Tang Yu'an introduced Old Li to the three little ones.
"Grandpa, they are all my pets, Yuanbao, Wangcai and Yinbi. They were originally mutant dogs in the deserted city, and now they are all our good friends."
Old Li nodded. He could feel that these three dogs were not simple and did not dare to underestimate them.
Then he suddenly asked, "Is there another cat?"
Tang Yu'an couldn't help but laugh. As expected, nothing could be hidden from Grandpa Li. He had noticed the black pearl on the way to Jufeng Town.
"Yes, that's right." Tang Yu'an nodded. "Black Pearl likes freedom, so she ran back to her own territory and only comes back occasionally."
However, when he needs her, Black Pearl will appear and respond to the call to protect him.
After introducing the two parties and instructing the pets to live in harmony with Old Li, Tang Yu'an handed Jin Lili to Old Li.
"Grandpa Li, please help look after Lily. Brother Xiaoqi and I still have things to do."
"You guys are going out?"
"No, I was just looking at the wall from outside the barrier."
"Well, okay." Old Li then sat down on the steps with Jin Lili.
The little girl looked at him curiously with a calm expression. Even though the temperature gradually dropped, she did not show any discomfort. She really seemed to have powerful supernatural powers.
Of course he didn't know this, mainly because Jin Lili was sitting on the purple carpet.
Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi ran to the outside of the barrier, looked at the wall and began to observe and explore. They were not disappointed to see that the wall was indeed exposed outside the barrier.
As mentioned before, this is a very obvious loophole. It is impossible for the system to directly incorporate the wall into the store building.
Zhou Qi looked around the store, then picked up a branch and drew on the ground.
"Finish up the walls on both sides and connect them to the outer wall of the building."
The storefront for the grocery store in the deserted city was located at the side door of a suite. A passage was created by dismantling the wall opposite the door, and the concrete walls that were removed were used to fill in the gap on both sides.
Now that the walls have been completed and connected to the building, it is equivalent to sealing the walls around No. 1 Store.
If you leave by the normal route without climbing over the wall, you can only go out through the grocery store door.
When Tang Yu'an clicked confirm on the 3D map and connected the wall to the building, Old Li, who was sitting on the steps, naturally couldn't see anything.
So when he saw Tang Yu'an jumping up and cheering, he couldn't help but show a puzzled expression.
Looking at Zhou Qi's happy smile again, he quickly realized that something good had happened that he hadn't noticed.
Old Li looked at the walls on both sides connected to the building, and suddenly thought of something. He hurriedly stood up and walked outside, dragging his leg which was a little lopsided after being bitten by a lizard.
Soon, he discovered the reason why the boys were so happy.
He was surprised to find that this time the No. 1 Store building, along with the three-meter-high wall, had completely disappeared from his sight.
The action just now taken by Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi has completely enveloped the land within the protective wall into the protective barrier!
Old Li's heart beat faster for a moment.
If they could expand infinitely like this, wouldn't it be possible to build a "fortress" of their own in the deserted city? Living in the "fortress", they no longer need to fear natural disasters and dangerous creatures.
But soon, he regained consciousness.
This protective barrier only appears at night and will temporarily lose its effect during the day.
At this scale, they can still hold the place by themselves, but if they continue to expand, they will need more manpower.
Even if the scale is only a few hundred people, the pressure will increase exponentially. Not to mention a fortress, even a town of the size of Jufeng would be difficult.
Because what we have to deal with at that time, in addition to the external environment, the most critical thing is the people's hearts.
In this wasteland, you can always use the darkest and most twisted perspective to guess people's hearts, and those people will never let you down.
Old Li looked at Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi.
If possible, he didn't want these two pure and clean teenagers to be polluted...
Old Li shook his head and brought his thoughts back.
Things are pretty good now. They live in a safe corner, and run their business with the materials they exchanged. While they live well themselves, they also help those poor people improve their lives.
That's...good enough.
Old Li turned his gaze to the towering wall.
Maybe they could reclaim the land enclosed by the wall, plant some crops, build a shed or something to protect it, and even raise some small animals...
If Lin Zhen's parrot can successfully hatch chicks, then maybe raising a flock of chickens would be a good idea?
With the support of buildings and protective barriers, they can do much more than before.
Thinking of this, a smile appeared on Old Li's face again.
Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi were also very happy.
What Old Li dared not think too deeply about was the goal that the two teenagers were working hard towards.
Of course, they did not have such ambitions to build a "fortress".
What the two teenagers want to achieve now is just to build a paradise where everyone can live and work in peace and contentment.
The people they meet and have developed feelings for in this world can be protected from natural disasters and dangerous creatures.
"Hehe, the popularity of No.1 Store has reached 78!" Tang Yu'an said happily.
The current level of No.1 Store is lv0. To upgrade to lv1, the store popularity only needs to reach 50 and the points need to be 500. This is half the upgrade requirements of the main store.
