Chapter 496: Vegetable Freedom

Chapter 496: Chapter 496: Vegetable Freedom

’But where are the vegetables, the meat, the seafood? Where is everything? Don’t tell me I have to buy it all myself?’

He immediately went to ask the gleeful Lily Hart, pointing at the empty stalls.

"Boss Hart, where are the vegetables?" he asked, a little nervous, afraid Lily Hart would tell him a truth he didn’t want to accept.

"Come on, let’s take a look together." Lily Hart grabbed his wrist.

She unlocked his Light Brain and expertly found the [Lily Hart] app.

’Based on my experience helping so many first-prize winners set up their shops, the system would have these minor details all arranged.’

’It’d be best if there’s a button you can press to make all the stalls fill up instantly.’

’And once the stock in the stalls drops below half, you could restock with one click.’

’That would be the most convenient.’

’Otherwise... with a market this big, if he had to stock it all by himself, wouldn’t he work himself to death?’

The two of them put their heads together and, after studying it for a while, actually found the exact button Lily Hart had imagined.

One-click stocking, one-click restocking.

It was incredibly simple and convenient, so the two decided to try it.

Lily Hart pressed it tentatively, and beams of white light flashed before their eyes.

Immediately after, the stalls were filled. Lily Hart and the market owner walked over to the nearest one.

The first thing they saw was an array of lush, dewy-fresh vegetables. Every single one was incredibly fresh, some still glistening with water droplets.

Lily Hart casually picked up a head of lettuce. ’Wow, this is so crisp! It must be really sweet.’

Just looking at it made her want to take a bite.

And these yams! Each one was as thick as her wrist. They looked so starchy and tender—they had to be delicious!

Lily Hart grabbed one, planning to use it in a soup that night. And this sweet corn—every kernel was plump and golden!

After looking through just one stall, she felt that the quality of every vegetable here was top-notch!

The market owner’s eyes were shining, too, as he watched Lily Hart tuck an item into her arms every now and then.

He boldly tucked some into his own arms, planning to cook them later. He was the boss, after all.

’Taking my own vegetables... that should be okay, right?’

There were fifty stalls in total. Fifteen of them were just for vegetables.

Another fifteen sold all kinds of meat, and ten more sold various types of seafood.

The remaining ten sold grains, rice, flour, cooking oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and so on...

In short, it was completely stocked.

The two reluctantly left the vegetable section and went to the nearest meat stall.

This was a stall specializing in pork, with every cut of the pig available.

Everything was laid out neatly on the counter: pork shoulder, leg, loin, belly, rump, hock, ribs, fan bones...

It was a sea of red, looking so fresh it seemed like it had just been butchered.

Seeing all this meat and produce, Lily Hart strongly felt that every stall needed two robots.

For weighing and taking payments.

It wouldn’t work without someone there; you couldn’t stop people from causing trouble.

Lily Hart didn’t know how to choose cuts of meat or what part was best for which dish.

So, she skipped the meat stalls and headed straight for the seafood section. As soon as she got there, she could feel the air grow much more humid.

She loved shrimp, so she grabbed a draining basket and started scooping them out of the tank.

After a little while, she had a full basket of them, all still alive and kicking.

She decided to take them back and poach them. That was the only way to do justice to their delicious flavor.

’Abalone too! I’ll take a few dozen! One per person will never be enough!’

They even had mitten crabs, king crabs, and mantis shrimp. The seafood selection was also incredibly comprehensive.

Lily Hart was extremely satisfied with this market. The selection was complete, and everything was fresh!

"Are you opening today?" she asked the market owner cheerfully.

"Yes! Otherwise, these vegetables will have to sit here overnight! It’s too pitiful for them to be all alone! They must be sold!" the market owner said, full of empathy.

Lily Hart thought to herself, ’They’re not alone at all. There are so many other veggies to keep them company.’

Still, she supported his decision to open today.

But the most pressing matter was buying robots! Fifty stalls meant they needed one hundred robots.

’No problem. The basic model robots will do. They’re cheap and work well.’

She bought one hundred in one go and taught the market owner how to operate them and input their programming.

He got the hang of it after she showed him a few, and then they split up to finish the job.

In less than half an hour, they had all one hundred robots set up.

Before the grand opening, Lily Hart asked, "What’s your name?"

He replied, "My name is Rin Calloway. Just call me Cal, Boss Hart!"

Lily Hart thought, ’Could that be why he won a market?’

’Whatever.’

Grand opening!

The market doors opened. The customers outside, who had long been curious about what was inside, all swarmed in.

Seeing the entire place filled with green vegetables, they couldn’t help but feel their mouths water...

’I want this one, and that one too.’

’Later I’ll go to the appliance store and buy the cheapest little pot, then go to the convenience store and get some instant noodles.’

’Boil the noodles, toss in some vegetables, and crack an egg into it.’

’Oh my god.’

’Life is good!’

Before coming in, they had all calculated in their heads what they could buy with the few Crystal Cores they had, planning to be frugal.

But when they saw the prices—so cheap! Oh my god, you could buy a head of lettuce for less than a single Crystal Core.

They instantly felt like millionaires, able to buy tons and tons of vegetables to eat.

After the customers came in, they scattered, and soon every stall was crowded with people.

Because the prep work had been done well, the process was very smooth, and no major incidents occurred.

But Lily Hart still watched from the side for a while.

Customers picked out their desired vegetables and put them in plastic bags themselves.

They weighed the items themselves; the scale would scan the type of vegetable and display the calculated price.

Then the customer paid. This was the normal procedure.

Of course, there were exceptions. Some people with poor eyesight had to ask a robot for the price.

And if the scales were busy, a robot could temporarily take over, calculating and displaying the price.

But most of the time, the customers were very self-sufficient, so the robots stayed busy tidying up the vegetables.

’This pile has been messed up. Unacceptable. It must be tidied and arranged neatly.’

Lily Hart watched for a while, and feeling that the process was sound and every step was running normally, she was satisfied.

So, carrying the yam, corn, lettuce, shrimp, abalone, and other ingredients she had picked out, she returned to her RV, feeling delighted.

The first thing she did upon returning to the RV was arrange all the ingredients she had brought back on the dining table.

She took a few photos and posted them on the [Human Social Sphere].

She added a caption: [Waited so long for today to finally come~ We finally have a market~ This is amazing news!]

Every time information about a first-prize shop was posted, it would spark a heated discussion.

The fact that this time it was a food market was truly exciting!

Elder Shaw and the others also saw it right away, their excitement almost too much to put into words.

They had just been talking about a food market a few days ago, and now here one was.

It seemed a bank wouldn’t be far behind.

One after another, customers leaving the market also posted the photos they took to the [Human Social Sphere].

It triggered wave after wave of envy! Who would have thought that in the apocalypse, they could achieve freedom of vegetables and meat!