Universe Infinite Canteen

17:05, Ma Lu sold the last pack of Queen's Crisps and went home with Old Wang after closing up shop.

Because he had upgraded the Traveler's Bracelet by two levels, the hunting trip took two hours longer than usual, and he didn't get home until almost 7 a.m.

Therefore, setting up their stall was pushed back accordingly, and they didn't head out until the afternoon—preparing only 800 portions.

At the end of the day, they took in a total of 14,400 yuan, with costs amounting to 415.8 yuan, leaving a profit of 13,984.2 yuan—it was truly a sizable daily income.

Once they increased their stock in the future, that number was expected to rise significantly.

Ma Lu felt that at this rate, it wouldn't be long before he could start looking at cars.

But it wasn't enough. Ma Lu admitted to himself that he was a very vulgar person, filled with all kinds of worldly desires.

Just the other day, while browsing Bilibili, he saw a foreign content creator showing off his 90-square-meter private gaming room, which suddenly made his newly bought 85-inch TV seem less appealing.

Wouldn't he need to get one for himself?!

And a gym, swimming pool, physiotherapist... Although Ma Lu didn't even have a house yet, his daring to dream knew no bounds.

If people don't have dreams, what makes them any different from salted fish?!

Thus, the project of opening a shop had to continue. With a shop, they could sell at higher prices and utilize food delivery platforms like Meituan and Ele.me to reach a larger surrounding area.

With that in mind, after packing up for the day, Ma Lu detoured to Fragrant Garden East Road once again.

This was his fourth visit to Jin Xin Plumbing and Hardware Department Store, and this time, the hardware store was finally open.

Ma Lu found a spot to park his tricycle and then entered the store with Old Wang.

The interior was small, around 15 square meters, filled to the brim with outlets, light bulbs, curtain tracks, wood panels, door locks, and an assortment of screws, tools, and protective gear, leaving barely any space to walk.

It looked no different from any other hardware store, except that it was void of people.

The owner must have returned but was somewhere else at the moment.

Ma Lu wasn't in a hurry; the fact that the door wasn't locked meant that the owner shouldn't be gone for long.

Sure enough, a figure appeared at the store's entrance shortly afterward.

Ma Lu poked his head out and saw it was a little girl, a bit over ten years old.

"Big brother," the little girl said, "do you sell expansion screws here? My dad needs them urgently."

Ma Lu was about to say he wasn't the owner, but upon recalling that he had seen expansion screws on a shelf, he changed his reply to, "What size does your dad need, and how many?"

"M8*40, four of them."

Ma Lu rummaged through a box of screws while he quickly checked the prices online, and ended up charging the little girl four yuan.

About three minutes after the girl left, a burly man over 1.9 meters tall, wearing sunglasses, dressed in a blue jumpsuit with suspenders, carrying an angle grinder and a half-bag of leak stopper, and with a stubbly beard, walked in.

"Boss?"

The burly man nodded, "What do you need?"

"Oh, it was a pigeon that recommended we come to you," Ma Lu extended his hand.

The air in the shop froze for a few seconds.

Since the burly man was wearing sunglasses, Ma Lu couldn't see the expression behind them, but if it were an ordinary person, they might think he had a screw loose after hearing what he just said.

Fortunately, the muscular man didn't inquire about his mental state, but instead shook hands with him, and then said, "How should I address you two?"

"Ma Lu." Ma Lu pointed to himself, then to Old Wang, "Old Wang."

The muscular man sniffled twice, first glanced at Old Wang, "Mechanical life?" Then he looked at Ma Lu, "Earthling? This combination is quite rare, that pigeon actually let you come here."

"Because we're preparing to start a restaurant together, he said you could help us. Oh right, a little girl came by earlier to buy some expansion screws in a hurry, you weren't in the store at the time, so I helped you take the money."

Ma Lu pointed to the four coins on the counter.

The muscular man glanced at the money, "How many did she buy?"

"Four."

"You charged too much, two coins would have been enough. In this kind of neighborhood store, reputation is the most important. I'll go and return it to her, and we'll talk more when I get back." The muscular man picked up two coins and headed out.

"Uh, do you want me to describe what she looked like first, or maybe look at the surveillance camera?"

"No need, her scent hasn't dissipated yet, I know who she is." The muscular man had barely finished speaking when he left the store.

Five minutes later he returned, and the coins in his hand had already vanished.

"You found her."

"Yeah. I don't think I've introduced myself yet; recently, I've gone by Yan Wu, or if you find that troublesome, you can simply call me boss, as others who can't be bothered to remember my name do." Stay connected through m-v l|e'm,p| y r

"Uh, do you change your name often?"

"Not really that often by Earthling standards, I usually change it once every hundred and twenty years or so, any longer would be somewhat unscientific."

"Huh?"

Ma Lu looked at Yan Wu, who didn't seem to be joking, so he asked, "May I be so bold as to ask how old you are now?"

"I actually don't quite remember, I came to this planet over two thousand years ago." Yan Wu said, "I remember at that time you were in the Western Han Dynasty, wasn't it, with the emperor called what, Liu Xie?"

To prove his point, Yan Wu bent down and rummaged through his pile of spare parts and tools for a while, finally finding a glass picture frame, which he handed to Ma Lu.

Inside was an old, yellowed photograph.

"Look, this is the imperial palace."

Ma Lu gasped with surprise, "They had photographs during the Western Han Dynasty?"

"No, no, not that far back, this was from the 29th year of the Guangxu era. I was ordered to go to the Forbidden City to help with some plumbing." Yan Wu pointed to a burly man with a rake in the photo, "This is me."

After saying that, he pointed to a side, where a lavishly dressed, towering woman with a prominent hairstyle, standing amidst a group of palace maids, looked rather imposing, "This is from the Yehenara clan."

Ma Lu took a sharp breath, "So you've been alive for over two thousand years, and you've always worked in hardware... Could you possibly be the legendary Hardware Immortal?"

"No, no, I'm not an immortal; just a werewolf." Yan Wu flashed a grin.

As Yan Wu uttered these words, the temperature in the hardware store seemed to drop a few degrees.

"Ah, you don't have to worry; I don't transform except on nights of the full moon, and there's no difference between me and ordinary people. Moreover, I usually stay calm at home watching the latest movies and soldering tinplate to pass the time during the full moon nights."

"What do you usually eat?"

"I eat whatever you eat."

Yan Wu scratched his beard, "But now that you mention it, it's been a really long time since I've had any delicacies. This area isn't within the boundaries of The Grand Alliance, so it's hard to get quality ingredients, and even if I did get them, there's no one that can cook it properly; it would just be a waste. Ah, in the end, it's because there's no Cosmic Chef around."