Chapter 12: The Convenience Store That Never Extinguishes

At the washbasin, the little girl finished scrubbing her hands.

She flicked the water droplets from her hands and grabbed a dry towel nearby to wipe them.

Her stomach uncooperatively let out a long, rumbling growl. This book is first published on Tiantian Novel, ttkk. tw, your top choice for reading, offering error-free chapters and non-disordered reading experiences.

The little girl froze in place, her cheeks quickly flushing red.

She covered her shriveled stomach and glanced up, stealing a look at Lin Xuan leaning against the doorframe.

"It's normal to be hungry."

"Change your shoes, and I'll take you downstairs to get something hot."

Wearing that oversized white short-sleeved shirt that reached her ankles, the little girl followed Lin Xuan out of the bathroom, step by hesitant step.

At the entrance hall.

Lin Xuan put on his sneakers and bent down to rummage through the shoe cabinet.

He found a pair of hotel disposable soft-soled slippers with heels and placed them by the little girl's feet.

These were ones he had brought back from business trips when staying at hotels; he hadn't expected them to come in handy.

"Put them on. They're a bit big, but there's nothing that fits you perfectly, so make do."

The little girl slipped her feet into the slippers.

Pushing open the security door, she saw pitch blackness outside.

Instinctively, the little girl shrank back and reached out to grab the hem of Lin Xuan's shirt.

"Is there a curfew here too?"

"Those who violate the night curfew receive fifty lashes."

"Lin Xuan, we must not break the law."

"Hey, there's no curfew."

Lin Xuan lifted his right foot and stamped heavily on the floor tiles.

The sound of his footsteps fell.

The voice-activated LED ceiling light above illuminated the entire corridor.

Startled, the little girl stepped back, looked up, and searched all around for the shadow of a fire starter or a lantern.

On the ceiling, there was only a glowing white plastic disc.

Lin Xuan took her hand and walked toward the elevator lobby.

Ding!

Two metal doors slid open to the left and right, revealing a silver-gray steel cabin.

Lin Xuan pulled the little girl into the cabin and pressed the button for the "1st" floor.

The metal doors closed.

The cabin suddenly dropped, beginning to rush downward.

For the first time riding an elevator, she could clearly feel the sensation of weightlessness.

The little girl's feet went weak; her hands involuntarily clutched Lin Xuan's thigh, burying her face in the fabric.

"The earth dragon is turning over!"

Terrified, the little girl even forgot the elegant speech of the Great Tang, crying out with a sobbing voice.

Lin Xuan reached out and placed his hand on the back of her head, rubbing her semi-dry hair.

"What earth dragon? Don't be afraid. This is called an elevator, or a lift."

"We live high up; it uses iron chains to lower us back to the ground."

A dozen or so seconds later, the sensation of weightlessness vanished.

The cabin came to a steady stop, and the metal doors slid open again.

Lin Xuan led her out onto the street outside the residential compound.

In the early morning, the night breeze of early summer carried a hint of stuffy heat.

On both sides of the street, towering streetlights cast neat orange halos.

In the distance, two beams of blindingly bright light swept across the asphalt road.

A night-shift taxi, accompanied by the low rumble of its engine, sped past the road in front of them.

The little girl stood frozen in place, her hands gripping the hem of Lin Xuan's shirt tightly.

"An iron-shelled strange beast?"

"That's called a car. It drinks a kind of black oil and runs on wheels."

Lin Xuan pointed to the intersection ahead, "We're there just up ahead."

The two of them walked to the edge of the intersection.

A heavy truck fully loaded with cargo approached.

Accompanied by the hiss of the air brakes, the massive vehicle body came to a steady stop in front of the white zebra crossing.

The little girl widened her eyes, looking left and right.

"No armored soldiers blocking the road with horizontal swords, no wooden stakes of the refuse horse."

Pointing at the truck that loomed like a small mountain, the little girl asked, "Why has it stopped and won't move?"

"Red light stop, green light go." Lin Xuan pointed to the traffic light above, "That is the traffic rule."

