175: Change the window to sell goods

Jiang Fei looked up at the sky.

The dark clouds that had lingered for over a month had dispersed at some unknown time, revealing a hazy crescent moon.

A hint of unease rose in her heart.

The rain stopping meant the virus had officially arrived.

The Safety Shelter had made preparations in advance, and this time, medicinal herbs would not be scarce; she and her friends would get through it smoothly.

Thinking this, Jiang Fei walked to the second floor of the branch store.

Su Liuyuan and the others had already closed their store and come over, helping Niu Er serve dishes and rice.

Through the second-floor window, the few of them also noticed that the light rain had stopped.

Yao Jin was the happiest: “This damn damp weather is finally over! I don’t have to wipe water droplets off the tiles every day anymore!”

Jiang Zhengkang subtly reminded him: “Don’t celebrate too early. Even if the light rain stops, the temperature hasn’t dropped yet.”

“When the sun comes out, with temperatures reaching 38 degrees Celsius, we’ll have to endure scorching heat again.”

“Besides, many people are catching colds now. We can’t relax our guard. What if this is a new way for God to torment humanity?”

At these words, Yao Jin couldn’t smile anymore and angrily poked his chopsticks into the coarse rice in his bowl:

“If it weren’t for those idiotic countries severely impacting the ecological environment, how would we have entered the apocalypse?”

“I’ve lived this long and haven’t even seen the ocean; it’s been polluted by those idiots.”

“I remember when the typhoon first started, the news reported a volcanic eruption in Country R, with countless casualties. I estimate the country might even be wiped out,” Su Liuyuan said, sharing his guess, as he handed each person a bottle of drinking water.

Jiang Fei: “Have you all taken the medicine Lu Yu sent?”

Everyone nodded.

The originally angry Yao Jin looked at Jiang Fei unnaturally:

“That… can I buy a special medicine from you with gold?”

“I want to give it to my dad.”

“He has medicine,” Jiang Fei had just finished speaking when a piece of cured meat appeared in her bowl.

Accompanied by Yao Jin’s extremely low voice.

“Thank you.”

“But in my eyes, you’re still a dead pauper.”

He would never forget all the gold he was swindled out of!

Jiang Fei: “...”

A son’s debt is paid by the father; she’d find an opportunity to ask his dad for some emotional damages!

—

Overnight, more people caught colds.

In the Mingshang Apartment Complex alone, more than ten people who had fainted from fever were sent away early in the morning.

The old building had poor sound insulation.

The sound of ambulances continuously coming from outside woke Jiang Fei, who was sleeping at home.

She pulled back the curtains and looked outside.

The bright sunlight made Jiang Fei reflexively squint her eyes.

Downstairs, across the street.

Two medical personnel in full protective suits carried an unconscious man into an ambulance.

His family followed closely behind.

Residents gathered around to watch the commotion, discussing.

“It’s just a cold. Just cover yourself with a quilt at home and sweat it out, and you’ll be fine. Calling the Patrol Team for an ambulance is so dramatic.”

“I don’t know, I feel like it’s not that simple. This is the 17th person to be taken away; it’s spreading too fast.”

“Don’t scare yourselves. A cold can’t kill people, can it?”

No longer interested in listening, Jiang Fei glanced at her watch. Su Liuyuan hadn’t gone to the store yet at this time.

She contacted him on the walkie-talkie.

“Are there still iron plates at the store?”

Su Liuyuan: “Yes, the iron plates and tools used during the last sandstorm are all in the Ping An Supermarket’s warehouse.”

“Come downstairs in half an hour. We’ll go to the store together to deliver goods, then seal up the windows of both stores, leaving only a small window for selling goods.”

Residents believed this was an ordinary cold because the authorities had not yet released any news about the virus.

Once the authorities released information, residents would inevitably panic.

At that time, frantic hoarding could easily lead to riots and snatch (looting) incidents.

Her store couldn’t be smashed.

After a quick wash, Jiang Fei went out and downstairs.

There was no one downstairs in Building 2. She took out a truck from outside the unit entrance.

