Doomsday Grocery Store – CH269

Chapter 269

In the attic, Zhou Qi had intended to stroke the top of the boy’s head, but his hand froze midair.

“Glurk—”

His Adam’s apple moved, and his fingers suddenly curled up upon hearing Tang Yu’an’s words.

“You said… you dreamt about me last night?” His voice was a bit hoarse, and his dark eyes fixed on the boy with intensity.

Tang Yu’an nodded.

Zhou Qi’s hand, suspended in the air, slowly reached out again, gently brushing the hair that had fallen onto the boy’s forehead, his fingertips lightly touching his cheek.

Tang Yu’an stared at Zhou Qi, feeling like his actions had some kind of magical power that drew his gaze, making it hard to look away.

He could feel his heartbeat speeding up…

“What happened in the dream?” he heard Zhou Qi ask him.

Tang Yu’an’s face heated up. He bit his lip, but still honestly said, “I… I dreamt that you kissed me…”

At this point, he suddenly stopped, because—

Zhou Qi had leaned in closer. Their noses almost touched, and their heated breaths intertwined, making Tang Yu’an’s breathing grow rapid.

He couldn’t help but swallow.

Is Brother Qi going to kiss him? Tang Yu’an blinked, both nervous and expectant.

“Is there more?” Zhou Qi’s voice rang out again.

“What?”

“Besides dreaming of me kissing you, is there anything else?”

Tang Yu’an’s gaze lingered on Zhou Qi’s lips. He slightly lowered his eyes, stammering as he said, “You… you weren’t wearing clothes…”

“And then?”

“I… I don’t remember anything else…”

Zhou Qi’s palm had already cupped Tang Yu’an’s cheek. Their foreheads touched, noses barely grazing. If Zhou Qi just tilted his chin and leaned in a little more…

He closed his eyes, inhaling the boy’s warm breath, feeling like he might lose control.

In the quiet attic, their breaths grew increasingly urgent, but—

Zhou Qi ultimately withdrew, struggling to step back.

They had agreed yesterday to wait two years, to wait for An’an to grow up… How could he break that promise the very next day?

“Ah, aren’t you going to kiss me?”

Sensing his retreat, Tang Yu’an froze for a moment, then looked at him pitifully.

Zhou Qi felt his self-control being severely tested. He really wanted to pin Tang Yu’an down and kiss him deeply!

However, he couldn’t do that.

At least, if they truly ended up together, when facing Uncle Tang and Aunt Tang, he could honestly say he hadn’t tempted An’an to do anything out of line during his innocent years.

He was serious about Tang Yu’an. He could take care of him and be with him for the long run.

So, getting the approval of Tang’s family was important too.

Looking at the boy’s aggrieved expression, Zhou Qi took a deep breath, calming his emotions before half-jokingly saying, “Wasn’t there a kiss in the dream?”

“That doesn’t count! I just opened my mouth and woke up!” Tang Yu’an said, frustrated.

And it had already happened twice!

He stretched his hand out from the blanket, gently grabbing Zhou Qi’s sleeve, and softly asked, “Really, can’t you kiss me just once?”

Zhou Qi, who had just barely calmed himself, found his emotions stirred again. He gritted his teeth, finally leaning forward and gently…

He kissed the boy’s forehead.

It was a careful kiss, full of great restraint and self-control, as if afraid that he might lose control and push Tang Yu’an down.

Tang Yu’an’s eyelashes fluttered.

It was just a light kiss, like a dragonfly skimming the surface of water, gentle and soft. Yet, such a kiss made the boy’s cheeks burn with redness.

However, Zhou Qi quickly pulled away.

Tang Yu’an, with his face flushed, his heart racing, still muttered, “I meant a kiss on the lips, not… on the forehead…”

But, under Zhou Qi’s gaze, his voice gradually became quieter, and his boldness faded.

The heat rushed up again, making him want to hide back under the blanket.

“Are your pants wet?”

Zhou Qi suddenly asked, looking at him.

Tang Yu’an, wrapped in the blanket, nodded with a red face.

“Take them off.”

Tang Yu’an looked at Zhou Qi. Although embarrassed, he obediently took off his pants inside the blanket and handed them to Zhou Qi.

The soft fabric still carried the warmth of the boy’s body.

Zhou Qi curled his fingers and then took out a new pair of pants from his inventory.

“Put these on.”

Watching Zhou Qi get up to leave, Tang Yu’an hurriedly asked, “Brother Qi, where are you going?”