"All people, all vehicles, must obey it."

"This machine has no life."

"What constrains it is the law in the driver's mind."

"Here, society operates not by heavy military guard, but by rules."

Great Qin, Xianyang Palace.

Ying Zheng was drawn to that glaring red lamp in the Sky Screen.

No flogging, no collective punishment.

A color-changing Glazed Ware lamp with no warmth could make those steel beasts, capable of destroying city walls, obediently bow their heads.

This terror of order, deep in the bones and rooted in every mind, made Ying Zheng feel more chilled than a million Great Qin sharp soldiers.

Ying Zheng frowned deeply: "Laws enter the heart... The laws of later generations are so harsh and detailed that even rules for walking are dared not be broken?"

Lin Xuan held the little girl's hand, crossed the road, and arrived before a twenty-four-hour convenience store at the street corner.

The infrared sensor on the door sensed human movement.

"Ding-dong—Welcome."

Two glass doors automatically retreated to both sides.

A strong blast of cold air rushed out, instantly blowing away the stuffy heat of the street.

Xiao Sizi opened her mouth, her gaze sweeping over the entire shop.

The chilled display case against the wall emitted a faint white light.

Rows of rice balls, bento boxes, and sandwiches were neatly arranged.

On the middle shelves, snacks of red and green were piled high.

Inside the transparent freezer on the right were drinks of various colors.

This place was like an immortal realm of food that never slept.

Great Song, Bianjing.

Inside the imperial hall.

Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin sat on the dragon throne, with a pile of Memorials on the imperial desk before him.

Great Song established its nation on commerce; the night market of Bianjing was prosperous, something that had once made him proud.

But now, looking at that cramped little shop at the street corner in the Sky Screen, his expression gradually grew complex.

"A night shop needing no officials to guard it; the drinks in these Glazed Ware jars, the colorful foods, the varieties number in the hundreds."

"Even Fan Lou, the most prosperous place in our Great Song, gathering all the world's rare treasures, has no more varieties than this."

"The common people of later generations are actually this wealthy?"

Great Tang, Taiji Palace.

Li Shimin stood on the white jade steps.

In the Sky Screen image, the daughter let go of Lin Xuan's hand.

She walked to the shelf, standing on tiptoe.

Xiao Sizi extended her slender white fingers and gently touched a bag of pink cotton candy.

She dared not take it; she turned her head, looking at Lin Xuan with an expression of longing yet fear.

Lin Xuan stepped forward, grabbed that bag of cotton candy, and threw it into the plastic basket in his hand.

The little girl's eyes instantly lit up; the corners of her mouth could not help but rise, revealing two rows of tiny teeth.

Li Shimin watched his daughter's smiling face, and his eyes grew sore.

The Great Tang National Treasury was filled with rare treasures and Western Regions spices.

But he, this Great Tang Emperor, could not exchange for that bag of pink candy, which could make his daughter, recently recovered from a serious illness, happy for a long time.

A mix of five flavors churned in Li Shimin's chest.

There was relief, and also extreme frustration as a father.

Inside the convenience store.

Lin Xuan took two boxes of pork bento from the chilled display case.

He walked to the freezer, opened the glass door, and pulled out a milk ice cream bar.

He walked to the checkout counter and placed the basket on the table.

The clerk, wearing a red vest, rubbed his eyes and picked up the scanner.

"Forty-eight yuan and fifty cents in total." The clerk yawned, tore open a plastic bag, and packed the items inside.

Lin Xuan casually asked, "How is business tonight?"

"Just okay." The clerk pushed the plastic bag over the counter, "Summer is the hardest to endure."

"This air conditioner runs for twelve hours straight; the freezer also consumes electricity."

"The boss looked at the electricity meter yesterday and said this month's electricity bill will rise again; his face turned black."

"If we don't stay up late and sell more goods, we can't even earn back the electricity bill."

"Commercial electricity rates are indeed high. Hard work." Lin Xuan lifted the bag and called the little girl to leave.