Chapter 108 – The Grand Shopping Spree

Seeing Ren Wenwen with her car window rolled down, the first thing that popped into Yu Sheng’s mind was the phrase “the male lead and his motorcycle make such a great ship”—his entire body visibly tensed up. Only then did his second reaction kick in, as he looked her up and down: “…Did the Special Operations Bureau send you? Have you people just set up a permanent post near my house?”

But when he said this, she was the one who froze for a moment, taking two seconds to react: “Oh, no, I just happened to be in the area on business and was passing by your place.”

Yu Sheng eyed the girl suspiciously, trying to detect traces of lying on her face, but found that she seemed to be serious.

“I’m a logistics desk worker,” Ren Wenwen added very earnestly. “Other than going out to deliver documents and run errands, I generally don’t do fieldwork—the ones stationed near your place would definitely be colleagues from the Operations Division…”

Yu Sheng actually found this amusing: “You didn’t even bother denying the ‘stationed near my place’ part.”

“You could surely guess that yourself, since No. 66 Wutong Road is a new Otherworld,” Ren Wenwen laughed. “Of course, if it bothers you, I can report back and—”

“No need. It’s not like you’d actually pull out even if I asked, so let’s skip the formalities,” Yu Sheng waved his hand dismissively. “You can neither keep tabs on me nor find No. 66 Wutong Road anyway.”

A hint of awkwardness crept into Ren Wenwen’s smile, and she quickly changed the subject: “So… you’re heading out? Want me to give you a ride? I just finished my errand and I’m heading back to the bureau. I’ve got nothing urgent right now.”

Honestly, Yu Sheng was quite hesitant at that moment.

After all, this “shipping enthusiast” before him was at a level that was genuinely hard to handle. What if she got in the car and started discussing the star-crossed love between humans and motorcycles? He truly couldn’t take that. But he only hesitated for two or three seconds before nodding: “Then thanks a lot. Head to the north end of Huaiyang Street, near the farmers’ market.”

As he spoke, he canceled the order on his ride-hailing app and got into Ren Wenwen’s car with Hu Li and Eileen.

Out of reverence for the “shipping enthusiast,” Yu Sheng didn’t even dare sit in the front passenger seat. Even though it was empty, he firmly squeezed into the back seat with Hu Li.

Eileen sat between them—because even the doll felt that human × motorcycle was a bit too avant-garde.

Ren Wenwen didn’t seem to react to any of this. She just drove while occasionally glancing at Yu Sheng through the rearview mirror. Nearly ten minutes passed before she couldn’t help saying: “Mr. Yu, when are you going to write your new book?”

She’d even used the honorific “Mr.”—but those two words only made Yu Sheng’s skin crawl.

“I’m writing, I’m writing,” Yu Sheng hurriedly adjusted his expression, though his tone was still somewhat unnatural. “I’ve been rushing the manuscript these past couple days…”

“Is the new book still in the horror-thriller genre?” Ren Wenwen immediately looked delighted. “Will previous characters make appearances? Will there be cameos from old characters like in your earlier works? Is it still set in ‘Still Water City’?”

Yu Sheng suddenly had no idea how to answer, since he hadn’t even created a document for his new book yet—hadn’t even named a new folder—and was currently stuck in a creative bottleneck caused by that cursed ship. So he could only try his best to deflect while attempting to change the subject: “…It’s a secret until the book launches. I don’t like spoilers. It’ll definitely be a good story anyway… But forget about that for now—what were you out doing today?”

“Running errands. My team leader sent me out first thing this morning to deliver documents to a ‘foreigner’ who lives permanently near here. I searched around for ages—the place where he lives is really hard to find… Though still a bit easier to find than No. 66 Wutong Road.”

“Foreigner?” Yu Sheng was somewhat curious.

“An Argladian. You know about the Argladians, right? They call themselves ‘children favored by the stars.’ They have keen perception and computational abilities when it comes to stars and the cosmos. Quite a few Argladians are interested in the unique qualities of the Borderland and have been living long-term in Boundary City to study this place. They have a pretty good relationship with the Special Operations Bureau,” Ren Wenwen said casually. “They look very similar to humans in appearance. You might have even interacted with Argladians before without realizing it…”

Yu Sheng listened thoughtfully to these marvelous facts hidden beneath Boundary City’s everyday life—things ordinary people would never encounter—when he suddenly felt the car jolt.

“We’re here,” Ren Wenwen said, turning around from the front seat.

“That fast?”

“It was close to begin with,” Ren Wenwen smiled. “Should I wait here for you? Or I could walk around with you? I know this area pretty well~”

“No, no, that’s fine,” Yu Sheng waved his hands frantically, afraid she’d use the opportunity to pry more about his new book. “We’ll be shopping for at least half the day. I won’t waste your time. Thanks!”