However, Tang Yu'an has no plans to upgrade the No. 1 store for the time being, and plans to wait until the branch in Jufeng Town is completed.
His points balance seemed high, but when he thought about the 9,000 points needed to build a branch and a teleportation array, it seemed insufficient.
However, the popularity is now only 22 points away from the first 100, which is still something to be happy about.
As long as you accumulate enough points, you can unlock the function of inviting customers to stay overnight, which will ensure their safety when Granny Guo and Kang Kang come to stay.
Otherwise, he could only reduce the scope of the protective barrier and leave some floors for them to live in.
They also have a 24-hour drainage card. Now that Grandpa Li has joined, they can continue to use it tomorrow...
Tang Yu'an suddenly thought of something, glanced at the countdown on the building, and then said in surprise: "Brother Xiaoqi, the countdown of the drainage card has stopped!"
Does it mean that 24 hours does not refer to one day and one night, but to 24 hours of business hours?
"Wow, even without the new diversion card, we can still attract customers tomorrow!"
From this perspective, the drainage card is really cost-effective, because the business hours are 10 hours a day, so the actual duration of a 24-hour drainage card is actually two and a half days!
Hearing their conversation, Old Li couldn't help but look at them curiously.
What is a drainage card?
He opened his mouth slightly, feeling itchy in his heart, but not sure whether he could ask this question.
Zhou Qi saw his doubts, thought for a moment, and explained, "The drainage card is a prop given to us by the mysterious merchant."
"Yes, it can help us attract customers!" Tang Yu'an continued, "This kind of prop is quite rare. We only have two."
Old Li nodded suddenly.
No wonder An An was so sure that new customers would come after hiring him as an employee.
“We received about 17 people today.”
Tang Yu'an looked at the message record and said, "Someone should come tomorrow. I'll leave it to Grandpa then."
Old Li nodded at first, then suddenly frowned and asked, "You want to go out?"
Tang Yu'an didn't hide it and pulled him into the house while saying, "Yes, Uncle Tiejin will be back tomorrow. We plan to send Lily back and then go to Jufeng Town."
Old Li's brows relaxed and then furrowed again.
He asked in confusion, "Again?"
It hadn't been long since they came back from Jufeng Town, and judging by what the children said, they planned to go by themselves this time.
"Yeah." Tang Yu'an nodded. "Grandma Guo said that the flood is coming soon. We have to race against time."
Old Li opened his mouth slightly, but in the end did not say anything to stop him.
They were not ordinary children and had many secrets that he did not know about. All he could do for the two children was to keep watch over their rear.
This may be the reason why they recommended him to the mysterious businessman.
"Will they follow us?" Old Li looked at Yuanbao and the others.
Tang Yu'an thought for a moment and shook his head: "Yuanbao, Wangcai, and Yinbi have to help us guard the house. While we're gone, I'll have to ask Grandpa to feed them."
"If everything goes well in Jufeng Town, we should be able to return soon."
"Yeah, I see."
"Then let's go eat first!"
Zhou Qi and Old Li hunted a lot of prey today. Finally, they lit a bonfire in the yard and made beggar's chicken and barbecue.
During this period, Old Li was still worried, so he climbed over the wall and went outside. He found that there was really no trace of fire leaking out, so he returned with emotion.
They sat there under the starry night, with a bonfire burning and the aroma of barbecue and wine filling the air.
They talked and laughed, without worrying that the fire and noise would attract wild animals, let alone criminals.
How long has it been since we sat together in such a relaxed and happy manner, drinking and eating meat?
Old Li felt like he was still dreaming. All this could only happen in a dream, until...
He smelled the aroma of instant noodles.
The old man's eyes suddenly lit up, even brighter than when Tang Yu'an took out the lychee wine.
Zhou Qi opened two packets of instant noodles and put them in the pot to cook. After adding seasoning, the unique and familiar aroma filled the yard.
That’s the scent!
Old Li remembered the fragrance he thought he smelled in his sleep, and now he finally realized that he was not dreaming at all.
The two kids really ate instant noodles at his house!
Old Li stared at Zhou Qi without blinking, swallowing uncontrollably.
After Zhou Qi served him a bowl, he drank the salty, fragrant and slightly spicy soup and ate the chewy and dry noodles with an expression full of enjoyment.
This fragrance...
It really is a childhood memory. I never thought that I could still eat instant noodles in this life. Old Li couldn't help but feel that he had no regrets in his life.
He chewed and savored it slowly.
Even if it's just for this bowl of instant noodles, we have to work hard to attract business and make more profits in the future.
While eating, Old Li talked to Tang Yu'an and the others about the things to pay attention to when trading, such as which goods are more valuable, whether a customer can only trade three times a day, etc.
Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi also told him all the information they had found out, including the monetary system they were planning to build.
"You guys are really amazing and have a lot of ideas." Old Li couldn't help but admire.
He was not optimistic about their issuing currency before, but after seeing what they relied on, he no longer had any objection.
He now felt that these two young men might actually be able to succeed.
