Chapter 263
In the end, Tang Sheng and Tang Xueyun reluctantly decided to continue using the titles.
Anyway, they could change them in three months, and seeing Zhou Qi’s title gave them some comfort.
A certain “Handsome Zhou”: …
After leveling up to LV5, Tang Sheng and Tang Xueyun temporarily returned to the magical tent.
They missed their son so much and wanted to hear his voice and talk to him for a while.
Zhou Qi understood perfectly, but in order to level up quickly to LV21, he stayed at the stall to continue trading.
Tang Yu’an accepted the voice invites from both of them, and with that, the family of three was able to have a real-time conversation.
When Tang Xueyun heard her son’s voice, she couldn’t hold back her tears.
Although they had communicated through videotapes before, it was still different from a real-time conversation.
“Mom, don’t cry, I’m doing well here.”
Tang Yu’an said, “The home I built with Brother Qi now has over 50,000 people! I’m safe here and have met many kind people.”
He talked about his pets, then Old Li, Granny Guo, and Lin Zhen, Tie Jin, and other friends he had developed deep connections with.
“I’m not lonely at all here, don’t worry about me.”
But the more he said this, the more Tang Xueyun’s tears flowed, and it took a long time for her emotions to calm down.
Meanwhile, Tang Yu’an took the opportunity to share useful items with them.
Dog Bowls, Cat Teasers, and Mousetraps—though he wasn’t sure if they would work on mutated humans, they would certainly be effective against animals.
Unfortunately, the magical marbles were bound to him, so they couldn’t use them.
Then, he mentioned the Shadow Umbrella.
Because the umbrella had a spirit, Tang Yu’an didn’t want to go against its will, so he had a discussion with it.
It said it would protect Tang Yu’an’s family when needed, but most of the time, it still wanted to stay by Tang Yu’an’s side.
“When you need it, just message me. The Shadow Umbrella is really powerful. Brother Qi and I have gotten through many tough situations thanks to it.”
“Alright, alright.”
Tang Yu’an wanted to continue talking, but his mom stopped him.
“Keep these items for yourself. Once the 13th shop activates the… Guardian Barrier, as long as we don’t leave, we’ll be safe, and won’t need these.”
Tang Xueyun said, “And with the Purple Sleep Pillow, your dad and I will be safe even when we go out.”
“But you, being alone in another world, really need these.”
After her insistence, Tang Yu’an decided not to continue introducing the items and instead focused on upgrading the “Remote Item Collection” skill for them.
“Dad, Mom, you need to level up so I can grant you more permissions. Once the skill reaches a higher level, it’ll be very useful!”
Then, Tang Yu’an opened up all the items available for exchange in the wholesale mall for them.
As he was about to transfer 500,000 points to each of them, he was stopped again by Tang Xueyun.
“Don’t give us so much all at once. You’re in another world, and your home is growing so big; you’ll need money.”
In Tang Xueyun’s view, points were equivalent to money.
Tang Yu’an whispered, “But Mom, I have more than 8 million points now.”
Tang Xueyun: “…”
“Son, you really struck it rich?” Tang Sheng was also shocked.
Tang Yu’an chuckled, “Because I control a salt town. You know how important salt is.”
Both Tang Sheng and Tang Xueyun came from small towns and had never seen so much money.
From Tang Yu’an’s explanation, they finally realized that their son wasn’t just doing business or running a community.
It was more like he had built a “nation,” and he was the highest leader of that “nation.”
Though this “nation” was built on the concept of a home, their son and his employees had already begun to function like a temporary government.
An’an and Xiao Qi were only a few years old, and yet they had already created such an accomplishment!
But they didn’t let the wealth their son created cloud their judgment.
Tang Sheng said seriously, “An’an, you and Xiao Qi are doing something really great and amazing, and we’re proud of you.” “But now that you’ve built this home, you need to protect it. Don’t enrich yourselves by oppressing others, understand?”
“Mm-hmm, I understand.” Tang Yu’an nodded. “We’ll run an honest business and use real materials.”
“Exactly. Now that you’ve established a new order, you and your team must follow it too. You can’t say one thing and do another…”
Tang Yu’an nodded, responding softly.
His dad loved talking about these grand principles. He used to find it a bit annoying, but now he listened carefully, remembering every word his dad said.
He felt like he was back in the past.
Over the three years, his memories of the past had become a little hazy, but now he realized he hadn’t really forgotten.
Though they couldn’t meet in person yet, this voice call made him feel like he was back with his parents.
People only truly appreciate something after losing it, and being able to get it back made him luckier than most.
“An’an, don’t put so much pressure on yourself,” Tang Xueyun’s voice echoed again.
“Your dad has a point, but you’re grown now, and you have your own methods. The situations you face are beyond our imagination. Just do what you feel is right, and follow your conscience.”
“Remember, no matter what, your dad and I care most about your safety. Take care of yourself first, and when you have the strength, help others. Understand?”
Tang Yu’an felt warmth in his heart, his eyes starting to get a bit teary.
