Chapter 168: The Omnipotent Store

Walking through the woods, people could only feel a sense of physical and mental refreshment. Gentle sea breezes brushed past from the surrounding area, accompanied by the calls of birds and the chirping of cicadas overhead, creating a cozy atmosphere akin to a secluded paradise.

Qin Jingchen walked by Su Wanting's side, with the two children following closely on their left and right.

"How are you holding up? Do you feel hot?" Qin Jingchen asked her with concern.

"I'm fine. What about you?" Su Wanting asked nonchalantly in return, her mind occupied with the rumors of his infidelity that had just surfaced.

Clearly, it was a situation that worked to her advantage. Reason told Su Wanting that she should take this opportunity to project the image of a pitiful, beautiful yet resilient wronged wife, thereby gaining the sympathy of netizens and building up her popularity.

Yet deep down, she still felt awkward and unsettled, as if Qin Jingchen would remain under a cloud of suspicion as long as that cheating label hovered over him, leaving her with no peace of mind.

"I'm fine. Would you like an ice cream?"

Qin Jingchen remembered his assistant telling him earlier that girls generally loved sweet treats.

Su Wanting did not catch those words and gave no reply, but Niannian, walking beside them, grew immediately excited.

"Daddy, I want an ice cream! I'm so hot!"

Mingming also turned his head sharply at this moment: "Ice cream? Where is there ice cream?"

Hearing the commotion, Su Wanting frowned in response: "That's right, where would you even find ice cream on a desolate island like this? Niannian, don't give your father a hard time."

To everyone's surprise, however, Qin Jingchen remained unusually persistent. He kept his eyes fixed solely on her and asked again: "Just tell me, do you want one or not?"

[Such a heavy, overbearing CEO vibe.]
[What a thoughtful President Qin.]
[Is he seriously planning to have someone deliver an ice cream via drone? It's so hot outside, it would melt along the way!]
[Turning a blind eye to his daughter's request—President Qin only has eyes for his wife.]
[As long as his wife wants to eat it, he'll get it for her. What anyone else wants is none of my business.]
[I'm increasingly starting to think the cheating rumor is true. Don't you guys think he's acting excessively ingratiating?]
[Are you out of your mind? Someone of President Qin's status doesn't need to fawn over anyone. Are some people just green with envy over other people's romance?]

Seeing the live comment section erupt into another round of bickering, Su Wanting replied casually without much mood to spare: "If there is any, of course that would be best. After all, the children are also very hot."

"Alright, here is the universal store of our island. Any supplies you need to live on this island can be purchased here using seashells."

Before them lay an open clearing where a treehouse had been constructed, cleverly utilizing the natural advantages of the surrounding tree trunks.

The structure possessed a rustic shape and design, resembling the thatched cottages frequently seen in television dramas, except that the building materials had been replaced with tree trunks and leaves.

From the outside, the universal store was not very large, completely different from the supermarket everyone had imagined. At a glance, someone unaware might even mistake it for a rural outhouse.

"Director, are you sure whatever we want will be inside here? I find that hard to believe," Yu Xin said, wrinkling her nose in disdain.

For some reason, Wang Zan wore a confident smile and nodded mysteriously.

"You'll understand once you go inside and take a look."

At this point, Yin Shanshan spoke up in a half-joking tone: "Director, don't try to trick us. If I wanted to buy a car, would they have one in there too?"

A flash seemed to cross Wang Zan's eyes.

"Of course they do. This is the universal store, after all."

Clearly unconvinced, Yin Shanshan retorted, "Really? Then care to make a bet? If you can't buy a car inside, you have to agree to provide everything in this store to us for free."

[The director just walked right into a trap.]
[There's no way you could park a car inside there. Let's see how the director gets out of this one.]
[Leave it to you, our little clever spirit Yin Shanshan.]
[Shanshan is so witty! Isn't she securing benefits for the entire cast and crew?]

Everyone expected Wang Zan to back out, but unexpectedly, he nodded without the slightest hesitation.

"No problem at all. But if you lose, the production team won't provide tonight's ingredients for free—you'll have to buy them yourselves."

Yin Shanshan gritted her teeth and, without even consulting the others, nodded in agreement.

"Alright, let's do it!"

She simply refused to believe that a tiny shop like this would actually sell automobiles.

Yet when the door was pushed open, everyone was dumbfounded. The room was indeed small, and there was neither a Anywhere Door nor any other magical device inside.

Neatly arranged shelves were stocked with commodities, offering everything from food to tools, and directly on the wall facing everyone hung a car.

However, those items were not actual physical goods, but rather printed cards displaying pictures of the products, with the required number of seashells clearly marked below.

"Director, why is this place entirely filled with cards?" Fang Wei asked, puzzled.

By now, Yin Shanshan was rendered speechless. Pressing her lips tightly together, she had never imagined the production team would run a store using such a method.

Standing by the door, Wang Zan beamed with a cheerful smile: "The universal store provides any goods you desire. If you can think of it, there is nothing we don't sell. After payment, we will have the physical items delivered right to your doorstep, so there's no need to worry about that."

At this moment, Su Wanting walked up to the picture of the car. The card depicted a simple commuter sedan, and the number of seashells listed underneath was "9999."

A figure that felt completely out of reach and discouraging.

Su Wanting turned back, smiling to reveal shallow dimples at the corners of her mouth, her voice crisp: "Director, you're not actually going to drive a car over here after we pay, right?"

"Of course. The production team always keeps its word. If you have that many seashells, we will immediately have a boat ship a car over."

Yu Xin chuckled softly, casting a gloating look toward Yin Shanshan.

"Sister Shanshan, I never expected the production team's tricks to run this deep. You might as well just admit defeat."

"What are you so happy about? The ones who lose their dinner are all of us."

Tian Boyu's remark instantly dampened everyone's good mood. An eerie and uniform silence fell over the group as they collectively turned to stare at Yin Shanshan standing in the middle of the room.

She hadn't consulted anyone else when making the bet with the director. Everyone had assumed it was merely a joke—besides, how could a car possibly appear on a remote island?—so they hadn't paid much attention.

Yet now that the game was lost and they were the ones expected to pay the price, dissatisfaction naturally arose.

"Still, I must say, Sister Shanshan, you really should have discussed it with us before making a bet. After all, this concerns our interests too."

Yu Xin had always been direct-spoken on the show, and her words ignited the agreement of many netizens.

[Exactly. Making a wager with everyone's dinner on the line without consulting her teammates is far too reckless.]
[Yin Shanshan was probably just joking. Is there any need to blow things out of proportion like this?]
[To put it bluntly, it seems like Yin Shanshan didn't respect the others at all.]
[It's just a single dinner anyway; can't they buy it themselves? I see vegetables and meat being sold in this universal store too.]