Chapter 3
The next day, he did indeed wake up late.
But it did not matter. There was nothing urgent he needed to rush off and do. Today’s main task was still shopping.
Yesterday, Jiang Qingyu had added those vendors’ contact information. While eating brunch, he took a look through their Moments. Some of them had brought goods over in the middle of the night, whole truckloads of fresh, watery vegetables that looked extremely pleasing.
Brunch was homemade, family-style spaghetti with tomato meat sauce.
He stir-fried shredded ginger with minced beef and pork. Once the meat was cooked, he picked out the ginger shreds, added minced garlic and diced onion, and stir-fried until fragrant. Then he poured in the tomato sauce he had conveniently simmered last night, added seasonings, a little starch slurry, and cooked it into a thick meat sauce before pouring it over the spaghetti. With two fried eggs on the side, the meal left him thoroughly satisfied.
As he ate, he edited some messages asking about prices, picked a few people, sent them out, then drank beef soup while reading their replies.
If the quantity was large, the price could be cheaper. This was practically an unspoken rule between them. Jiang Qingyu knew they worked hard, so he did not bargain much, but he did make one demand: the goods had to be fresh. They could not pass off inferior products as good ones or pad the order with substandard items.
For this batch of vegetables, Jiang Qingyu rented a small truck specifically to haul the goods.
Seeing that he had such a youthful face, the vendors could not help asking a few extra questions, asking whether he was buying for a cafeteria or somewhere else, and saying they could cooperate long-term in the future and so on. Jiang Qingyu casually made up an excuse, saying he was buying them to make charity lunches.
After hearing that, the vegetable vendors fell silent for a few seconds, then took the initiative to say they would give him a discount.
Naturally, Jiang Qingyu said there was no need. When he was little, he had followed his grandparents to the market carrying shoulder poles to sell vegetables, so he knew their lives were not easy.
Of course, some of these people were simply middlemen making a bit of hard-earned money by reselling goods, and he understood that too.
But well… he deliberately asked with a smiling expression, “These vegetables are all fresh, right? They’re for children, so we can’t be careless.”
This time, the vegetable vendors were silent for even longer than before.
A few minutes later, someone laughed it off and invited Jiang Qingyu to drink tea and eat some sweet melons they had just brought over from the orchard that day. Jiang Qingyu did not refuse. He followed them over and sat for more than half an hour, paid readily, and when he came back out, the baskets and crates on the truck had clearly been touched.
Jiang Qingyu smiled without saying anything.
He was also still a child, wasn’t he? Was there a problem?
But the sweet melons just now were quite good. He could consider buying some.
After thinking it over, Jiang Qingyu asked them for the orchard’s address, planning to drive over when he had time.
After buying the vegetables, it was time for meat.
If he was buying in bulk, it was best to have it delivered directly from the slaughterhouse. Meat slaughtered fresh that day was fresh, and he could also buy a little more of the cuts he liked.
Jiang Qingyu felt like a little spinning top, constantly whirling from place to place without stopping—checking goods, buying goods, hauling goods—so busy his feet barely touched the ground.
He paid a deposit. The slaughterhouse staff still had to process the meat, and the waiting time in between was just enough for him to use the information gap and head to the next place. His time was used perfectly.
He had made the cat food in the morning. In the middle of hauling goods, he returned to the RV to heat it up for Meimei, sat with her for ten or so minutes, then hurried out nonstop to continue hauling goods.
Beef, lamb, and pork—these were the biggest part of his stockpiling today.
As one payment after another was transferred out, he was almost numb to the numbers.
The balance in his bank card repeatedly jumped back and forth. He bought things and paid for them, the supplies arrived, points were credited, and the points could be exchanged into money again. It was an endless cycle.
But watching the items in his space gradually increase, all divided into neat, clear categories, was extraordinarily satisfying at a glance. That sense of fulfillment was incomparable.
At first, he had worried about bank monitoring issues. After all, such frequent large deposits and withdrawals were still very rare. In the end, the system simply said, “I’ll handle it,” and there really had not been any problems. All the payments went smoothly.
“Alien” products were truly useful.