As he spoke, he dragged Hu Li and Eileen out of the car as if fleeing for his life.

The “shipping enthusiast” finally drove off into the distance. Yu Sheng let out a long sigh of relief, then immediately took Hu Li to a quiet corner, pulled out his phone, and opened the Frontier Communications app to search for any Special Operations Bureau “nodes” nearby.

He actually found one, right near the entrance to the farmers’ market.

He followed the phone’s navigation with Hu Li, and sure enough, found a completely deserted spot. It was an empty storefront with a “Prime Location for Rent” sign plastered on it. Despite being right in the middle of a bustling commercial area, there wasn’t a single person within a large radius of its entrance.

There was only a solitary “node” device, standing conspicuously on an open space nearby, emitting a faint hum from time to time.

Yu Sheng looked left and right, then placed his hand on the storefront entrance, held his breath in concentration, and solemnly recorded the “coordinates” of this location.

Hu Li couldn’t help but ask curiously: “Benefactor, what are you doing?”

“Saving a Door Opening waypoint,” Yu Sheng said offhandedly. “So it’s more convenient next time I come here. There’s even a Special Operations Bureau ‘node’ here—I can mooch off their Wi-Fi… er, mooch off their dispersal effect, so I won’t scare anyone when I open a door in the future.”

With no one around, Eileen wiggled a bit, poking her head out from Hu Li’s arms and curiously looking around: “There’s an Otherworld even here?”

“This shop right in front of us is marked as an L-1 level Otherworld on Frontier Communications, called ‘The Shop,'” Yu Sheng pointed at it. “Apparently it opens at midnight. If you wander in by mistake, you end up in an absurdly enormous general store. The danger level is very low—the main hazard is that everything inside is outrageously expensive, and you have to spend every last cent you have on you before you can leave… Oh, and anything you buy in ‘The Shop’ turns to sand once you step outside.”

“…What a vicious Otherworld!” the Little Doll exclaimed in shock, then couldn’t help feeling a bit emotional. “To think even Otherworlds like this exist…”

“That’s just the Borderland for you,” Yu Sheng exhaled. “You get these Otherworlds with unclear purposes that are baffling in every way. But it’s got nothing to do with us—I’m just using this place as a Door Opening waypoint.”

As he spoke, he had already finished recording the coordinates, and then began his grand shopping spree at the market according to plan.

First, he purchased enough food for Hu Li at wholesale scale—buying frozen chicken legs and rice, flour, and cooking oil in bulk here was much cheaper than at the supermarket.

The vendor, seeing this unfamiliar “buyer” purchasing in such quantities, curiously asked if he was opening a restaurant, and enthusiastically offered discounts for long-term purchases. Yu Sheng happily saved the vendor’s number, but simply couldn’t explain that he wasn’t opening a restaurant—he was here at the farmers’ market to stock up on munitions…

The kind of munitions where one cruise missile costs twenty chicken legs.

Every few boxes of goods he bought, he would take Hu Li to a secluded corner and stuff everything into her tail.

After the food shopping was more or less done, he bought large quantities of vegetable seeds and some tools that might come in handy.

Eileen couldn’t help muttering in his mind: “I’ve been wanting to ask since we left—what are you buying seeds for?”

“To farm, obviously,” Yu Sheng said matter-of-factly. “Did you forget my plan? I’m going to clear a plot of land in the valley and grow some fruits and vegetables.”

“…You’re actually serious?!” The Little Doll was completely stunned. “I thought you were joking!”

“When it comes to farming, I’m always serious,” Yu Sheng said with a perfectly straight face. “With land that good, don’t you think it’d be a waste not to grow something? Besides, all the Hunger Entities in that area are gone now—there’s no source of meat anymore. I’ve got to grow something to compensate… Oh, now that you mention it, I should also buy some chicks. Once they grow up, they can lay eggs, and I can stew them for Hu Li too. Hu Li, can your tail hold living creatures?”

Hu Li immediately nodded proudly: “Yes! As long as I use immortal arts to sustain their life force, keeping them in there for a month or two is no problem!”

Eileen went blank for a few seconds before speaking: “So you really did plan to go to the valley to ‘restock’ from the beginning! You actually feel bad that you ate all the Entity-Hunger?!”

Yu Sheng kept a straight face, looking completely serious.

But he truly did feel bad about it. If he’d known those things wouldn’t regenerate after being consumed, he should have saved one during the final “feast.” That way, he’d never have to buy meat again…

(End of Chapter)