Chapter 018 Twenty Thousand in Liquor​​

“Five cases of beer, and give me two packs of cigarettes. That’s exactly five hundred. Scan me.” The customer held out his phone with the payment code open.

Qin Qing scanned it immediately.

Each case of canned beer contained 24 cans, 330ml each. A case cost 95 yuan. Five cases came to 475 yuan. The remaining 25 yuan bought two packs of cigarettes—one 12 yuan, one 13 yuan—totaling five hundred.

Beer had decent profit margins, especially since she bought it by the case wholesale. Reselling usually netted over 20% profit.

A few more sales like this, and her supermarket income would truly cover expenses. Perhaps due to the hot weather, people had been buying beer daily recently—some by the bottle, others like this customer, by the case.

After the customer left, she pulled up her contacts, found the beer supplier, and called, ordering fifty cases of beer.

The supplier agreed immediately, promising quick delivery.

“By the way,” Qin Qing remembered something before hanging up. “Do you have any liquor or beverages close to expiry?”

“Close to expiry? How close are you willing to take?” the supplier paused, seeming to consider.

“My customer has high demand, consumes quickly. One or two months left is fine. Even five or ten days left is acceptable,” Qin Qing said calmly. “But pricing should reflect that. Stuff expiring in a few days can’t be expensive.”

“Definitely. Five or ten days left? Can’t charge you much,” the supplier laughed happily. “You know, I actually have a batch I was about to send back to the manufacturer. Worth about as much as scrap. If you want it, I’ll send it all over.”

The sound of tapping a calculator came through the phone.

“I did inventory recently. There are 130 cases of near-expiry beer. Each case has 24 cans. Normal price is around 70 yuan per case. Prices vary based on how close they are to expiry. I’ll average it out—25 yuan per case. Total 3,250 yuan. Okay?”

“Okay.” Qin Qing agreed instantly.

“That’s quite a lot,” the supplier was delighted. “Didn’t you mention beverages too? Let me ask around, see if other suppliers have some. If so, I can send everything together on one truck. Splits the freight cost.”

“I’ll take anything priced right,” Qin Qing said, deliberately vague. “My friend needs a lot.”

“Near-expiry stuff is definitely cheap. Hold on, I’ll go ask.” The supplier didn’t catch any subtext nor question why Qin Qing suddenly needed so much beer. Selling was selling; she didn’t care what the buyer did with it.

In the modern world, even if novels featured all kinds of plot devices, people seeing someone vanish would likely dismiss it as a magic trick, not a real superpower or cheat code.

Hanging up, Qin Qing took out a notebook, flipped to the stockpile section, and marked off the liquor/beverage category, signifying she’d acquired a batch.

One year wasn’t long, but it was enough time to diligently stockpile affordably priced near-expiry food.

If she still had savings by year’s end, she could buy more practical items, then calmly await the apocalypse.

The beer supplier called back nearly an hour later, laughing heartily right away: “Didn’t realize how much everyone had until I asked! Customers are picky these days, checking dates. Everyone’s fretting about how to sell. But this batch is huge—rough estimate worth over ten thousand yuan. You still want it?”

“Yes,” Qin Qing responded immediately. “Please help me tally it. Ship it with the regular beer order. I’ll cover all freight. I’ll send you a warehouse address later. Please send it there. Thank you.”

“Trouble? No trouble! I’m counting on your business!” the supplier laughed again. “Got trucks ready anytime. I’ll tally it up and have a truck deliver it. Should arrive today.”

“Thanks.” Qin Qing thanked him again.

Once the supplier finalized the bill, she transferred the entire amount—payment for all goods and freight—in one go.

The fifty cases for the supermarket, plus the near-expiry beer, beverages, and freight, totaled nearly twenty thousand yuan.

True to his word, shortly after the transfer, the supplier sent photos of the truck’s license plate and screenshots of his chat with the driver for confirmation.

“Thank you, Boss!”

Qin Qing sent the message. Instantly, her phone pinged with a new notification.

​​Wei Xiaoshuang:​​ OMG OMG OMG Qingqing!!! The durian we sold is REALLY blowing up!!! Tons of people are asking where to buy it!!! But most buyers so far are friends of that streamer or other streamers influenced by her. Regular folks don’t know it’s our store.

​​Wei Xiaoshuang:​​ [Video][Video][Video]

​​Wei Xiaoshuang:​​ [Pic][Pic][Pic][Pic]

​​Qin Qing:​​ Checking.

After replying, she opened the videos and pictures one by one.

The videos were clearly streamer-style, showing the streamer talking while also capturing viewer comments and the viewer count in the top corner. Several streams had high numbers, proving the durian videos had indeed gone viral, just as Wei Xiaoshuang claimed.

"Bros, swear to god, this is the best durian I've ever eaten. No cap. After this, other durians taste like nothing!"

"AAAAAAH! SO GOOD! Sis, y'all know I usually hate durian? But this one? AMAZING. So delicious I could eat a whole one myself!"

"Incredible fragrance! Not ignoring chat, it's just... SO GOOD. Hey hey, leave some for me!"

...

"Best ever... careful, that's violating advertising law limits."

"Hahaha, it's fine since they're not selling it, just eating it themselves."

"Slams table! You say it's good but won't put it in your store?! Prove it! Let me taste it!"

"Durian lover raging here AAAAAH! I wanna try too! Been seeing so many streamers eat this durian lately, seems like the same kind. Spill the brand already! Everyone's lips are sealed. Do I look poor?!"

"Looks genuinely delicious, not fake. Makes me sadder I can't have any QVQ"

"Can confirm, among the streamers going crazy over this durian, several usually avoid it. They'd make staff eat it before. We all understood, durian's an acquired taste. But this time? They all seem obsessed. Must be legit."

"Brand marketing campaign? Seriously, tons of people posting this durian. Feels coordinated."

"Hope it's marketing. Release the brand! If it's good, I'll hype it too. If not... don't blame me for roasting it."

"SO WHAT'S THE BRAND?! WHERE IS IT?!"

...

Seeing the comments Wei Xiaoshuang had screenshot, Qin Qing opened her short video app.

Likely fueled by the durian buzz and her own algorithm leaning towards durian videos, the first thing she saw was a streamer live-opening durians.

“Right, this one here,” the streamer pointed, “is the durian we spent a fortune on. Y’all know the brand. 100 yuan per jin. This one’s over eight jin, so over 800 yuan. This one on the left is one we just bought outside, 35 yuan per jin. Let’s compare how different they taste.”

“First, opening them. The right one is also called a ‘gratitude durian’ lately, but honestly, many varieties on the market are good now, lots with thin rinds and thick flesh. We carefully picked this left one too; the seller also called it a ‘gratitude durian.’ Let’s see how both show their gratitude.”

Qin Qing watched the livestream, placed her phone on a nearby stand, grabbed a bag of sunflower seeds, and started snacking as she watched.

As she watched, she thought: Need to download more movies and dramas later. Once the apocalypse hits, entertainment shuts down, internet flickers in and out… so boring. Download lots to kill time when there’s nothing to do.