"No, I really can't, I'm leaving! You guys need to get the stock ready quickly!!"
"Alright then!!!"
The floor manager looked heartbroken. She really wished she could time-travel too!!!
Afterward, she went back and prepared five million in cash, waiting for the supermarket to deliver the goods. To receive the shipment, she even paid the building management to rent out a large storage bay downstairs, where she had the workers store everything. Once finished, she paid the remaining balance of three million in full. As the workers moved the goods, they whispered among themselves, but Si Jiuyue didn't pay any mind.
When darkness fell, she finished putting everything away and prepared to sleep. Upon waking, it was already noon the next day.
"Beep, countdown to time-travel: 19 hours, 59 minutes, 58 seconds!"
"Beep, countdown to time-travel: 19 hours, 59 minutes, 20 seconds!"
"Beep, countdown to time-travel: 19 hours, 59 minutes, 10 seconds!"
After a good sleep, she felt much better. She figured she should continue hoarding; she still hadn't hit Walmart or Wanda.
"Gurgle!"
She rubbed her stomach—it was starting to drum. It was time to pay tribute to her inner temple. After washing up, Si Jiuyue took out a Black Forest cake and a roasted chicken to snack on, not forgetting a frozen cola. After lunch, she checked her phone; Douyin was in a frenzy. The comments were all over the place.
"Oh my, could someone be cultivating immortality? Maybe they're heading to the deep mountains to undergo a heavenly tribulation, hence the shopping spree?"
"I heard Sam's Club was the same. That person bought so much stuff. Could they know something us ordinary folks don't?"
"Maybe there’s a zombie apocalypse coming, and they're prepping in advance."
"Another possibility: they’re about to time-travel! If I had a dimension like those people in novels, I’d empty out all these supermarkets, hahaha!"
".........."
Walmart and Wanda, upon hearing the news, began frantically restocking, praying that Si Jiuyue would return to hoard more. The floor staff, in particular, skipped their days off just waiting for her to show up so they could make a big sale. Netizens were busy guessing where the mysterious person would go next.
Si Jiuyue shook her head as she scrolled through the comments, though she "liked" one that suggested the person might be a time-traveler. That comment hit the nail on the head. Half an hour later, that specific comment became a top hit. Everyone joined in the excitement, with the comment count jumping by a hundred every minute as people chattered away.
Netizen A: "Buy sanitary pads, tissues, underwear, socks, shampoo, body wash, cosmetics. With that much wealth, you can’t use it in ancient times. The most important thing is to go where gold is sold, buy it all up—at least in ancient times, you can pawn it for silver!"
Si Jiuyue shook her head at this. Sanitary pads and tissues would be incredibly scarce in ancient times; they had so many uses.
Netizen B: "If I were time-traveling, I’d buy all the seasonings and pickled vegetables, plus daily necessities, bedding, clothes, shoes, raincoats, rainboots—and throw in a few cars too!"
Si Jiuyue thought about it. It seemed she didn't actually have any cars in her dimension, but since ancient times had horse-drawn carriages, she felt it wasn't necessary. After all, the roads were uneven, full of rocks and dirt clods. Riding a bike might just result in a nasty fall.
Netizen C: "Buy out the supermarket! And crawfish, hotpot, milk tea, burgers, fries, cola, snail noodles, hot and sour powder. That's all I can think of for now."
Si Jiuyue "liked" that one too. She was quite fond of milk tea.
Netizen D commented: "They should go to a large shopping mall and buy the entire thing."
Si Jiuyue sighed at that. Buy it? She didn't have that much money. Buy it out? She couldn't; she was truly doing her best! She kept scrolling, looking for useful suggestions. One comment caught her attention: "If you're going to time-travel, the best strategy is to build your own influence. Bring a barefoot doctor’s manual, a militia training manual, a guide to dual-use military and civilian talent, and the Thirty-Six Stratagems."
She had those books at home. But then, she suddenly realized she hadn't brought any medicine. Good heavens! This was a major oversight!
There was a private pharmacy downstairs. The owner was a single mother of two daughters, abandoned by her ex-husband who wouldn't pay a cent of child support because they weren't sons. It was pitiful to watch. Si Jiuyue often bought medicine there and heard that the pharmacy was funded by a loan secured against her only house. She sighed. The woman’s ex-husband was truly a piece of work. What was wrong with having daughters? In modern society, daughters could provide for their parents just as well as sons, and women worked just as hard. Many men weren't even half as good as women.
With her mind made up, she grabbed her keys and hurried downstairs. Just as she reached the entrance, the owner’s two daughters smiled sweetly at her.
"Sister Jiuyue, this flower is for you!"
"It's Teacher's Day today, and our teacher gave us some. They're so pretty!"
Si Jiuyue looked at the two little girls and smiled softly. She took the rose from them. The children were seven and eight, and they walked to school by themselves every day. They were so sensible. She reached out and patted their heads, laughing.
"Thank you. I need to buy some medicine today, a lot of it."
"Sister Jiuyue, are you sick?"
The little girl tilted her head, her eyes filled with concern.
"No, no, not at all. Sister Jiuyue just needs it for something."
As soon as she stepped into the pharmacy, the owner stood up to greet her. "Hey, isn't today a workday? Why aren't you at the office?"
Si Jiuyue smiled and replied, "My company assigned me to procure medicine. I heard it's all being sent to impoverished mountain areas. I thought, instead of buying it there, I’d rather buy it from you."
The owner was overjoyed. "Really? Such a great opportunity, and it falls to me?" She joked playfully with Si Jiuyue.
Si Jiuyue laughed along. "Well, we're familiar with each other, so of course I have to take care of you. Please pack everything up for me and send it to my place so my colleagues can come and pick it up."
"Oh my, are you serious?" The owner looked at her in shock, having thought Si Jiuyue was joking, but her expression didn't look like a joke at all.
"Serious, serious! As serious as it gets!"
"Alright, alright, I'll calculate it for you right away and give you a discounted price."
"Great, let me look around first."
She scanned the shelves—cephalosporins, throat lozenges, allergy medication, cold medicine, painkillers for toothaches, men’s health products, gynecological medicine, dermatological creams, prescription drugs, digestive aids, and ENT supplies. Buying everything only cost a little over a hundred thousand. Of course, mosquito repellent was a must, as were mosquito coils. In ancient times, there would be plenty of vegetation and it would be summer; there were bound to be mosquitoes on the road.
After paying, she headed straight to the next pharmacy. The pharmacy owners on the street were all thrilled; who would have thought they’d sell out their entire stock in one day? They made a killing.
By six in the evening, Si Jiuyue went to Haidilao by herself. The waitress was very thoughtful, placing a large stuffed toy in the seat opposite her. After her meal, she wandered around Wanda for a bit, ducked into the restroom, and spun the Tianling Snow Bracelet to quickly enter her dimension.
Back in the dimension, she opened the Dimension User Guide, wondering if there was any way to make things a little easier on herself.