Chapter 6, Supermarket 3, End
Having satisfied all your shopping needs, you feel much more relaxed. Passing two hurdles has also boosted your confidence and made you more interested in browsing other products.
People always need to catch their breath. If you're always on edge, rushing to do this and that, you'll really go crazy.
There are no promotional loudspeakers like those in Huaguo Supermarket, no atmosphere covered with colorful flyers, and no enthusiastic aunties with smiling faces ready to help you or sell you something. The staff just do their own thing, even though they arrange the goods in a mess.
The variety of goods here is also not very extensive. For example, in the vegetable section, you might have noticed that the fruits and vegetables look rather bland, as if they've been picked clean. There are many small baskets, but upon closer inspection, they're all filled with different varieties of tomatoes or onions.
Interestingly, most fruits and vegetables don't have price tags. You need to find an electronic scale and weigh them, just like in China, to get the price. The difference is that you have to do all of this yourself. You have to choose whether you have packaging bags, what kind of fruits and vegetables they are, and after a series of steps, the machine will print out a barcode, which you can then stick on the product.
This self-service approach makes you marvel at its efficiency, but also makes you secretly think: "Human resources really are expensive."
The biggest difference, however, is the long bread corridor.
The variety of breads here will amaze you. Unlike the white toast and baguettes commonly found in South Korea, this supermarket called Benny is filled with breads of all colors and shapes: dark bread, whole wheat bread, sourdough bread, pumpkin seed bread... and even a kind of "beer bread" that you've never seen before.
One side has pre-packaged bread, and the other side has freshly baked bread from the supermarket.
You can take the bread yourself and then slice it to your desired thickness in the cutter. You might not be interested in the dry stuff, but watching it being cut for a while is still quite fun.
Then you went to the dairy section.
The yogurt and milk selection here is much wider, including regular milk, various types of skim milk, and even goat milk, all at very low prices. The yogurt packaging features pictures of various fruits, and some yogurt bottles are quite interestingly shaped, resembling small ceramic jars—quite exquisite.
You also found a wide variety of cheeses, from common sliced cheeses to unique blue cheeses, Brie, and even some stuffed cheeses with pickled peppers. However, just as you were about to grab one, you noticed unusual mold inside a cheese bag that still had five days left before its expiration date.
And this is not an isolated case.
Not far away, supermarket employees were nonchalantly putting cheese that had been thrown onto the room-temperature shelf back into the refrigerated display case.
Well.
You withdrew your hand.
The meat section is located in the same area as the dairy products.
The Chinese truly have a deep affection for sausages. You can see various types of sausages displayed in the freezer, including smoked sausages, white sausages, blood sausages, and Nuremberg sausages. Each sausage's label not only lists detailed ingredients but also indicates its origin and recommended cooking methods.
You were just casually looking around on your way to the exit, and now you're about to pass right by.
You return again.
Sausages should only be white and red, but here there were barbecue sausages that had turned green, probably from being mixed with too many spices.
Is it a coincidence? Or a dangerous sign?
You are thinking, but when you look up, you see a malevolent shadow in the frame of the freezer's clearly reflected image.
The man was emaciated, his hair disheveled like a clump of dead grass, his body filthy, and he was shuffling around in half-broken Birkenstocks. His bloodshot eyes, clearly revealing madness, were fixed on you, and his mouth, covered in dead skin, muttered incoherently, occasionally revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.
You have been tempered into an extremely resilient mind, and you actually resisted the urge to run away, choosing instead to quietly observe him first.
He moved slowly like a snail, and when you tentatively took a step, he remained locked on you and quickened his pace.
You turn and walk to another yogurt counter, your footsteps echoing on the tiled floor of the freezer section, while the person still follows closely behind you.
Seeing that you couldn't shake him off by circling around, you simply sped up and headed towards the exit. But with a row of freezers, his shadow appeared every few steps, and with each new appearance, the distance between you grew closer.
No matter how fast you go, he can always be a tiny bit faster than you, always staying just out of your sight.
You pass by that green sausage again.
here we go again.
With a sigh, you know you haven't done anything strange, so this is probably like a powerful monster suddenly spawning in a game. So this is how the rules use these warning signs.
Thank you, green sausage.
Even when in danger, you still maintain a great sense of humor.
You stopped wandering around and just looked back at that person.
Either avoid him or kill him.
Supermarket layouts are becoming increasingly bizarre. Shelves shift positions like crazy, sometimes blocking your way, sometimes disappearing behind you, and you always end up back in the same place—the signs on the freezers and the products inside remain completely unchanged.