“Making breakfast. Also… I’ll wash your pants.”

“Oh…”

Tang Yu’an tilted his head as he watched Zhou Qi hurry downstairs.

Can’t he just use purification magic? Why does he need to wash them by hand? Of course, this thought only flashed through his mind, and he didn’t dwell on it.

The scene of Zhou Qi kissing his forehead earlier kept replaying in Tang Yu’an’s mind.

He lifted his hand to cover the spot where he was kissed.

Brother Qi’s lips were so soft…

Tang Yu’an’s face flushed as he thought about it, then pulled the pants Zhou Qi had given him into the blanket.

Zhou Qi hadn’t given him any underwear, so Tang Yu’an had to find a pair from the wardrobe himself. After putting them on, he snuggled back into the blanket.

In the darkness, he could hear sounds coming from downstairs.

The attic had poor soundproofing, and he could clearly hear the noises Zhou Qi made while moving.

In the past, these sounds had always made him feel at ease, but now…

Tang Yu’an covered his chest.

His heart was beating so fast.

Tang Yu’an turned over, wrapping himself in the blanket, hugging it like an octopus.

Sigh, when will he be able to sleep with Brother Qi again? He still didn’t like sleeping alone…

By the time Tang Yu’an went downstairs, Zhou Qi had already made breakfast.

“Brother Qi, you changed your pants too?” The boy’s sharp eyes immediately noticed the difference.

Zhou Qi paused, then casually replied, “They got dirty, so I washed them together.”

“Oh, okay.”

Tang Yu’an nodded, sat at the table, and happily picked up a bowl of porridge to drink. “It’s been so long since we had breakfast together!” he said with a smile.

Zhou Qi exhaled slowly, his face returning to normal. He nodded and said, “I won’t be away for so long again.”

“Mm-hmm!”

Until they got the dimensional positioning stone, Zhou Qi really didn’t need to rush back.

If during this time, Uncle Tang could level up to Lv25, then Zhou Qi wouldn’t have to go back. He could just send the positioning stone back through his inventory.

Before they finished breakfast, a voice message from Tang Sheng and his wife came in.

“Mom and Dad, good morning!”

“Did Xiao Qi bring someone back yesterday? Was everything okay?”

Zhou Qi nervously gripped his chopsticks, while Tang Yu’an began talking about the two successful births.

“It seems like everything went smoothly.”

The shop’s message board had posted a message in the middle of the night.

“That’s good. Anything else?” Tang Xueyun asked.

Tang Yu’an paused, glanced at Zhou Qi beside him, then mumbled, “No, nothing else, Mom, we’re eating breakfast. You should go have yours too!”

“Okay, take care.”

After a few more simple words, Tang Sheng and his wife went back to their tasks, hoping to break through level 21 soon, so they could open a new branch across the river and activate the protective barrier.

After ending the voice message, Zhou Qi visibly sighed in relief.

Tang Yu’an continued eating breakfast.

He didn’t want to tell his parents about the kisses and hugs with Brother Qi. It just felt a bit weird to talk about it.

Over the past three years, he wasn’t a little child anymore who could share everything with his parents.

Zhou Qi thought for a moment and said, “If we’re together, we’ll need Uncle Tang and Aunt Tang’s approval.”

“Mom and Dad will definitely agree!” Tang Yu’an said confidently.

Hearing Tang Yu’an’s certainty, Zhou Qi was first stunned, then smiled faintly.

If yesterday he had been uncertain, worried that Yu’an didn’t feel the same way he did, now… he was becoming more sure and more deeply involved.

After breakfast, they sat together and discussed what had happened over the past month.

Now that many regions, especially after Lin Hai Town started gaining momentum, Tang Yu’an’s points were increasing rapidly.

Currently, his points balance was over 6 million, and his experience bar was also growing quickly—he should be able to level up to Lv26 in two days.

He had gathered all the Lv3 magical furniture, even having extras, including two purple-red sleep pillows, three super-powered storage cabinets, and an automatic water-conserving insulated cup.

He had also collected 10 Lv2 magical furniture, and only needed an upgrade in merchant level to advance the shop to Lv4.

The bus route “Desolate City Haven – Jufeng Mountain – Lin Hai Town” was already completed, with passenger traffic steadily increasing.

As for the road to Lan Hu Town, due to the RV heading to Flame Dragon Fortress, the construction progress had slowed without Tang Yu’an and his team clearing the obstacles and paving part of the road in advance.

This posed a great challenge to the construction team, but it was a chance for them to truly improve their abilities.