It was loaded with boxes of instant food, fruits and vegetables, drinking water, daily necessities, books, and drought- and high-temperature-resistant sweet potato seeds.

Jiang Zhengkang and the others lived in the store. When the virus spread, it would be inconvenient for them to come out, so they needed to prepare supplies for several people.

As for the books and seeds, they were for everyone to relieve boredom.

After waiting for a while, Su Liuyuan also came downstairs and rode in Jiang Fei’s truck to the store.

Jiang Fei told Jiang Zhengkang and the others about her plan.

“The business model will be like during the sandstorm. If you want to sell goods, sell them. If not, lock the windows, read books, and plant sweet potatoes.”

“The main door must always be locked and not opened unless absolutely necessary.”

“If you encounter danger, shoot to resolve it. I’ll take responsibility for anything.”

Everyone started moving goods into both stores.

Niu Er had taught Jiang Zhengkang how to cook during this time, so he and Yao Jin moved to live at the Ping An Supermarket.

Jiang Zhengkang, Jiang Xiaoshi, and Han Yang still lived in the branch store.

After moving the goods, Jiang Fei found several large plastic sheets and several steel pipes in the store’s warehouse.

Su Liuyuan used a machine to cut and weld them, first building a mini-shed with excellent airtightness on the inside of the window near the cashier on the first floor of the branch store.

A small round table was placed at the only entrance/exit.

Alcohol, rinse-free hand sanitizer, disposable gloves, and other protective items could be placed on it.

These items also needed to be placed on the windowsill.

This way, if someone came to the window to buy goods, Jiang Zhengkang and the others could disinfect promptly, ensuring the virus wouldn’t be brought into the store.

All other windows were sealed with iron plates.

And the windows on the second floor, to prevent anyone from climbing up.

The Ping An Supermarket only had one floor.

Its only window was also at the cashier’s position.

After installing the plastic sheet mini-shed, Su Liuyuan gave the keys to the Ping An Supermarket to Niu Er for safekeeping.

The main doors of both stores were sturdy iron doors that could not be easily forced open, so they did not need to be sealed with iron plates.

To prevent customers from not knowing about window sales, Jiang Fei brought two whiteboards and wrote on them—

Purchase goods here, the main door is temporarily closed.

She had Su Liuyuan use tools to nail them outside the windows of both stores.

The clanging sounds attracted the attention of nearby shops.

The shop owners were all familiar with Su Liuyuan and curiously inquired.

“Liu Yuan, why did your Boss Jiang suddenly change to selling goods through the window?”

“I remember Boss Jiang works for the Rescue Team. Does she know some inside information?”

“We often chat about gossip. If there’s important news, you can’t hide it.”

Su Liuyuan looked at Jiang Fei, who was beside him.

This, should he say it or not?

Jiang Fei nodded slightly, signaling that he could give a reminder.

The surrounding merchants were all good people, often coming to her store to support her business, so a reminder wouldn’t hurt.

Understanding Jiang Fei’s intention, Su Liuyuan spoke very vaguely:

“Recently, many people have been catching colds and fevers. My Boss Jiang is afraid we’ll get infected, so she’s not letting customers into the store anymore.”

“Do you want to change your setup too?”

“This cold is quite serious. In Mingshang, where I live, ambulances took away more than ten people with fever and unconsciousness this morning. It was really scary.”

“Adults might grit their teeth and get through it, but it’s hard to say for children and the elderly.”

Who doesn’t have elders above and young ones below in their family?

The shop owners quickly went back and learned from Ping An to change to window sales.

Just as Jiang Fei was about to drive home, a police car stopped not far away.

Xu Qianyao rolled down the car window and called out to her: “Director Ning has something important to discuss with you.”

“Don’t go to your car; ride in mine.”

Jiang Fei got into the passenger seat: “What does Director Ning want with me?”

“He didn’t say, just told me to pick you up quickly. Director Zheng, Team Leader Yang, and Mr. Shang’s father are also there.”

Jiang Fei felt a bit panicked.

Had her killing of Mr. Shang been discovered?

It shouldn’t be!

That day, she had an Invisibility Talisman on; even ghosts couldn’t see her!