"Ah, thanks! You're too kind." The worker took them with surprise. He recognized the chocolate brand—he usually couldn't bring himself to buy it. Taking it home tonight would definitely delight his kids. He hadn't expected this seemingly cold and aloof girl to be so kind-hearted.
Lin Mo wasn't good at quickly warming up to people; she had a naturally cold disposition. Luckily, Bai Jie had taught her some small tricks to ease the atmosphere, like offering water or snacks, which usually made people willing to talk and not be on guard.
She tried to sound as natural as possible: "My grandfather lives in the suburbs. He wants to make some furniture himself, also needs to replace tempered glass and weld security bars. Do you know where I can buy affordable raw materials?"
"We frequently run building materials, so you've asked the right person." The worker kindly advised: "Go to the building materials market and enter through the small west gate. Turn right inside, and there are two or three lumber shops selling raw wood. They cut and process to size, which saves more than half the cost of custom cabinetry. I suggest the middle shop with couplets on the door. If you drive to pick it up yourself, you can save another four or five hundred."
Lin Mo nodded: "Got it."
The worker continued: "Glass usually needs custom sizing. Since your grandpa lives in the suburbs, you don't necessarily need to go to the building materials market. There are small shops around the community that replace glass and weld guardrails, the price difference isn't much, and it saves you the back-and-forth."
The building materials market was a maze, and Lin Mo had no clue. She pressed further: "What about tiles? Should I go to a brand store like Marco Polo?"
"Don't go to those brand stores; the markup is too high. On the second-to-last street east of the market, there's a store with red couplets hanging at the entrance. Their quality is solid and prices are reasonable."
"I understand. Thank you."
Once the worker left, the room fell silent. With a thought, fine silver particles like stardust curled around her fingertips and instantly absorbed all the insulation cotton and coating into the train carriage.
[Collected 75kg train insulation material.]
The system's cold prompt sounded, and the expectation on Lin Mo's face immediately faded. The conversion rate was lower than expected; she was still 25kg short of the 100kg task target. She frowned and sighed. It seemed she needed to order more from the supplier.
As she pondered, a detailed description popped up next to the insulation material icon: [Consume 2kg insulation material to add 1 insulation point to 1 cubic meter of carriage space. Drag the icon to select area.]
The consumption was significant. The materials on hand were just enough for basic insulation of the first carriage. On a whim, she selected the first carriage on the panel and confirmed the consumption of 72kg of train insulation material.
The train silently completed the task. If not for the progress bar on the panel rapidly reaching 100%, she wouldn't have noticed any change.
After the insulation was done, Lin Mo specifically walked from the first carriage to the second, touching the walls of both carriages, but she didn't feel any obvious temperature difference.
Maybe it takes a critical mass for a qualitative change? The increase was too small for now?
Putting aside her doubts, she sent a message to the supplier: "Boss, a few neighbors came by to see the insulation cotton and want to buy some too. Some need to reinforce their yards, others want to wrap pipes. They'd like to group buy."
She left it at that, knowing that a savvy businessperson would get the hint. Sure enough, a few minutes later, the supplier replied: "No problem. How many?"
"Currently, two households want the same amount as mine. Others are still deciding. I'll ask around."
Soon, the supplier sent a red envelope with a note: "Thanks for the referral."
Lin Mo didn't take the red envelope. Instead, she replied: "How about this: I'll help you connect with orders in the community. Just deliver the goods to my place from now on, and have the driver bring a POS machine for card payment."
"Alright, but how do I deliver to them?"
Out in the world, identity is what you make it. A single dog like Lin Mo replied without flinching: "My husband and his brother can deliver."
The boss immediately responded with a handshake emoji, understanding that she wanted to be an agent. For him, it saved the trouble of finding new customers and dealing with haggling, while securing steady orders—a win-win. He happily said: "I'll give you a 5% commission on the amount. Can I deliver to the same address tomorrow at 10 a.m.?"
Lin Mo agreed without hesitation: "Sure, first send two sets like mine. I'll also promote it in the neighborhood group."
With the train insulation materials settled, she quickly changed clothes and went out. The system blueprint was for 4 square meters. She measured the dimensions and decided to convert the entire 6 square meters of the second carriage into a bathroom, adding storage space for toilet paper, shampoo, body wash, laundry detergent, and other daily necessities, plus space for the washing machine and dryer. Ideally, she'd also place a small vanity and a small clothes rack.
"Mm, sanitary pads can go in a separate large compartment," she thought. That would be an essential item in the apocalypse.
Author's Note:
My next pre-order, a sea reef survival shelter, please bookmark it~