Apocalypse: I'm Bound to a Mobile Lottery Shop

Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Setting up a Stall

He ran up to her, caught his breath, and said, "Boss Hart, you’re up bright and early."

He had already come by three or four times this morning, but the curtains were always drawn and it was quiet inside, as if no one was there.

Lily Hart understood his implication. She rolled her eyes at him and gave a casual smile, her dimples showing faintly.

She asked directly, "Is there anywhere in your base where I can set up a stall?"

Forrest Finch’s carefully prepared speech was thrown into disarray. His thoughts scattered, and he could only stare blankly and answer, "Uh, yes."

"Take me there," Lily Hart said curtly.

With that, she turned and went back into her RV. She scooped up Lily with one arm and Fortune with the other, then kicked the door shut with her foot.

The whole sequence of actions was perfectly smooth.

Lily was even still munching on something, her big, watery eyes staring innocently at Forrest Finch.

After all that, Lily Hart stood before Forrest Finch again and said in a slightly commanding tone, "Let’s go. Take me there."

Forrest Finch turned, his expression dazed as if his soul had been snatched away. He only knew to subconsciously obey her.

Halfway there, Forrest Finch suddenly stopped. Lily Hart stopped with him and hitched Lily up higher in her arms; the little creature was about to slip to the ground.

"What’s wrong?" Lily Hart asked.

"The Base Commander asked me to ask if you can attend the base’s victory celebration this afternoon," Forrest Finch said, enunciating each word carefully.

A bit of his soul might have returned, but not much. He still looked dazed and foolish.

Lily Hart decisively refused. "No time. I have to set up my stall and sell scratch-off tickets!" ’I need to work hard to reach Level 4!’

Forrest Finch started walking again, then suddenly shuddered. His expression cleared, and he rubbed his face, murmuring, "What just happened?"

Lily Hart paid him no mind. Her attention was captivated by the surrounding buildings. It looked like a restored, civilized city.

There were trash cans every five hundred meters, and even bus stops and shared bikes. It was clear the base was truly massive.

Getting around purely on foot would be impossible. Fortunately, the place for setting up stalls wasn’t far from Lily Hart’s RV, only about a ten-minute walk.

It was called a stall area, but it was really just a farmer’s market.

People who wanted to set up a stall had to pass an inspection by the base and could only do so after being approved. They were all gathered in a huge plaza.

Lily Hart stood at the entrance to the plaza, listening to the clamor inside—the sounds of haggling and hawking. It was bustling with life.

She followed Forrest Finch inside, weaving through the crowd until she found an empty spot, and then prepared to open for business.

First, she took out a long table from her Shop inventory. If people squeezed in, it could seat about twenty.

Next, she placed the Lucky Cat at the end of the long table, setting Lily down beside Fortune. The little one was very obedient, just lying there quietly and occasionally pawing at Fortune to tease it.

Finally, she placed an order for scratch-off tickets in the Shop. The "Big 7" was always the most popular, so she bought 10 books of those and three books each of the other three types for now.

After all that, she laid the scratch-off tickets out in front of Fortune, arranging the books neatly, and then pulled out a comfortable chair.

Lily Hart leaned back in the chair, cradling Lily in her arms, and let out a contented sigh.

Perfect!

This feeling of having everything set up and just waiting for customers to arrive was just too good!

But... Lily Hart was nearly asleep, curled up in her chair, and not a single customer had shown up.

She groggily opened her eyes and looked at the untouched scratch-off tickets and the starving-looking Fortune. It was strange.

’What’s going on? Does no one like scratch-off tickets anymore?’

’Weren’t scratch-off tickets everyone’s favorite little game?’

After being dazed for another moment, Lily Hart remembered her lottery shop had a group chat. She quickly opened her Light Brain and entered the chat.

The first thing that met her eyes was a message: [Where on earth is Boss Hart!]

