Chapter 54: The Mysterious Storefront

Following the direction indicated by the female corpse, I looked up.

Right in front of me was a storefront, antique in appearance just like the rest of the buildings around here.

The door was one of those retro wooden ones, with a very high threshold.

In ancient times, great importance was attached to the threshold; ordinary families were not allowed to build high ones.

The higher the threshold, the higher the status.

That is why there is a common saying: "Our threshold is very high, not just anyone can enter."

It is used to describe a disparity in social standing.

I frowned slightly and looked inside, because unlike the other shops where the doors were tightly shut, this one was wide open.

Inside, there seemed to be several lit machines.

They were square-shaped, about the height of a person, and looked rather gaudy and bizarre.

What kind of high technology was this?

As a country boy, I walked inside out of curiosity, stepping over the threshold.

A wave of damp, moldy air hit me, making it obvious that no one had lived here for a long time.

Unexpectedly, the interior space was quite large, yet completely empty and desolate.

There seemed to be a backyard as well, but the door leading to it was locked.

There was only the spacious main hall upon entering, with machines placed along both sides.

It was very bright.

A light strip on the side read: [24-Hour Self-Service Business].

Things in the city are truly advanced.

The shops operate all by themselves.

Isn't this too convenient?

I randomly walked up to one of the machines and peered inside through the glass.

The items inside were very strange.

Some paper boxes were displayed on the upper tiers, covered in a bunch of crooked characters that looked like foreign words.

I couldn't understand a single thing written on them.

However, there were pictures drawn on top, depicting something that looked like plastic or perhaps rubber.

The shapes were utterly bizarre—neither round nor square.

It looked like...

I scratched my head, then instinctively glanced down at my own pants.

"Damn it!"

I cursed out loud, then bolted out with a flushed face and a burning neck, looking extremely flustered.

Seeing me run out like that, Erpang looked curious.

"Tiangang, what's going on inside? Why is your face as red as a monkey's ass just from going in once?"

With that, he made a move to go inside and take a look.

I grabbed Erpang by the arm.

"Listen, the stuff inside... isn't really suitable for a minor like you to see..."

Erpang immediately became displeased.

"What are you talking about? You're my younger brother, and you're already of age, I'm three years older than you!"

Saying this, he dropped his large bundle and walked inside, refusing to believe it.

I awkwardly stole a glance at the female corpse and noticed the corners of her mouth twitching slightly, curving upward, though she was trying hard to suppress it.

What on earth is she smiling about?

How was I supposed to have seen anything like that before!

I immediately turned to her and said, "Besides those weird things, there isn't even a bed in there. How are we supposed to sleep?"

Hearing my words and seeing that I was looking at her, the slight trace of a smile at the corners of her mouth instantly vanished. Then, she said coldly, "We'll make do for tonight. Tomorrow, we'll call the owner of this shop and buy it out."

Make do for tonight?

This...

The things inside made your face burn red just from a single glance; how is anyone supposed to sleep staring at stuff like that!

But I am a man, after all.

Being overly shy in front of a female corpse would be too embarrassing.

I could only make up an excuse.

"Making do is fine, I don't really mind, but you're a woman—isn't this a bit inappropriate?"

The female corpse replied naturally, "I don't mind."

"You..."

I was momentarily at a loss for words.

Then I continued, "Even if you think it's nothing, we don't have the money to buy this shop. It's huge inside, and there seems to be a backyard too. I only have a few hundred bucks left, and a lot of it went to travel expenses. A shop in the city must cost a fortune..."

"That is not for you to worry about!"

Just as the female corpse finished speaking, Erpang walked out, his face and neck flushed red as well, muttering curses under his breath.

"These city people have no shame at all! Putting things meant for under the covers in the middle of the night right out in the open like this!"

Erpang and I were the same, just village boys who played in the dirt every day.

At most, our wildest thoughts would be sneaking a peek at Widow Wang taking a bath, though I had never even done that.

We were just youths in the dawn of our awakening.

To look at such things so directly was more than we could handle.

It was also because our village was extremely feudal and conservative.

The female corpse, however, took it all in stride. With a flicker of her figure, she vanished directly back into the shop.

Leaving Erpang and me standing at the entrance, shivering in the chilly wind.

It was a drafty wind tunnel.

There was no one on the street.

It was gloomy, and the place was uncomfortably chilly.

Both Erpang and I felt a bit cold.

Moreover, the temperature difference in the northern region is huge.

It was hot during the day, but the weather might change tomorrow, bringing a lot of cold air at night.

I couldn't help suggesting, "Shall we... go back inside too?"

Erpang, being the stubborn mule he was, simply sat down on the curbside steps, took out a flatbread, and said while eating, "You go in if you want, I'd die of embarrassment!"

Seeing his thick-headed stubbornness acting up again, I couldn't be bothered to argue with him.

I gathered my thoughts and adjusted my mindset.

If city people thought nothing of it, then it must be nothing.

It was just us being too feudal.

To quickly integrate into society, one must be strong!

After giving myself this mental pep talk, I walked back inside as naturally as possible.

Once inside, I refused to look at those items—what the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't grieve over—and kept my gaze fixed squarely on the female corpse.

She was already sitting cross-legged against the wall, her eyes tightly closed, looking as if she were completely deaf to the affairs of the outside world.

Seeing that a woman could be so composed, I was inspired to feel a bit less distressed.

I found a spot and sat down as well.

The ground was actually quite clean.

Even though the shop was unmanned, someone clearly came to clean it regularly.

The moldy smell inside wasn't because it was dirty, but because it lacked human habitation.

I actually wanted to ask the female corpse if she had any plans, how we were going to find my family, and what our next step should be.

What was the use of buying a shop?

To sell these fake goods?

But the female corpse had zero intention of communicating with me.

She just sat there.

Bored out of my mind and genuinely hungry, I took out the dry rations I brought from home and took a couple of bites.

After about half an hour, I saw Erpang's plump figure sneaking back inside.

He walked over to me with an awkward expression.

"It's really too windy outside, it might rain tomorrow."

I couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Just like that, after a simple bite to eat, Erpang and I fell fast asleep.

In the middle of the night, I seemed to hear the sound of mice.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak—"

They kept on chirping.

Every time I opened my eyes, the sound vanished.

Moreover, the spot where the female corpse had been sitting was completely empty.

Just as I was about to go out and look for her, she returned.

Only, her lips looked exceptionally red. Could she have gone out to put on makeup in the middle of the night?

She gave me a cold glance, sat down, and said nothing more.

I had no choice but to go back to sleep.

The next morning, I was woken up by a large man.

He scanned a box in the machine with his mobile phone, and as he picked it up and walked out, he gave me a sideways glance.

"Self-service shops and ATM machines are becoming charity cases for beggars like you!"

With that, he strode toward the door.

Yet, right in the middle of an ordinary stride, he tripped on thin air and crashed to the floor.

"Thud!"

The man let out a howl.

"Ouch, damn it! You're bound to have bad luck all day if you run into beggars!"

Hearing him still cursing, the seated female corpse suddenly opened her eyes!

Seeing this, I said to her, "Let it go, he's begging for trouble with that foul mouth of his, his bad luck will catch up to him soon enough..."

After tidying up briefly, the female corpse said to me, "Call this owner immediately. Buy this shop today, we have a lot of things to handle. If you want to find your family, move your ass and be efficient!"