After all, as the settlement expanded, not all roads could be paved by Tang Yu’an’s team alone—the construction team needed to stand on their own.

However, with construction robots, they could create reasonable design plans and execution strategies for any special road conditions.

As long as the construction team followed the robots’ lead, they would learn a lot and gain experience.

Regarding Lan Hu Town, Lan Yunqing had already upgraded the Lan Hu General Store to Lv2. To continue upgrading, he was stuck due to the requirements for magical furniture.

Unlike Tang Sheng and his wife, Lan Yunqing couldn’t return the magical furniture once they were upgraded.

However, after the branch’s level increased to Lv2, the number of available overnight stays had risen to 11,120. While it didn’t cover the entire population of Lan Hu Town, it was still sufficient.

Since the area of Lan Hu Forest was vast and required many soldiers to guard its perimeter, the night-shift soldiers didn’t need to be added to the overnight list for now.

Now, with a fence surrounding the area between the central town and the outer star-chain fruit plantation, the soldiers only had to guard one-third of the land at night, easing the patrol burden significantly.

When it was time to change shifts, Lan Yunqing would remove the outgoing soldiers from the list and add the incoming ones.

Although it was a bit troublesome, the soldiers were happy with it.

Now, the primary threat was mutated creatures, so they no longer needed to be as cautious of outsiders as they had been before.

After joining the Commerce God Church, with the master using a fence to enclose the Lan Hu Mother Tree within the store’s boundaries, the entire Lan Hu Forest gained the “protection of the God of Commerce”—after all, the Lan Hu Forest was the Lan Hu Mother Tree.

Now, those with malicious intentions toward the Commerce God Church or the Lanhu Forest could not enter Lan Hu Town, no matter how much they disguised themselves. Anyone attempting to harm the forest would be expelled from the town.

After confirming this, the people of Lan Hu Town fully accepted the Commerce God Church.

Their exclusion of outsiders had only been to survive in the dangerous wasteland, and if they could eliminate any “evil” from outsiders, they wouldn’t mind making a few outside friends.

“Yunqing asked me to buy magical furniture, but I haven’t responded yet,” Tang Yu’an said.

The magical furniture mainly came from the lucky wheel and the seven-day sale. Ordinary furniture, with its limited potential, basically topped out at Lv1.

To upgrade the branch to Lv3, two pieces of Iv2 magical furniture were needed.

“Let’s wait a bit,” Zhou Qi said. “The living conditions in Lan Hu Town aren’t that harsh. For now, we should focus more on Lin Hai Town and Purple Sky Fortress.”

These two regions had far larger populations than Lan Hu Town.

Tang Yu’an nodded, agreeing with Zhou Qi’s point.

At that moment, Zhou Qi suddenly asked, “Is it almost time for Hai Jing’s salary settlement?”

Tang Yu’an looked at the records and nodded. “Yes, should I assign him branch manager tasks to save on points?”

Since they now had plenty of points, he felt there might not be a need for that.

However, the monthly salary for Hai Jing and his daughter was indeed high, especially since this month they had brought in nearly 6 million points, with 300,000 in personal points and 600,000 in procurement points.

Zhou Qi shook his head. “The situation in Lin Hai Town is more complicated, and with the large population, we can’t easily give out branch manager permissions.”

Lan Hu Town’s situation was unique—there probably was no other town like it in the wasteland.

Other places would need to adopt different strategies.

“Then why did you ask?”

“We can find another way to save on points,” Zhou Qi said.

“Like what?”

“We could temporarily convert two-thirds of personal points into Peace Coins and pay salaries in Peace Coins.”

With the population and resources of Lin Hai Town, they could easily absorb the 200,000 Peace Coins.

If this was implemented, it would not only alleviate the shortage of Peace Coins in Lin Hai Town but also create an “official” way to issue Peace Coins.

Peace Coins would no longer be linked only to the Desolate City Haven but would be officially introduced by the Commerce God Church.

This would also prevent people like Silver Light and Dark Moon from exposing their identities when using Peace Coins.

“Plus, it will help promote Peace Coins and boost commerce,” Zhou Qi added.

The reason they had created Peace Coins in the first place was that bartering was inconvenient and cumbersome.

Now, with Desolate City, Jufeng Mountain, and Lin Hai Town connected, the timing was right to push for widespread use of the currency.

“This idea is great!”

Tang Yu’an looked at Zhou Qi with sparkling eyes, thinking how smart Brother Qi was.