It is also known that if you speed up, he will be even faster, so in the end, you will only be caught.
You try turning around, thinking that if you rush straight towards the stalker, you might be able to disrupt his path.
But when you do this, he doubles his speed, quickly evades your path, and circles around to your rear at an even faster pace than before.
And maintaining that initial speed, it will once again chase after you with a sinister grin.
His hand was almost grabbing the hem of your clothes.
And so, you finally see what he looks like.
A typical news story about idleness and high probability of addiction features homeless people as frequent subjects of suffering for foreigners.
He was also carrying a large bag, which was full of bottles.
You definitely can't get the coin out, and you can't understand what he's saying. Suddenly, a brilliant idea strikes you, and you take out an empty bottle and put it into his outstretched hand.
He was stunned.
And your chest is pounding inside.
This bottle is something you noticed while repeatedly studying the "recycling water bottles" rule in the general guidelines. After seeing on the Little Green Book that you can recycle plastic water bottles at supermarkets in the US for at least 25 cents each, you decided to carry one with you to see what it meant.
You should have recycled this bottle from the beginning, but obviously the guide in the little green book can't compare to the intricate layout of the supermarket in Germany.
You couldn't find the recycling equipment.
.
And so I kept the bottle.
Ha ha.
The man took the bottle, said a few words that were clearly not pleasant, something like "for the rude lawyer," and then staggered away.
He can say whatever he wants, you won't understand anyway ^-^
As long as the current crisis is resolved, that's fine.
The green sausage disappeared quietly, and the supermarket returned to normal.
You didn't linger any longer and quickly walked towards the cashier.
This small supermarket has at least four checkout counters. The long conveyor belt creates the illusion that it can serve customers well, but in reality, only one checkout counter is working, and the others all have a big red cross hanging on them.
The line to pay was long, but everyone kept a half-meter distance, which was tolerable.
The cashier moved slowly, and the customer wasn't in a hurry either, leisurely packing up their things.
This gives you time to observe everyone's behavior to avoid making mistakes.
As expected, an unexpected incident was about to occur. A boy with a zero above his head was paying when the cashier suddenly yelled and grabbed his wrist.
The boy screamed in terror, but to no avail.
More employees crowded around, roaring angrily. Their muscles burst through their uniforms as they pounced on him like monsters. Soon, they dislocated his arms and legs with their bare hands and stuffed them into a large pot along with his torso.
The long power cord was connected to the electric ceramic stove, and with some kind of magical heat, the boy was boiled to death in just a few seconds.
You covered your mouth in disgust, thankfully no "meaty smell" wafted out, otherwise you really wouldn't have been able to stand it.
The large pot emitted only a faint, refreshing aroma. Before long, the shop assistants, who had gone from being "them" back to being "them," were calmly pouring the large pot of liquid into molds, while the female shop assistants had already handwritten banners and hung them on the door.
You didn't dare to take a picture directly, so you scanned it with a translator and barely managed to get the meaning.
"Soap for luxury consumers is selling like hotcakes."
Now, you instantly connect what the little green book says—"Supermarkets in the US are divided into different tiers, and Benny is the lowest tier. I suggest you go shopping at better options like Lewes or Edeca"—with the scene before you.
You glanced discreetly at your shopping bag, where your little LV wallet lay.
There is no contact information for anyone else in the wallet. You have no idea of her identity in this world. Regardless of whether her original identity is wealthy, middle-class, or even a low-income international student, you just casually pick up her wallet and start using it.
It seems you weren't cautious enough.
That's right, those who leave their homes in the country should be poor.
You should quickly take your bank card out of your wallet.
After thinking about it, you used your coat as a cover to slip the wallet from your sleeve into your clothes, so that no one would notice.
Finally, it was your turn. Before scanning your items, the cashier pointed to the mirror above. You readily opened your shopping bag, revealing its empty lining.
The cashier nodded and then started working.
"Mitcatbit." For someone who relies on rote memorization, this polite phrase "pay by card" can be quite a mouthful.
But you expressed yourself perfectly.
The cashier turns the card reader towards you, and with a beep, you successfully complete the contactless payment.
Leaving the supermarket, you stand in the chilly wind, glance at your phone's screen saver, and are surprised to realize that only 45 minutes have passed that day.
Ultimately, it was a close call, but you gained a much better understanding of how the world works.
Upon entering the building, an extremely obese man blocked the already narrow passageway on the third floor.
You've seen this person among your pile of documents; it seems to be the landlord.
A note from the author:
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My goodness, Jinjiang is acting crazy...
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