Chapter 4
Chapter 4: The Spacetime Supermarket System
To keep random customers from “seeing a ghost,” Xiao Ying Chun didn’t open the front door that day.
She’d handle Ghost General’s pickup first. Then she’d open up like normal.
Before long, the sensor chimed again, and Fu Chen An stepped through the curtain.
His gaze locked on the neatly stacked cartons of compressed biscuits and bottled water by the door. He looked to Xiao Ying Chun. “You prepared everything?”
Xiao Ying Chun smiled, bright and businesslike. “All of it. Is it enough?”
Fu Chen An didn’t pay immediately. He walked a slow circle, eyes sweeping the shelves. “Of the foods here, which is the most filling?”
Xiao Ying Chun pointed without hesitation. “That one.” She patted the compressed biscuits. “Easy to carry and fills you up. Military rations. Soldiers use it when they have to move fast.”
Fu Chen An nodded. “How many more can you get?”
Xiao Ying Chun lifted her chin. “As many as you want.”
Fu Chen An paused, as if weighing whether she was exaggerating.
When his gaze slid toward the staircase, Xiao Ying Chun quickly explained, “Upstairs is where I live. And I don’t make these myself—I source them from a factory. Basically, a workshop.” She waved a hand like it was nothing. “It’s huge. They can produce thousands of cartons a day.”
Fu Chen An had done the calculations the night before.
Ten thousand soldiers. Two packs per person per day.
One carton held twenty packs. Three cartons could feed forty men for a day.
He stopped in front of her. “I want five thousand cartons of compressed biscuits. And five thousand cartons of water.”
Xiao Ying Chun stared at him as if he’d sprouted horns.
Five thousand and five thousand.
Ten thousand cartons.
This “ghost” was either insane or shameless.
Her mind tripped over another thought, sharp enough to make her blink. If he was a ghost… why did he need food at all?
Weren’t ghosts supposed to eat incense?
Fu Chen An seemed to anticipate her disbelief. He lifted a cloth sack roughly the size of a large trash bag. “This is a deposit. Have them make it. I’ll come tomorrow for pickup. Can you do it?”
He tossed the sack toward her.
Xiao Ying Chun reached on instinct—and nearly got dragged down with it.
Holy shit. It was heavy.
Fu Chen An caught it smoothly and set it on the counter as if it weighed nothing. “One hundred taels of gold. Deposit.” His eyes were steady. “If you deliver, I’ll pay another two hundred taels when I collect the goods.”
Xiao Ying Chun froze, her thoughts narrowing to one detail: the warmth of his fingers when they’d brushed hers.
Warm.
Not cold. Not hollow.
Not ghost-like at all.
She blurted, stunned, “You’re human?”
Fu Chen An’s eyes narrowed. “You thought I wasn’t?”
Xiao Ying Chun pointed toward the back door. “My back door opens to a dead-end. No one can leave that way. But every time you go out, you vanish.”
Fu Chen An stared, then asked slowly, “You mean… outside that door is a dead-end and no one can pass through?”
Xiao Ying Chun nodded, then pointed toward the front. “And that’s the front door.”
Fu Chen An walked straight to the front entrance and reached out.
His hand stopped an inch away, blocked by something invisible and solid.
Xiao Ying Chun’s jaw dropped.
Fu Chen An shoved forward. Hard.
That last inch never disappeared.
He tried again, bracing his shoulder, pushing with force that made armor plates scrape. Still nothing.
They looked at each other.
The silence between them felt heavier than the sack of gold.
Xiao Ying Chun swallowed, dragged over a plastic stool, and gestured. “We need to talk. Honestly.”
Fu Chen An sat. “Agreed.”
They spoke—carefully at first, then faster, the way people did when the truth finally cracked open.
When they finished, both went quiet again, like they needed the stillness to digest it.
Xiao Ying Chun exhaled shakily. “So you’re a general of Great Liang. You failed to take Yong Zhou, and now you’re camped outside it at a place called Xi Ma Town.”
Fu Chen An nodded, watching her face for signs of deception.
But Xiao Ying Chun looked only stunned—and, strangely, thrilled.
“And your ten thousand soldiers have cut-off supplies,” she continued, voice low. “You’re short on water and food. You found this doorway by accident and ended up in my shop. Now you want to buy enough supplies through me to feed your soldiers.”
Fu Chen An nodded again.
Xiao Ying Chun clenched her teeth. “And your soldiers can’t enter. Only you can.”
Fu Chen An nodded.
Xiao Ying Chun’s mind churned, then snagged on his questions from earlier. “You said… your world doesn’t have clothes like mine. You don’t always have enough food. You live with war.”
Fu Chen An’s gaze dropped for a moment, envy slipping through his control. “You’re fortunate.”
Xiao Ying Chun couldn’t help a flicker of pride. “We are.”
Then Fu Chen An looked her up and down, brows drawing together. “If your people can afford clothing, why do you—”
Xiao Ying Chun’s eyes widened. “What did you just say?”
Fu Chen An visibly backpedaled. “I spoke out of turn.” He bowed his head slightly, formal even while flustered. “I apologize, Miss Xiao. Please forgive me.”
He looked sincere. And he was her biggest customer.
Xiao Ying Chun waved a hand like she was granting mercy. “Forget it. We’re not the same kind of people. Different paths.”
Fu Chen An accepted that without argument. He rose. “Then I’ll take my leave. I’ll return tomorrow.”
Xiao Ying Chun nodded, then stabbed a finger at the sack on her counter. “Your gold had better be real. If it isn’t, I can’t get you that kind of quantity. And I won’t do business with you again.”
Fu Chen An’s eyes sharpened. “Verify it however you like. If it’s false, I, Fu Chen An, will twist off my own head for you to kick like a ball.”
Xiao Ying Chun recoiled. “Stop. I don’t want your head. I just won’t trade with you.”
Fu Chen An gave a short nod, then hauled away the compressed biscuits and Wa Ha Ha bottled water he’d purchased that day. Before he left, he placed a 50-tael silver ingot on the counter.
The curtain settled. The room went still.
Then, right beside Xiao Ying Chun’s ear, a clear chime rang out.
Ding.
“Three initial cross-spacetime transactions completed. Spacetime Supermarket terminal system activated!”
“System bound host: Xiao Ying Chun!”
“System level: Level 1.”
“System storage function activated.”
“System trading function activated.”
“Level 1 system trading spacetime: the Great Liang dynasty.”
“Level 1 system trading target: one person bound (Fu Chen An).”