“Mm-hmm, I remember.”
In the end, he still transferred 500,000 points to Tang Sheng and Tang Xueyun.
Though Tang Yu’an was a bit of a money enthusiast, he was generous with his close ones, especially since he was so wealthy now.
After ending the voice call, Tang Sheng and Tang Xueyun couldn’t help but feel a mix of emotions.
“Dad, Mom, is big brother a millionaire now?”
Tang Yuxin, who had been quietly listening, leaned against Tang Xueyun after they stopped talking.
“That’s money your brother earned with his life,” Tang Xueyun pinched her nose. “You need to study hard too, so you can help your brother when you grow up.”
“I’m studying, I’m studying,” Tang Yuxin mumbled.
“Right, we can’t be looked down on,” Tang Sheng said. “Now we have starting funds, things will be much easier. We’ll make the 13th shop work!”
“Yes, that’s right!”
The family encouraged each other before leaving the magical tent.
Tang Sheng drove the truck, and they all went to the 13th shop.
Now that the 13th shop belonged to their son, those with ill intentions couldn’t get in. For them, there was no safer place than this.
Afterward, they handed Tang Yuxin over to Old Li for care.
His grandson, Lin Jiangjiang, was about the same age as Tang Yuxin and could not only be a playmate but also learn together with her.
When Lin Jiangjiang saw Tang Yuxin holding a bunch of textbooks and exercise books and handing them to him as a gift, he was stunned.
Old Li was also surprised.
He had heard that the “Pillow Superman” couple had traded supplies for books, but he hadn’t expected it to be for this purpose.
Truly a superhero family!
They reminded Tang Yuxin not to run around, and if anything went wrong, to hide in the magical tent. Then they left and swapped shifts with Zhou Qi for trading.
With Tang Sheng and Tang Xueyun’s help, the experience points increased significantly.
By evening, Zhou Qi’s experience points had increased by 10,350 points—much faster than when he leveled up alone. He should be able to reach the maximum within a week.
Because the Tang couple had already moved the truck to Shop No. 13, Zhou Qi greeted Mo Chengfei and asked him to organize a team to trade at Shop No. 13 the next day.
On the morning of the third day —
[Experience maxed out, employee level +1]
Seeing this message, Zhou Qi couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Great, the level requirement was finally met! He quickly applied for the activation of the Guardian Barrier.
After Tang Yu’an approved it, Zhou Qi temporarily ended the day’s transactions and dismissed the people still waiting outside.
In the past few days, they had completed at least one transaction with over 10,000 people in the entire base, making all of them regular customers.
The popularity of Shop No. 13 had also reached over 45,000.
Back in the shop, Zhou Qi and Tang Yu’an began to upgrade the store.
The first two levels of the branch were relatively easy to upgrade, with all other conditions met, it only cost 1,500 points to complete the upgrade.
However, upgrading to Lv3 became challenging.
[Upgrade Requirements: Merchant Level LV15, Store Popularity 50,000, Total Store Area 10,000 square meters, 5 hard upgrades, 5 items of level LV1 or above, and 2 items of level LV2 or above of magical furniture]
“The store popularity is still 4,000 points short; we can reach it tomorrow,” Zhou Qi said.
As for the 10,000-square-meter area, they could complete it simply by building a wall around the entire base.
Tang Yu’an also had quite a few magical furniture items in stock. Although the level 2 furniture was slightly fewer, they could wait until Shop No. 13 upgraded to place them back in the Desolate City home.
“Once we upgrade to level 3, the accommodation capacity will unlock to 110,000 people, easily accommodating the entire base,” Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but say. “It’s so much easier now than before.”
This was the benefit of having powerful strength!
“To keep upgrading will still be difficult,” Zhou Qi said. “We need to keep pushing forward.”
Tang Yu’an nodded in agreement.
The condition for upgrading the store to level 4 was to first meet the merchant level of LV30. He wasn’t sure how long it would take to reach this level…
“Let’s take it slow; the conditions now are much better than before!”
“Yeah.”
Next, Zhou Qi spent points and store popularity to unlock the two all-weather features of the Guardian Barrier and the night accommodation function for customers.
Soon, the list of customers who had been in contact with him in the past few days appeared on the right side of the accommodation list.
Zhou Qi didn’t rush to add them; instead, he copied the night accommodation rules from the Desolate City home.
Although he was confident in the morality of the people from the original world, the apocalypse had lasted for almost half a year, and it was better to be cautious. Therefore, the night accommodation rules were necessary to avoid unnecessary trouble.
The night accommodation rule was mandatory, which would save a lot of potential issues.
After writing the accommodation rules and adding 90% of the people in the base to the list, Zhou Qi finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“As long as we raise the store’s popularity to 50,000 points tomorrow and upgrade the store to level 3, I’ll be able to return and find you.”
His tone was filled with joy and excitement. Tang Yu’an smiled as he listened.
He thought for a moment and said, “After the upgrade, I’ll transfer the store manager position to my dad.”