Unsurprisingly, once he got busy, he remained busy until evening. Jiang Qingyu truly did not have the energy to cook anymore, so he simply ate outside. In any case, he no longer needed to save money. Whatever he wanted to eat, he could just go and have it.
For dinner, he had spicy dry-pot shrimp. This restaurant had an excellent reputation. The shrimp were all very large and extremely fresh. They had been deveined in advance with their backs cut open. Every shrimp was plump and springy, so delicious he could not stop eating.
The portion of the dry pot was very generous, and the price was not expensive. There were also some side ingredients inside: rice cakes fried until the outside was slightly crisp and the inside soft and sticky, thin and crunchy rice crusts that had soaked up the flavor beautifully, and a layer of cauliflower and cabbage spread at the bottom, though there was not much of it.
Ordinary dry pots usually had a thick layer of oil at the bottom by the end, making them very greasy. But this restaurant’s version was surprisingly refreshing. Jiang Qingyu had been running around for the entire day, and his appetite was wide open. Before he knew it, he had actually finished the whole thing.
Then he took a sip of iced Coke and felt utterly refreshed.
Time to go home!
He paid the bill, then stopped by the convenience store next door and brought back a small tub of yogurt for Meimei. She liked eating this, so it could be considered today’s “hunting” result.
Meimei was indeed very happy, eating with cheerful little smacking sounds.
Jiang Qingyu had never minded little cats getting on the table. He lay beside her and watched Meimei eat for a while. Although she was a greedy little girl who was not picky and ate everything, she never wolfed down her food. She was completely different from the tiny little thing who used to lie in his palm, clutching a milk bottle with both paws and drinking from it. The older she grew, the more elegant and beautiful she became.
At the same time, the supplies he had stockpiled today finally filled the experience bar. His level jumped up by one.
The system’s voice rang out: “Congratulations on leveling up! Please choose your upgrade reward: expand the RV space / autonomous driving.”
Jiang Qingyu slowly chose “expand the RV space.”
To be honest, he was quite tempted by the autonomous driving function. After all, driving for long periods was hard on the waist and neck. If his hands could be freed, it would definitely be much more comfortable, and he would also have time to do other things.
But at this stage… it was better to expand the RV space first.
Still, Jiang Qingyu asked one more question. “If it drives by itself, will other people be able to tell? What I mean is, will it look strange?”
The system understood what he meant and answered, “Autonomous driving comes with a holographic projection system. To others, there will appear to be someone in the driver’s seat. There is no need to worry.”
Jiang Qingyu said, “That’s really nice.”
System: “The RV expansion upgrade has been completed. Please check it. Would you like an introduction?”
“Sure.” He had to use the ready-made instruction manual. Otherwise, he would not even know exactly what functions there were.
The original vehicle had not had much space. Aside from the driver’s seat, there had been a tiny living room. The dining area, refrigerator, and storage cabinets had all been crammed into that little space. The cookware and seasonings had sat pitifully beside the induction cooker, leaving Jiang Qingyu with no conditions to buy more kitchenware even if he wanted to.
At the rear of the vehicle was a single bed, and next to it was a tiny bathroom. The space had been somewhat cramped.
Because Jiang Qingyu had moved all his possessions into the RV, the storage cabinets were packed full. Although Meimei usually ate with him, she still needed a litter box and cat climbing frame, which was why the workers who came to install the machines that day had advised him not to add any large appliances to the vehicle.
But now, after the upgrade, the space had more than doubled. Not only had the driver’s area changed dramatically, becoming much more comfortable and spacious, there was also an additional electric door in the middle, separating it from the living room.
The living room had a sofa for resting and booth seating. Both sides could be expanded outward. The aisle in the middle had become wider; there was enough room to lay down a yoga mat, making it convenient for Meimei to roll around however she liked.
There was a small hidden display screen on the ceiling, as well as a liftable TV storage compartment. He could lie on the sofa to watch dramas and movies, or work in the booth seating beside it and eat with Meimei.
The kitchen and living room were separated. They were no longer pressed together like before. The integrated kitchen area allowed Jiang Qingyu to place all the kitchenware he wanted there—woks, steamers, pressure cookers, everything could work at the same time. The sink beside it was also reassuringly large.
