Chapter 497: Setting Up Shop

Chapter 497: Chapter 497: Setting Up Shop

Someone even posted the prices, and the netizens were floored!

[Are these prices even real? A single Crystal Core can buy two whole Napa cabbages! If you’re frugal, couldn’t that last you for ten days, even half a month?]

[Holy crap! One Crystal Core for four baby cabbages! I used to love baby cabbage, but I’ve already forgotten what it even tastes like!]

[Aaaah, why doesn’t my base have a high-speed rail station! Why is Central Command so far away!]

[Begging Boss Hart to open an online grocery market! Let us achieve vegetable freedom, too!]

[Or putting it on the delivery platform would work too! It’s all online anyway!]

[I agree with the person above. Boss Hart’s delivery platform is just so convenient! They deliver almost immediately after you pay!]

[+1,000,000!!!]

[I’m on board with my hands and feet in the air! Make it happen!]

Lily Hart saw similar comments and thought it was a brilliant idea. ’If the fruit stand can be on the delivery platform, why can’t the market?’

A woman of action, she immediately scurried off to find Sylvia Jarvis. Sylvia was busy scanning codes and shipping out orders, listening to Lily’s plan as she worked.

She had been so engrossed in shipping that she had no idea someone had scratched off a ticket for a grocery market. The moment she heard about it, she was beyond excited and immediately agreed.

’This is business knocking on our door, why wouldn’t we agree? All it means is we’ll have to buy a few more shipping robots.’

A minor detail~

So Lily Hart took Sylvia Jarvis to find Rin Calloway. The moment the three of them got together, they hatched a plan and immediately set to work.

Sylvia Jarvis had already helped several store managers get onto the delivery platform, so she was quite proficient by now. It was just that the process was a bit tedious.

First, they had to register the market on the delivery platform. Then, they had to photograph and upload all the vegetables, meats, and seafood, creating a separate product listing for each one.

The listings included information such as price, weight in grams, and so on.

You could click a listing to add it to your cart, check out, and after payment, get it delivered right to your door!

But the work of just photographing, uploading, and creating the listings was enough to completely exhaust the three of them. They rushed to get it all done, finally finishing all the uploads just before six o’clock.

And with that, the new section was officially live.

Lily Hart took a look at the new page. There were four main categories: Vegetables, Seafood, Meat, and Other. There were so many items that you could barely scroll to the bottom.

She immediately posted the link to the delivery platform on the Human Social Sphere with the caption: [The market is officially online!]

Since it wasn’t dark yet, anyone who acted fast could still buy something and put together a nice dinner.

Then it occurred to her, ’Could the home appliance store go on the delivery platform, too?’

’But what if a customer can’t figure out how to use an appliance and wants to return it? That would be a logistical nightmare!’

’They’d have to think carefully before buying, because there would be no returns or exchanges after purchase.’ Lily Hart thought it over and decided selling appliances online was a little too much trouble.

It wasn’t like food. Who would complain about food? The moment they got their hands on it, they’d just gobble it right up.

No one would even think of returning it.

So, Lily Hart shelved the idea for now. Her thoughts returned to the present, and her eyes fell back on her Light Brain. She scrolled a bit more and smiled in satisfaction.

The grocery market’s launch on the delivery platform was a success.

This sparked another wave of intense discussion, but most people skipped the talk and went straight to browsing and placing orders.

Instantly, the various stalls in the market were flooded with a massive wave of orders.

Rin Calloway was grinning from ear to ear, bustling about to help. She’d be at one stall pulling bags open for them, then at another helping to arrange vegetables.

The customers were thrilled as well.

The appearance of the market was truly a quantum leap, drastically improving everyone’s quality of life!

If they worked hard and bought a small pot from the appliance store, they could cook their own noodles and stir-fries. Wow, life was getting good.

After helping finish up with the delivery platform, Lily Hart returned to the RV.

She gazed out and saw every customer emerging from the market with faces full of joy and satisfaction.

They carried reusable cloth bags provided free by the market, emblazoned with "Lily Hart’s Market" in large letters.

One glance was enough for people to know, ’Hey, that person just came from the market! I’m so jealous!’

She decided that from now on, every time she reached a new base, she would replicate the market, the appliance store, the factory, and the clinic. Those four were the most practical businesses by far.

Besides, the market was truly well-stocked. It had all the daily necessities—rice, flour, oil, salt, sauces, and seasonings—plus things like hot pot bases. It had everything...

People could live without buying snacks at a convenience store, but they couldn’t live without buying groceries to cook and eat!

She stood there watching for a while longer, soaking in their cheerful, festive energy. It felt contagious, and the corners of her mouth lifted into a smile without her even realizing it.

Frost Shaw and the others were already busy cooking with the vegetables and meat she had brought back from the market.

The air was filled with the sound of their chatter, the CLANG of a spatula against a wok, and the rhythmic chop of a knife on a cutting board. It was so peaceful.

Lily Hart sank back into the sofa. For once, she wasn’t scrolling through her Light Brain or pondering some problem.

She was simply spacing out, letting her mind go blank.

She wasn’t sure how long had passed before Frost Shaw called out to her, "Dinner’s ready~"

’We’re so close, why is he shouting? He sounds like a farmer on a hilltop calling people in from the fields for dinner!’

Lily Hart got up, walking toward the dining table with a frown. She shot Frost Shaw a glare. "What are you yelling for?"

Frost Shaw spread his hands helplessly. "I wasn’t..."

Roman Rowe came to his defense. "He called you a few times, but you didn’t hear him."

The result was that Roman Rowe earned a glare, too. The two men glanced at each other, shared a helpless smile, and sat down.

The main topic of conversation during dinner was, of course, the new market.

Frost Shaw ladled a bowl of yam and pork rib soup for Lily Hart. "See how you like it."

Lily Hart snapped a photo of the full bowl of soup. The milky-white, sectioned pieces of yam mixed with the pork ribs looked absolutely beautiful.

She picked up a piece of yam, and it broke with the slightest pressure from her chopsticks. It was incredibly soft and starchy, with a delicate, sweet flavor and the unique aroma of yam on the palate.

’Wow... this yam is even better than the pork ribs.’

And the boiled shrimp—once you peeled the shell off, they were delicious even plain, to say nothing of how good they were with dipping sauce.

’Is this the magic of fresh shrimp? So sweet and perfectly firm!’

Then there was the freshly sliced Qingyuan chicken. Each slice was so thin it was ready to eat after just fifteen seconds in the boiling water.

Dipped in a sauce made from Thai chilies and soy sauce, it was absolute perfection. She ate one piece after another, unable to stop.

Lily Hart was completely captivated by the shrimp, the yam, and the Qingyuan chicken, and she ate with abandon.

She wasn’t even thinking about whether it went well with rice; she was full just from eating the main dishes alone.

As they ate, Leo Colby chimed in, "I took a walk through the market myself. It has absolutely everything."

Roman Rowe raised his hand. "Me too! From now on, we won’t have to buy ingredients online. It’ll be nice to browse the market instead!"

"Exactly," Frost Shaw added. "It has everything. We could eat something different every single day and not repeat a dish for a whole year!"

Everyone was thrilled with the market, their delight obvious to anyone.

Lily Hart was, too.

By the time dinner was over, it was almost closing time for the shops. Before bed, Lily Hart did her customary scroll through her Light Brain.