Chapter 20

Chapter 20: The Marshal Loves Lollipops

Cotton coats, cotton shoes, compressed biscuits—none of it would arrive in a single day.

After Xiao Ying Chun placed the order online, the seller messaged her that the earliest delivery was tomorrow.

She finally breathed easier and drove home.

Uncle Liang had already delivered the instant noodles and snacks she’d asked for, and the stock was even fuller than what Fu Chen An had cleared out last time. The shelves couldn’t stay empty—not when she still had to look like a normal shop from the street.

Uncle Liang noticed the new car parked outside her little store. He glanced at it a moment longer than necessary, then said nothing.

Xiao Ying Chun opened the warehouse and had him unload everything inside. She paid him, watched him leave, and locked up.

Front door closed.

Back door opened.

The Spacetime Supermarket was open for business.

The moment the back door swung wide, Fu Chen An stepped through as if he’d been waiting on the other side.

Xiao Ying Chun’s cheeks warmed. “General Fu… did you wait a long time again?”

“I didn’t,” Fu Chen An said. “I just kept trying to see if I could enter.”

After he’d handed over that much gold in one go, one of his deputy generals had voiced the obvious worry: if only Fu Chen An could enter the mysterious shop, and the timing was controlled entirely by Xiao Ying Chun, what if she took the money and vanished?

Fu Chen An had thought about the way Xiao Ying Chun did things and said only, “She won’t.”

The deputy general had looked at him with a kind of pity and didn’t dare bring it up again.

Still, for half a day, whenever Fu Chen An had a spare moment, he’d tried to enter—whether to silence his own unease or to prove something, he couldn’t even say.

Now, at last, he was in.

Xiao Ying Chun had changed into a dress, since she planned to go out to eat later. It was a loose, light-green linen dress—simple, comfortable, and somehow it made her look even taller.

Fu Chen An couldn’t help looking twice.

Xiao Ying Chun didn’t notice. She pointed at the instant noodles and snacks that hadn’t even been shelved yet. “They’re in. Try whatever you haven’t had before and take what you like.”

Fu Chen An scanned the pile. “I’ll take them all. They like this sort of thing.”

Then he pointed at a big bag of lollipops. “Next time, bring me more of that.”

Xiao Ying Chun blinked. “You like those?”

“My father does,” Fu Chen An said, dead serious.

In Xiao Ying Chun’s mind, an image flashed so vividly she nearly choked.

She swallowed hard and decided she didn’t need follow-up questions.

Fu Chen An pointed again, this time at the Want Want QQ gummies. “And these. Get more next time. They’ve never eaten them before. They all say they’re good—fragrant, sweet, chewy.”

Xiao Ying Chun nodded with effort. “…No problem.”

Technology changed lives.

It also changed ancient soldiers’ taste in snacks.

She explained what she’d ordered today and told him the earliest delivery would be tomorrow afternoon. “Come tomorrow afternoon. I’ll give you the first batch.”

Fu Chen An agreed—but he didn’t leave.

He stood there, eyes roaming, like a man who’d wandered into a treasure cave and couldn’t decide what to touch first.

So Xiao Ying Chun started introducing foods he hadn’t tried yet.

If the drinks had opened Fu Chen An’s eyes, the ice cream made them go wide.

“Just that cabinet,” he said, staring at the freezer, “and the… ice cream inside won’t melt?”

“That’s right.”

“And cooked dishes? If you put them in there, they won’t spoil?”

Xiao Ying Chun thought briefly. “A few months won’t be a problem.”

“Then get me a few,” Fu Chen An said at once, like he was issuing an order on the battlefield.

Xiao Ying Chun drew a slow breath, choosing her words. “General Fu… that freezer needs electricity to work.”

Fu Chen An stared. “Electricity?”

Another word he’d never heard in his life.

Xiao Ying Chun searched for a bridge he could cross. “You’ve seen thunder and lightning, right?”

He nodded.

“That lightning is a kind of electricity,” she said. “But what we use isn’t that violent. Think of lightning like a flash flood—fierce, dangerous, and gone in an instant. The electricity we use is more like a stream. Steady. Long-lasting. Controlled.”

When she finished, she looked at him, hoping she’d made it make sense.

Fu Chen An frowned, thinking for a long moment. Then he nodded. “I understand.”

Relief loosened Xiao Ying Chun’s shoulders—until Fu Chen An asked, “Then how can we get electricity?”

She met his eyes. “It’s possible to make. But for you to use it right now? That isn’t appropriate.”

“Why not?”

“An innocent man can be condemned just for holding a treasure.”

Fu Chen An understood instantly.

The Fu Family Army was already being watched, already feared. If they added something that could overturn an era—something tied to the nation’s livelihood—what would His Majesty the Emperor think?

This wasn’t like buying pots and bowls.

This was a blade laid on a table.

Fu Chen An clasped his hands and bowed deeply. “Young lady, you’ve thought it through. I’ve learned a lesson.”

Xiao Ying Chun flapped a hand, embarrassed. “Hey. I’m thinking of myself too. If something happens to you, who am I going to earn silver from?”

Fu Chen An laughed, the sternness finally cracking. “Are you always this… straightforward?”

Xiao Ying Chun scratched the back of her head with a dry smile. He was the first person to call her that.

Her parents had always said she couldn’t keep her mouth shut.

In the end, Fu Chen An packed a foam cooler full of ice cream and left, saying he wanted his men to experience the joy of eating something cold at the peak of summer.

Xiao Ying Chun called after him, “It’s icy. If you eat too much, you’ll get diarrhea.”

Fu Chen An didn’t care. “It’s fine. That medicine of yours works.”

Xiao Ying Chun: “…Fine.”

Sure enough, the commanders of the Fu Family Army went wide-eyed the instant they tasted it.

In Yong Zhou City, where yellow sand stretched as far as the eye could see, they could eat ice—ice that tasted like this?

After Fu Chen An left, Xiao Ying Chun shut the back door and opened the front.

Even if it was only for show, she still had to keep up the show.

Not long after, an air-conditioning technician arrived. When the installation finished, she handled a few walk-in purchases. By a little after five, she closed up again.

She used the Sorting System to clear away trash and dust, grabbed two bottles of Jian Nan Chun and four drinks, and drove to Yu Wei Restaurant.

She ordered dishes and tea.

Before long, her grandfather and grandmother arrived with their side of the family. Her uncle and his wife arrived too.

Then Ge Chun Yu arrived with her family.

The last time Xiao Ying Chun had seen them all together like this had been during New Year’s visits. She greeted everyone politely, smiling as if this were an ordinary family dinner.

But every gaze that landed on her carried appraisal.

Ge Chun Yu’s voice was soft. “Ying Chun, what good thing happened that you’re treating us to dinner?”

Xiao Ying Chun smiled. “Let’s eat first. We can talk after.”

Better to put food in their stomachs before anything exploded.