After dinner, Zhou Qi carried Old Li on his back, and Tang Yu'an held Jin Lili in his arms as they went up to the ninth floor.
"The stairs have been reinforced, you can use them with confidence." The reason why he carried the old man upstairs was to save time.
Old Li fell to the ground and couldn't help but look at Tang Yu'an.
Seeing his surprise and confusion, Tang Yu'an jumped on the ground and said with a smile: "This is also taught to us by the mysterious businessman. It is not a wind-related ability."
After hearing his explanation, Old Li nodded, but the doubt in his eyes did not completely disappear.
"Grandpa, come and choose a house!"
Tang Yu'an was very happy. Although they still had some secrets hidden, they no longer needed to hide everything in Store No. 1 from Grandpa Li.
"It's still unfinished now, but once more customers come and sales go up, we can upgrade the store. Then we can directly renovate the floors and walls like we would a fence, and it will look much better and more comfortable."
As they spoke, they walked into room 902.
Old Li looked at the neat and tidy house, nodded and said, "This is already very good."
Moreover, renovation and transformation will definitely require points, so there is no need to waste them on such unimportant things.
"So Grandpa will stay here tonight?"
"good."
Although it was unfinished and the ground was made of rough cement, it was clean and dust-free because it had been swept with a gray-blue broom.
Moreover, there is a emerald green double bed.
Although this deep sleep function is of little use to him and Xiaoqige, Tang Yu'an still couldn't help but exchange one.
Look, isn’t it being used now?
And this bed is not bare. It is not only exquisitely crafted and carved with beautiful patterns, but also comes with a very comfortable mattress.
Coupled with its special functions and Yaya’s thoughtful after-sales service, the 288 points are really worth it!
Zhou Qi exchanged the gray cotton cloth for the bed and then took out the woolen quilt cover he had made earlier.
Old Li stood aside, feeling a little awkward.
Before the boys could come up with something better, he waved his hands and said, "That's fine, I'll just sleep on the floor."
To be honest, looking at this brand new bed that was very inconsistent with the wasteland style and the neat and clean quilt, Old Li didn't dare to get too close.
He went out hunting today and got covered in dust and dirt, so he was afraid of dirtying the bed.
"Grandpa, these things can be exchanged for points." Tang Yu'an said, "You don't need to feel burdened."
Old Li smiled and shook his head.
He knew that they had told him a lot that as long as he worked hard to upgrade, the mall would unlock more goodies.
But he can earn these by himself. He has hands and feet and does not need to rely on two children for support.
Seeing that he didn't listen, Tang Yu'an didn't insist anymore. There must be a process of adaptation, so just take it slowly.
"Then let's go back to the room first. You can rest early."
"Yeah, okay."
Watching the two children leave, Old Li looked at the toiletries and a basin of clean water they left behind.
He glanced again at the candlelight beside the bed—because there were no lights in the branch, they had to light candles.
Candles are something that Old Li hasn't seen in many years.
He blew out the candle, and darkness enveloped the entire room. After his eyes adjusted, he slowly exhaled.
This was the night he was familiar with.
After the two teenagers left and he was left alone, although he knew that his safety was guaranteed by the protective barrier, Old Li was still nervous.
Years of living in the dangerous wasteland have made him develop a habit.
Old Li had no intention of changing anything.
When he feels particularly sleepy, he closes his eyes and takes a nap. This short but efficient sleep is his usual way of resting.
After all, he still didn't really realize, or couldn't imagine, how his future life would change dramatically after he became an employee of No.1 Store.
For example, after a simple wash, he carefully sat on the bed. He really just wanted to sit there for a while, experience it, and then...
The next moment he fell uncontrollably on the bed, his eyes closed, and soon he began to snore loudly.
In just a moment, the old man, who was still thinking and unable to relax, fell into a deep sleep and lost consciousness.
It was not until the next day when Tang Yu'an came to call him to get up that Old Li woke up with a confused look on his face.
"Grandpa, did you sleep well last night?" the boy asked with a smile.
Old Li looked at him blankly and nodded hesitantly.
He had no recollection of when he fell asleep or when he lay down in bed. It was as if the moment he closed his eyes and opened them the next day it was already dawn.
But this feeling of being refreshed and full of energy...
Old Li stood up and gestured. He was in very good condition now. He felt that his leg, which had been injured after being bitten by a lizard, was feeling better.
What is going on?
Old Li still couldn't believe that he had fallen into a deep sleep in an unfamiliar place last night.
Tang Yu'an chuckled and didn't explain much.
"Let's go have breakfast!"
“…Okay.”
After dinner, before eight o'clock, Tang Yu'an and Zhou Qi said goodbye to Old Li and the pets, and then left Store No. 1 with Jin Lili.
Because he saw on the map that Tiejin had returned with Alian.
The author has something to say:
Old Li: There’s no way I can fall asleep!
Anzai: Really?
Old Li: ...zzzzz
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