As the system explained to him, it opened the expandable compartment to demonstrate. The space suddenly became taller and wider. Not only was Jiang Qingyu unable to react for a moment, even Meimei, who was sitting on the dining table eating yogurt, froze and tentatively meowed twice.
Jiang Qingyu patted her head. “It’s fine. Keep eating.”
Meimei hesitated for a while, but still listened to Daddy’s suggestion and lowered her head again, continuing to lick and smack away.
Past the dining area, there was another partition door, and inside was an enormous bedroom. The previous single bed had become a 1.8-meter-wide bed. The skylight design above it was still preserved. Whether he wanted to admire the night view or watch snow or rain, he could do it while lying in bed. It was incredibly comfortable.
On both sides were the bath area and the toilet. The bathroom had dry-wet separation, and the space was open and spacious. It was no longer like before, when he had to come out before putting on clothes. Now he could calmly tidy himself up inside.
Not only that, there was also an expandable cabin space that could rise upward. The system said it could be used to sun quilts, or as a second-floor observation deck where he could eat midnight snacks and enjoy the night view.
Jiang Qingyu looked around as he walked, naturally loving it more than anything. But at the same time, he was also a tiny bit worried. Everything else was fine, but the expandable cabin could not be hidden from the outside, right? Wouldn’t others then know that his plain-looking little RV had been modified to a level comparable to luxury vehicles?
The system comforted him: this expandable cabin only changed internally. From the outside, there would be no visible abnormality. Even the second-floor lift platform could have a privacy design unless he intentionally wanted to show it off.
In addition, the upgraded RV also had a one-click concealment system. If Jiang Qingyu did not want others to see it, then even if someone secretly climbed in, they would only see the interior of a small, narrow RV—cramped and entirely ordinary.
Jiang Qingyu was immediately reassured.
The system then said that the RV could be upgraded again later. At that time, the living experience would be even better than now.
Jiang Qingyu was curious. It had already reached this degree, so how could it be even better?
The system said faintly: the internal space could become longer and more spacious than a tour bus, similar to the configuration of foreign RVs worth tens of millions, and it could even build upward into a second and third floor.
Jiang Qingyu: “…”
Terrifying indeed!
Jiang Qingyu was so excited that he kept circling around the RV. His eyes were bright and sparkling, like two glass beads. He was so happy that he wished he could grow a tail like Meimei and wag it wildly.
Finally, it was no longer like before, when he could finish walking through the entire RV in just a few steps back and forth. Now he could stroll around, holding Meimei and spinning in circles inside the vehicle.
The ceiling height had also upgraded along with it. There was still quite a bit of space above his head. Jiang Qingyu had to stretch out his arm and stand on tiptoe before he could barely touch the ceiling.
The RV could be unlocked using fingerprint recognition, facial recognition, or a card. Jiang Qingyu’s surveillance equipment would arrive tomorrow: 360-degree panoramic cameras, allowing him to confirm the situation outside the vehicle from inside. To a certain extent, it could also keep away those with ulterior motives.
He walked back and forth, pulling out every storage cabinet and side-pull compartment again and again to inspect them carefully. Then he stood in front of the huge double-door refrigerator with his hands proudly planted on his hips.
Because the refrigerator was bound to the static space, it was not like the washer-dryer and dishwasher, which he had to buy himself. It had upgraded directly along with the RV, saving him another sum of money!
Suppressing his excitement, Jiang Qingyu went to the bathroom to take a shower first. When the system introduced it earlier, it had said there were hidden waterproof speakers here too. He could listen to music while showering, making it especially atmospheric.
Once the space became larger, even taking a shower was much more comfortable than before. The shower area even had a seat against the wall, which would also make it convenient for him to bathe Meimei.
The water tank and fuel tank had also expanded, while the self-cleaning system raised the living experience by a huge margin. Jiang Qingyu no longer needed to deal with the black water tank. The solar generator on the roof had better performance than traditional ones, so he no longer needed to go to campsites to charge and refill water.
In addition, the RV’s performance and power had also upgraded accordingly. Even harsh road conditions could now be handled easily. From now on, he would not need to worry about future travel.
After coming out of the shower, Jiang Qingyu’s eyes were shining. He could no longer spare the attention to keep touring the various changes in his new home.
Right now, he had only one task: Buy!