She scrolled up. The chat was a blur of messages asking where Boss Hart was and if she had abandoned Hope Base for another one.

There were even survivors in the residential area who had taken pictures of her RV to reassure everyone.

Lily Hart slapped her thigh. She quickly sent her location to the group, adding a message: Farmers’ Market, Stall E4. Come quick!

The group went silent for a few seconds, followed by an even more frantic flood of messages: "I’m coming!" "On my way!" "I’m right nearby!"

Seeing so many similar messages made Lily Hart’s heart flutter. ’Are that many people really coming?’

’I don’t think the table is big enough...’

The thought had barely crossed her mind when someone arrived at Stall E4 and, with the ease of a regular, found a seat and sat down.

He even sat in the spot closest to Lily Hart and the scratch-off tickets—the first seat on the left.

Lily Hart took a closer look. The familiar black cloak... it was that guy Frost Shaw again.

’Did he plant a tracker on me or something? It hasn’t even been a minute since I sent my location in the group. Even if he could fly, he couldn’t be this fast!’

After sitting down, Frost Shaw just tilted his head up slightly, pulling down the brim of his hood a little. He revealed his eyes, nodded at Lily Hart, and considered it a greeting.

Then he picked up a whole book of "Big 7" tickets and started picking through them. Seeing this, Lily Hart’s heart skipped a beat.

’What’s with his ridiculous intuition? If he picks out all the winning tickets, how am I supposed to do business?!’

Without a second thought, Lily Hart reached out and snatched the book from Frost Shaw’s hands. "You’re not allowed to pick!" she said sternly.

Hearing her tone, Frost Shaw was also a bit defiant. "And why not?" he retorted.

Lily Hart gritted her teeth. "Why do you think?!" ’You’re asking me after the mess you caused? Everyone else thinks these scratch-offs are fake and have no prizes!’

"..." Frost Shaw was speechless. She was the boss, so of course, her word was final.

He tugged at the brim of his hood, somewhat irritated, and tried to negotiate in a tone that was as un-icy as possible. "Then I’ll buy this whole book."

He had been about to get up and leave, but then an image of Easton, Diana Sharp, and the others appeared in his mind—sitting in a row under the eaves, eating delicious food, their faces beaming with joy.

He compromised. According to his inexplicable intuition, this was the fastest way to get food.

Only then did Lily Hart’s smile return. "Here." She gleefully placed the book of scratch-off tickets on the table.

Then she held out her palm to him and said matter-of-factly, "Crystal Cores." Her eyes were filled with a craving for points.

Frost Shaw reluctantly pulled out the Crystal Cores from his spatial storage. Twenty tickets meant twenty Level 1 Crystal Cores.

He hadn’t returned to his small courtyard last night. Instead, under the cover of darkness, he had been scavenging for Crystal Cores on the outskirts of the sea of zombie corpses, filling an entire sack.

The Guardian Corps had collected even more Crystal Cores—so many that they needed trucks to haul them. It took three whole truckloads to carry them all.

As a result, the residents of Hope Base had all struck it rich today. The entire base was jubilant, and everyone’s face was beaming with a brilliant smile.

Lily Hart held the Crystal Cores in her hands, feeding them to Fortune one by one. Listening to its cheerful yet mechanical meows, she felt deeply satisfied.

Lily was also pawing at the Crystal Cores, playing with them. Every so often, she would shuffle over to watch Frost Shaw scratch his tickets and naughtily step on him with her paws.

Her sharp claws occasionally grazed his skin as she stepped on his arm, but he didn’t mind. He even kind of liked this little cat.

On the surface, however, he remained cold and even looked a bit disdainful.

By the time Frost Shaw was halfway through his book of tickets, customers began to arrive one after another. Most of them were repeat customers.

Everyone was very familiar with the routine: first, they would feed Crystal Cores to Fortune, then they would pick their scratch-off tickets, and finally, they would find a seat to start scratching.