Chapter 172: Store Upgrade

Without waiting any longer, Zhou Yimin recharged all the money into the store in his mind and selected the option to upgrade the store.

In an instant, the store displayed an upgrade-in-progress notice, along with a countdown timer—twelve hours, or half a day.

All Zhou Yimin could do now was wait.

During the upgrade, he couldn’t even access the backpack function of the mental store. He couldn’t retrieve any of the items stored inside, which made him a little anxious.

Fortunately, the supplies in the basement were enough to last a week or two.

By evening, Luo Dapeng came to inform Zhou Yimin that Uncle Zhang was looking for him and was waiting in the courtyard.

Zhou Yimin had originally planned to have dinner with the others at his private residence, but upon hearing this, he immediately rushed back to the courtyard.

“Uncle Zhang, what brings you here today with so much free time?” Zhou Yimin unlocked the door and invited Uncle Zhang in to sit.

Since he wasn’t home, he had locked the door, as was customary. Their courtyard had a great communal atmosphere, but still, every household locked their doors when no one was around.

It wasn’t like those ridiculous TV dramas where locking the door was considered to be breaking the harmony of the courtyard—what kind of nonsense logic is that?

When the door needs to be locked, it should be locked.

“You were looking for polyethylene film, right? I got word from a friend. The quantity you’re asking for is a bit much. He can’t give it for free—you’ll have to buy it or trade for it,” Zhang Jianshe said as he came in and looked for a seat.

Every time he visited Zhou Yimin, he’d find food laid out on the table or the cabinets stuffed full, which always left him speechless. No wonder his own daughter kept wanting to come over here.

“That’s only fair,” Zhou Yimin replied with a smile.

He hadn’t expected it for free anyway.

It was just that, at the moment, he had no money left—he’d spent it all upgrading the store.

“Uncle Zhang, what kind of goods is your friend looking for in return?” Zhou Yimin asked.

Seeing that Zhou Yimin didn’t plan to pay in cash, Zhang Jianshe nodded approvingly and said, “Grain, that sort of thing.”

Not paying in cash was actually the right call. These days, there was a heavy crackdown on profiteering. Of course, if you had to use money, it was better to do so in the name of a collective organization, like a steel plant or Zhoujiazhuang.

Purchases under a collective name weren’t likely to be investigated.

Similarly, even if trading goods, it was best to use a collective name to avoid unnecessary trouble and keep everything above board.

Right now, nearly every factory and unit was short on food. That was just the state of things.

Zhang Jianshe offered Zhou Yimin some advice.

Since the batch of polyethylene film was intended for Zhoujiazhuang anyway, he suggested getting the people from Zhoujiazhuang to handle the trade and not to do it personally.

Zhou Yimin nodded. “Uncle Zhang, that was my thought too.”

He was someone who preferred to avoid risks whenever possible.

From now on, he’d try to let Zhoujiazhuang take the lead in this kind of business.

“How exactly will the trade work?” Zhou Yimin asked again.

He was seriously tempted by the polyethylene film. With that stuff, crops could even grow in the winter.

Zhang Jianshe had already discussed terms with his friend. Now he laid it all out for Zhou Yimin. The other party wasn’t greedy or picky—both fine and coarse grains were acceptable.

Zhou Yimin nodded after hearing the details. It all sounded reasonable.

“Alright then, let’s go with that. Uncle Zhang, have their factory deliver the polyethylene film to Zhoujiazhuang, and while they’re at it, they can bring the grain back with them.”

With that business settled, the two chatted about a few other things.

When it was time for Zhang Jianshe to leave, Zhou Yimin took out two bottles of Lafite red wine and a few jin of meat jerky. He had originally wanted to give some lobster for Uncle Zhang’s family to try, but all the lobsters were stuck in the store backpack and couldn’t be retrieved for now.

“Whoa! You’ve got some serious skills, kid!”

Zhou Yimin rolled his eyes. “It’s just wine! Not like it’s some super high-end thing. With grapes, I could make it myself.”

True enough.

Zhang Jianshe chuckled. He knew Zhou Yimin had connections with capable people, so he didn’t stand on ceremony. His daughter was going to marry this guy anyway—taking two bottles of red wine wasn’t exactly overstepping.

Just as he was getting ready to leave, they heard a child singing outside.

Zhang Jianshe listened for a bit, then looked very surprised.

When did this kind of song come out? He didn’t think he’d heard it before.

Zhou Yimin said to him, “Uncle Zhang, didn’t our district say they were organizing some cultural event? Every street’s sending a representative. This song is our courtyard’s secret weapon—don’t let it slip!”

“Your courtyard wrote this yourselves?” Zhang Jianshe was even more amazed.

Zhou Yimin grinned and pointed to himself without a hint of shame. If he was going to be a culture thief this time, there was no point pretending to be modest.

“I wrote it. Eldest Uncle and the others wanted me to participate, but I didn’t have the time or energy. So I just wrote them a song and let the kids in the courtyard perform it.”

Zhang Jianshe opened his mouth but was speechless for a while.

He thought to himself: Old Zhou’s genes must be something else!

After listening to the whole song, Zhang Jianshe took his leave.

In the middle of the night, the store upgrade completed, and a “ding ding…” notification sound woke Zhou Yimin up.

He immediately opened the store to check.

His eyes widened.

The store in his mind could no longer be called a store—it was a full-blown supermarket, like a modern-day hypermarket such as RT-Mart. Almost everything for daily life was available.

Appliances, clothing, alcohol and beverages, bakery, baby and toddler section, cleaning supplies, shoes, household paper goods, gourmet section, seasonal fish and meat and vegetables…

Zhou Yimin couldn’t take it all in.

He randomly clicked on a product and found that the production dates and other details were marked as from 1960. This made him breathe a sigh of relief. Otherwise, taking these items out later would have been a pain and would’ve required repackaging.

More importantly, the 1 Yuan Flash Sale section he cared most about had also been upgraded.

Where there had only been two items before, now there were four each day—a full doubling.

The quantity was still the same though: 100 jin, 100 units, etc.

Today’s flash sale included: 100 jin of walnuts, 100 jin of sesame oil, 100 white-feathered chickens, and 100 packs of Huazi cigarettes.

Zhou Yimin didn’t hesitate—he bought all of them for 1 yuan each and stored them in his backpack.

He didn’t sleep all night, instead spending hours exploring the supermarket in his mind, familiarizing himself with the different sections, pricing, and products.

Some items were still too advanced, like the appliances—they were comparable to products from the 21st century. He even found phones and computers.

Those things were a bit much for now—he couldn’t use them even if he took them out.

After daybreak, Zhou Yimin quickly ate something and went to the steel plant.

“You want to use a vehicle? Can you even drive?” Section Chief Wang asked in surprise.

Wasn’t a tricycle or bicycle enough for you?

The steel plant had its own trucks—over a dozen, in fact. Some were managed by the logistics department.

A plant that big couldn’t function without a transport fleet.

Lending one to Zhou Yimin wasn’t a problem, but he didn’t even need a driver?

(End of Chapter)