October 28th, 341, 8:00 AM.
Tang Li's supermarket was decorated with festive banners.
After three days of hard work, the supermarket was finally ready to open.
Considering the ongoing martial law, there were no firecrackers or ribbon-cutting ceremonies. The doors simply opened to welcome guests right on time.
Inside the supermarket, a rectangular area was sectioned off by counters, situated in the middle of the eastern third of the space, near the office.
A hole had been made in the office wall, providing direct access to the adjacent area for transporting official supplies.
Citizens who came to exchange goods only needed to state their needs, and someone would go to the next room to retrieve the items they wished to exchange.
The registrar was also located in the office, overseeing all incoming and outgoing supplies.
The western third of the supermarket, near the storage room, was filled with shelves.
These shelves were stocked with various daily necessities, and several stockers were on duty.
Customers could freely select items from the shelves, just like before the apocalypse, and proceed to the checkout counter.
There was a checkout counter next to the lounge area at the main entrance of the supermarket, and another at the west side rear exit.
The counter area and the shelves were separated by retractable barriers.
Those who were only exchanging or collecting official supplies and had not entered the shelf area could leave directly from the east side rear entrance without passing the checkout counter.
Customers who only wished to purchase supermarket goods could also avoid queuing at the counter area, only needing to queue at the checkout counter when leaving the supermarket.
In the empty spaces of the supermarket, several winding paths were created using retractable barriers, allowing people to queue comfortably in the warm environment.
Although it was daylight, the outside temperature was still below freezing.
The south side of the supermarket, along the wall near the main entrance, and the lounge area, were equipped with carbon heaters that were burning brightly.
The temperature inside the supermarket was maintained above 10 degrees Celsius, making it quite warm.
As the supermarket had just opened and the external conditions were not extremely severe, the main doors were not completely sealed as initially planned.
However, due to the cold outside, most residents chose to enter through the rear doors.
Since the supermarket was located between two buildings, there was a section of wall directly exposed to the outside between the two rear doors.
Tang Li was currently gathered there with Boss Xie and others.
A new hole had been made in the wall, and several renovation workers were adjusting the position of a square duct made of sheet metal.
"Alright, alright, don't move it, leave it like this."
The voices of other renovation workers could be heard from outside the wall.
As the carbon heaters required chimneys, they had to be installed near the wall.
"Little Boss Tang, with these three carbon heaters installed, your supermarket will definitely not be cold this winter."
"What a shame, though. If I had known this winter would be so cold, I would have installed wall-mounted heaters and underfloor heating during renovations."
Boss Xie said with a smile.
Tang Li nodded in agreement, "Yes, a thousand pieces of gold can't buy foresight."
She had known that the extreme cold season would be harsh this year, but she hadn't mentioned it earlier.
Soon, the chimney for the third carbon heater was also installed.
Smokeless coal, exchanged by Tang Li at the Supply and Demand Exchange, was taken from the storage room and put into the carbon heater. Then, a few glowing red pieces of coal from the carbon heater at the main entrance were added.
Soon, the third carbon heater was also burning brightly.
"Little Boss Tang, where are we going next?" Boss Xie asked.
"First, we'll go upstairs to Tang Guo's home to install a carbon heater and modify the windows. Then, we'll go to my place."
After speaking, Tang Li went to get the keys from Tang Guo.
"Boss, you're really going to install a carbon heater in my place? And modify the windows?" Tang Guo asked.
Tang Li said matter-of-factly, "Of course. Do you want to be woken up by the cold in the middle of the night again like that one night?"
Tang Guo shook her head, certainly not wanting that.
She then asked, "How many points will modifying the windows and installing the carbon heater cost?"
Tang Li asked helplessly, "Sister Guo Guo, do you really need to be so formal with me?"
Tang Guo said seriously, "Of course. Even close brothers settle their accounts clearly."
"I know you are good to me, but I can't just take your kindness for granted!"
Seeing Tang Guo's persistence, Tang Li indulged her.
After all, she now received 10 points of remuneration daily from the authorities, which was enough for her.
Leaving Tang Guo to watch over the supermarket, Tang Li first took Boss Xie and his crew to her home, and then went to her own house.
All the windows in her home were replaced with double-glazed uPVC windows, and a carbon heater was installed in the living room.
That evening, Tang Li's entire house became warm, not just the bedroom.