Infinite Cosmic Cafeteria Chapter 70: The Visit

Translator: Stellar Novels Editor: Stellar Novels

At 17:05, Ma Lu sold the last serving of Queen’s Crisps and, together with Old Wang, packed up and headed home.

Thanks to leveling up the Traveler's Bracelet twice, the hunting trips were extended by an additional two hours this time, so Ma Lu didn’t get back home until nearly 7 in the morning.

This meant their street vending was delayed accordingly; they didn’t start until the afternoon and had only prepared 800 portions.

By the end of the day, they made a total of 14,400 yuan in revenue, with costs of 415.8 yuan, resulting in a profit of 13,984.2 yuan—truly living up to the phrase “raking in money daily.”

As they increase their stock, this number could see even more significant growth.

Ma Lu felt that if things continued like this, it wouldn’t be long before he could start looking at cars.

But it wasn’t enough. Ma Lu considered himself a rather ordinary person, filled with all kinds of mundane desires.

Yesterday, while scrolling through Bilibili, he saw a foreign content creator showing off his 90-square-meter private gaming room, and suddenly, the 85-inch TV he just bought didn’t seem as appealing.

Wouldn’t he want something like that?

And a gym, a swimming pool, a therapist… Though Ma Lu didn’t even have his own house yet, that didn’t stop him from dreaming big.

If a person doesn’t have dreams, what’s the difference between them and a salted fish?!

So, pushing forward with opening a store was still a priority. Having a physical shop would allow him to sell at higher prices and expand to Meituan and Ele.me for delivery, extending his reach to a larger surrounding area.

With that in mind, after closing the stall, Ma Lu detoured to Fangyuan East Road.

This was his fourth visit to Jinxin Plumbing and Hardware Store, and this time, the hardware shop was finally open.

Ma Lu found a place to park his tricycle and went in with Old Wang.

The interior wasn’t large, roughly 15 square meters, crammed with power sockets, light bulbs, curtain tracks, boards, door locks, a variety of screws and tools, and protective gear, leaving almost no space to move around.

It didn’t look much different from other hardware stores, except that it was empty.

The owner must have returned, but it was unclear where he had gone off to at the moment.

Ma Lu wasn’t in a hurry; since the door wasn’t locked, it meant the owner wouldn’t be gone for long.

Sure enough, a moment later, a figure appeared at the entrance.

Ma Lu peeked over and saw a young girl, just over ten years old.

“Big brother,” the girl said, “do you have expansion screws? My dad needs them urgently.”

Ma Lu was about to say he wasn’t the owner but remembered seeing expansion screws on a shelf just moments ago. So he changed his response, “What model does your dad need? How many?”

“M8*40, four of them.”

Ma Lu rummaged through the box of screws and quickly checked the price online before charging the girl four yuan.

After the girl left, about three minutes later, a burly man over 1.9 meters tall, wearing sunglasses, a blue work overall, holding an angle grinder and half a bag of waterproofing compound, walked in with an unshaven face.

“Are you the owner?”

The burly man nodded, “What do you need?”

“Oh, we were referred to you by a pigeon.” Ma Lu extended his hand.

The air in the shop froze for a few seconds.

With the man wearing sunglasses, Ma Lu couldn’t see his expression, but ordinarily, anyone hearing what he’d just said would probably think he was mentally unwell.

Fortunately, the man didn’t question his sanity; instead, he shook his hand and said, “What are your names?”

“Ma Lu.”

Ma Lu pointed to himself and then to Old Wang, “Old Wang.”

The burly man sniffed twice, glanced at Old Wang, and said, “Mechanical lifeform?” He then turned to Ma Lu, “Earthling? That’s an unusual combination. I can’t believe that pigeon sent you here.”

“We’re planning to open a restaurant together, and he said you could help us. Oh, by the way, a little girl came by earlier to buy some expansion screws in a hurry. You weren’t in the shop, so I collected the money for you.”

Ma Lu pointed to the four coins on the counter.

The burly man glanced at the money, “How many did she buy?”

“Four.”

“You overcharged her; two yuan would’ve been enough. In a community store like this, reputation is everything. I’ll go return the money first, and we can talk when I get back.” The man picked up two coins and headed for the door.

“Uh, do you want me to describe her appearance first, or maybe check the surveillance?”

“No need, her scent hasn’t faded yet. I know who she is.” Before he finished speaking, the burly man had already left the store.

Five minutes later, he returned, the coins no longer in his hand.

“You found her.”

“Yep. I don’t think I’ve introduced myself yet. These days, I go by Yan Wu, or if that’s too much trouble, you can just call me Boss—everyone who can’t be bothered to remember my name calls me that.”

“Uh, do you change your name often?”

“By Earth standards, it’s not that frequent. I usually change it every 120 years; anything longer just doesn’t seem scientific.”

“Huh?”

Ma Lu looked at Yan Wu, who didn’t seem to be joking, and asked, “Can I ask, how old are you now?”

“I honestly don’t remember too well. I came to this planet two thousand years ago,” Yan Wu said. “I think you guys were in the Western Han Dynasty back then. What was the emperor’s name? Liu Kan?”

To prove his words, Yan Wu rummaged through his pile of tools and parts and finally pulled out a glass frame, handing it to Ma Lu.

Inside was an old, yellowed photo.

“Look, this is the Imperial Palace.”

Ma Lu was stunned. “There were photos during the Western Han Dynasty?”

“No, no, not that far back. This was in the 29th year of Guangxu. I was tasked to help with the sewer system in the Forbidden City.” Yan Wu pointed to a burly man holding a rake in the photo, “That’s me.”

He then pointed to a fierce-looking older woman dressed in luxurious clothes and a large headpiece, standing among a group of palace maids. “That’s Empress Dowager Cixi.”

Ma Lu took a deep breath, “So you’ve been alive for over two thousand years, working in hardware all this time? Are you the legendary Hardware Immortal?”

“No, no, I’m not an immortal—just a werewolf.” Yan Wu grinned.

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

“Ah, don’t worry. I don’t transform except on full moon nights. Other than that, I’m just like an ordinary person. On full moons, I usually stay at home, watch the latest movies, and do some metal welding to pass the time.”

“So, what do you usually eat?”

“I eat whatever you guys eat.”

Yan Wu scratched his bushy beard. “But now that you mention it, I haven’t had good food in ages. This place isn’t under the jurisdiction of the Great Alliance, so it’s hard to get high-grade ingredients, and even when you do, there’s no one who can cook them properly, so they go to waste. It all comes down to not having a Cosmic Chef.”

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