The experience required for the first 20 levels wasn’t too much, so Tang Sheng could easily reach it, and the next 5 levels, at their current speed, should only take one or two months.
“Using the drift bottle to travel between worlds is still too risky; I think we can use a safer method.”
Tang Yu’an really didn’t want to go through another 20-day ordeal. This time, they were lucky, and Brother Qi successfully woke up, but what about the next time?
It would only take a little more time; he could wait.
“Having dad as the store manager is the same; as long as the conditions are met, he can also set up a teleportation array.”
He had already discussed this with his parents, and this was the final solution they came up with.
Tang Yu’an hesitated for a moment, feeling reluctant, and said, “Or do you want to stay in the original world? It could also be…”
“Don’t say foolish things,” Zhou Qi interrupted him. “I’m definitely coming back. I told you, wherever you are, that’s where I’ll be.”
Tang Yu’an smiled faintly, “Well, then let’s do it my way!”
“If we’re transferring the store manager position to Uncle Tang, we can do it now. Tomorrow, when we raise the store’s popularity, we can also help him gain experience.”
Zhou Qi said, “As for the store upgrade operation, it’s simple. I’ll teach him.”
“Okay.”
Thus, Tang Yu’an made his father, Tang Sheng, the branch manager of Shop No. 13.
Tang Sheng and Tang Xueyun, who were standing next to Zhou Qi, overheard him, so there was no need for him to relay the message.
They then returned to their rooms.
“Xiao Qi and An’an have such a good relationship,” Tang Sheng sighed as he returned to his room. “They’ve relied on each other all this time, supporting each other, it hasn’t been easy!”
Tang Xueyun nodded but didn’t respond. Instead, she furrowed her brow and seemed deep in thought.
Was she being too sensitive?
Why did she always feel like something was off?
*
The next day, Tang Yu Xin received the drift bottle that Tang Yu’an had sent back earlier.
As they had guessed, after Tang Sheng and Tang Xueyun became employees, they couldn’t receive the dream drift bottles.
However, Tang Xueyun’s drift bottle didn’t disappear and could still be sent back to Dream Sea.
Although she felt a little disappointed, knowing that they could contact their son anytime via voice chat made Tang Xueyun feel better quickly.
They dived back into their trading, starting early in the morning and managing to raise the store’s popularity by the afternoon.
The 5 hard upgrades had already been completed by Zhou Qi yesterday, leaving only the final requirement — 10,000 square meters of space.
Zhou Qi and Tang Sheng discussed it, and in the end, Tang Sheng decided, “Since 10,000 square meters only requires a radius of 57 meters, let’s just use the Guardian Barrier to expand.”
The Guardian Barrier expanded outward by 57 meters, costing 57,000 points and 5,700 store popularity.
This was much faster than building a wall, and it was permanent. From a long-term perspective, upgrading the Guardian Barrier was certainly more beneficial than constructing a wall.
“There’s one problem,” Zhou Qi said. “The surrounding houses are not ours.”
According to their previous experience in Lin Hai Town, for houses that were owned, the Guardian Barrier would actively avoid them.
Tang Sheng thought for a moment and said, “Leave this to us.”
Then, he and Tang Xueyun left Shop No. 13 and found Mo Chengfei.
Mo Chengfei looked at them in surprise. “The Peace Commerce Association wants the land of the base?”
“That’s right.”
Tang Sheng nodded. “The Self-Defense Force can still live here; everything else will stay the same. We’ll continue to protect the base from the aberrant species, but this piece of land needs to be under the Peace Commerce Association.”
Mo Chengfei opened his mouth but closed it again.
At this point, Tang Sheng continued, “You’ve seen the Guardian Barrier of our Peace Grocery Store, right?”
The Guardian Barrier had stealth capabilities at night, so when it was first activated, people in the base noticed it. But since it reappeared the next morning and due to Tang Sheng’s group’s “stealth” ability, everyone was still watching and didn’t inquire further.
“As long as it’s under the Peace Commerce Association, the barrier will gradually expand to cover the entire base.”
Tang Sheng said, “You’ll be in charge of personnel management, and as long as you follow the rules of the Peace Commerce Association, we won’t interfere.”
When Mo Chengfei heard that the Guardian Barrier could continue to expand, he was intrigued. Hearing that the Peace Commerce Association wouldn’t take away his position finally convinced him.
Of course, he still called for a meeting with the key members of the Self-Defense Force.
In the week since, the Peace Commerce Association, through distributing nearly unlimited compressed biscuits and demonstrating the power of three powerful leaders, had already gained the support of most people in the base.
Finally, the decision was made with unanimous consent!
Thus, the Peace Commerce Association obtained the land ownership of this base, and Tang Sheng successfully expanded the range of the Guardian Barrier to 10,000 square meters, upgrading Shop No. 13 to Lv3.
As a result, the accommodation capacity was increased to 110,000, allowing the remaining 10% of survivors in the base to be added to the night accommodation list!
And Zhou Qi could finally set off to return!
