Chapter Forty-Nine: The Campus Supermarket Booms

Gui'an No.1 High School in Gui A County.

The Tianyu Building still needed time—renovations had to proceed slowly, staff had to be hired, stock had to be filled, and the grand opening was still a long way off. For the past few days, Lu Kun had been preoccupied with the launch of the campus supermarket.

Students from Gui A County No.1 High School had gradually been returning over the past few days. The influx of people in the vicinity had surged, making it a perfect day for opening.

Everything was ready; all that was needed now was the final push.

Early morning.

Shitou arrived early, bringing with him his six "Iron Guardians."

"Wishing you prosperous business and wealth beyond measure," Shitou said, pulling a large red envelope from his jacket and handing it to Lu Kun, then giving him a hearty embrace.

Lu Kun accepted the envelope and, with a subtle movement of his thumb, gauged the amount inside.

Eight hundred and eighty-eight yuan!

Lu Kun’s gaze sharpened; Shitou’s gift was certainly generous.

"Brother Kun, wishing you great fortune and booming business every day!" piped up Bamboo Pole, whose nickname belied his cunning nature. Strangers might take him for a simpleton, but in truth, he was the shrewdest of the Iron Guardians.

Lu Kun took the flower baskets and firecrackers they had brought, and immediately had Er Ya lead them upstairs to rest for a while.

Letting them loiter at the entrance wouldn’t do—they were hardly a welcoming sight, and he didn’t want to frighten off any customers.

...

"The auspicious hour has come!"

"Light the firecrackers!"

Crackling and popping echoed as the string of firecrackers stretched the length of the street, sounding for over half an hour before finally falling silent.

...

Even though he had anticipated a crowd, the sheer scale still startled Lu Kun.

It was a veritable sea of people.

Back-to-school season didn’t just mean students returning—it meant parents coming along too.

Though the supermarket was small, occupying less than two hundred square meters, it was already packed to bursting the moment it opened.

Madam Liu was so busy at the cash register that she was nearly dizzy. Lu Kun hastily opened a second checkout and took over himself.

This was more than he had expected.

They hadn’t even done much to advertise—so why were there so many people?

Lu Kun had only hired two full-time staff: one porter and one stock clerk. The other five were temporary workers. Now, everyone was spinning in circles, working nonstop like tops.

Seeing the chaos, Shitou stationed himself at the door: partly to prevent any stampedes, partly to deter any would-be thieves from slipping out with unpaid goods.

"Da Ya, bring another bundle of exercise books down from upstairs," Lu Kun called toward the stairway.

"What?..." Da Ya shouted back.

The noise inside was deafening; it took considerable effort and frantic gestures for them to understand each other.

Lu Kun had only himself to blame—wanting to offer discounts for the opening and take care of the students, he’d underestimated the demand for school supplies, which were now running dangerously low.

Household goods were flying off the shelves as well. Laundry detergent and shampoo were nearly sold out, with restocking barely keeping pace.

Wave after wave of students swept through the store like a swarm of locusts—one crowd left, and another arrived.

Lu Kun no longer cared if the Iron Guardians looked intimidating; he had Da Ya call them down to help carry goods from the second floor.

He had dressed up specially in a suit for the opening ceremony, but now he was drenched in sweat.

He shrugged off his jacket and hung it on a chair, wiped his brow, and got back to ringing up customers.

Taking money, making change, again and again, endlessly...

Several kids hoping to sneak out without paying were quickly intercepted by Shitou and forced to the register.

"Good lord, how is business this good? Kun is going to make a killing," Shitou exclaimed, tongue lolling with amazement.

He, too, was sweating buckets, rolling his trouser legs to his knees but never taking his eyes off the shadier-looking folks in the crowd.

"Hurry, hurry! It's the shop right by the school gate—everything there is so cheap!" a group of students shouted as they dashed out of the school and squeezed into the store.

"Damn it! My shoe!" a boy yelled in frustration as his shoe was trampled off in the crush.

"Don’t pick it up yet! Wait until the crowd thins out!" Lu Kun shouted, anxiety twisting in his gut.

How could he not be anxious? If a stampede happened, the store would be shut down for good by the next day.

"Idiot! The boss told you not to pick up your shoe, so why are you still trying?" Shitou barked, seeing the boy ignore Lu Kun’s warning and stubbornly bend to retrieve his shoe. Shitou plowed through the crowd and hauled the boy out by the collar.

Lu Kun finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness for Shitou—without him, things could have gone terribly wrong.

At that moment, Shitou was philosophizing to the acne-ridden boy about the meaning of life.

...

"B-b-big brother, c-c-could you please not hit my face?" the boy stammered, terrified after being plucked from the crowd like a chick.

He felt weightless in the burly man’s grasp, as if he weighed nothing at all. "Am I really that light? I must not be eating enough," he thought gloomily.

Shitou’s brows knitted into a fierce scowl. "What do you think?!"

"I... I... I suppose that’s fine..." the boy stammered, unable to look at the giant fists, bowing his head in fear.

"As you wish!" Shitou sneered, and the boy doubled over, bracing himself.

Chuckling as he walked away, Shitou mused, "With all those pimples, one slap and they’d all burst—how disgusting. Better not."

Lu Kun could only shake his head in exasperation.

From his vantage point, he’d seen Shitou’s stealthy maneuver clearly.

Good grief!

Shitou was becoming a master of sneak attacks! With his own reputation as the "Groin-Kicking Fiend," together they’d be invincible.

The boy who’d been ambushed was nearly dying of embarrassment, his face turning green, then white.

"What is the world coming to? I’m just a kid!" he wailed internally.

...

Outside the supermarket, the girls were gathering, faces alight with anticipation, eager to storm inside and clear the shelves. Lu Kun’s headache grew worse.

At this rate, they’d be sold out in a single day.

"Don’t fight! I grabbed this one first—there’s more in the back, no need to snatch!"

"Screw you! I saw it first—why should you get it?"

The girls, usually so sweet and demure in their white uniforms, now tossed out tough talk and curses without a second thought.

...

"Gui A County No.1 High, that’s right—yes, yes, I’m not joking, we need a restock! Hurry up, we’re almost out of merchandise!" Lu Kun shouted into the phone at the supplier.

"What? A deposit?! Deposit, my foot! If you don’t deliver the goods by tonight, you won’t see the rest of your payment!"

...

"Yes, yes, good, good—just get the goods here fast! I need them urgently!"