Universe Infinite Canteen

In the beginning, it was mainly Aerospace University students, but now outsiders like Hou Yihan were increasingly common.

These were all precious sources of customers, useful for when his new store opened in the future.

After packing up the snack stall, Ma Lu turned to see Old Wang with his head tilted back, gazing at something.

He followed Old Wang's gaze and saw a flock of pigeons perched on the power lines.

"What's up?"

"Those pigeons have been there for several days now."

"Hmm... that's how pigeons are, they like to stick to a place."

As he spoke, Ma Lu squinted and observed closely but couldn't spot any difference between them and ordinary pigeons, so he asked Old Wang.

"Do they do anything strange?"

"No."

"Then there should be no problem."

"Yeah." Old Wang's attention also moved away at that point, "I don't know much about the things in this universe."

"No problem, just ask me if there's anything you don't understand." Ma Lu patted Old Wang's shoulder.

"Heading home?"

"Yep, but since we sold out early today, let's check out the shop on the way." Ma Lu checked the time on his phone, it wasn't even 5 PM yet.

Ever since he made up his mind to open a store, he had started looking up relevant information online in the past few days.

Generally speaking, opening a store requires four documents.

These are a business license, a health certificate, a storefront approval document, and a business permit.

Getting the business license is relatively simple, just need to bring a lease agreement, a copy of the property title, ID card, and a photo to the local bureau of industry and commerce or market supervision office.

Ma Lu would definitely be able to obtain a health certificate, but it would be a bit tricky for Old Wang, although in terms of health, probably no one in this universe could surpass him.

As a silicon-based lifeform he was truly immune to all sorts of poisons, but he obviously couldn't just stroll into a hospital for an X-ray, nor could he provide routine urine and stool samples.

Well, but as a robot, he probably didn't need a health certificate; as long as he was careful not to be discovered, that would suffice.

As for the storefront approval document, that wasn't difficult, just needed to report to the urban management department before replacing the storefront sign.

Finally, the business permit, if the shop is less than 50 square meters, one generally just needs to apply for the small food service permit, submit relevant documents to the service hall, followed by an on-site inspection.

With no issues, the permit would be granted.

Reviewing the procedures, Ma Lu felt that opening a store wasn't too complicated, except for the health certificate. The real challenge was the various inspections that followed.

The ingredients used by Ma Lu were from the Different Dimension, offering a freshness that far exceeded his peers, and Old Wang could ensure the safety of the food consumption.

But if inspectors opened the freezer to find giant lizards as big as elephants or hyenas with two heads, it would certainly not be a matter that a fine could solve.

The inspectors would probably faint on the spot.

However, Ma Lu's life philosophy was that where there's a will, there's a way.

He'd even been to another universe and adopted a washing machine that liked to eat mobile phones. He'd let an amnesiac mechanical lifeform from a different dimension take over his couch. What trouble could there be that he couldn't fix?

On their way back, Ma Lu and Old Wang had looked at four spaces for their shop in total, one of which they'd found thanks to a renting sign on the road, two were found with the help of a real estate agent, and the last one they'd discovered on an online marketplace.

However, after checking them out, Ma Lu wasn't too satisfied with any of them.

Starting a store is just like setting up a stall—the location is paramount, and the right place means you're halfway to success.

On the contrary, if the location choice is poor, no matter how hard you work, it would only yield half the result.

This principle is understood by most people, so places with good locations generally have very high rents, such as a shopping mall space Ma Lu had seen, which had a monthly rent of 28,000 yuan for 45 square meters.

The storefronts in business streets were also not cheap. In contrast, the community stores by the roadside were a bit more affordable, but essentially the rent was tied to the pedestrian traffic around them—you get what you pay for.

As night fell, Ma Lu finished his shop search for the day, enjoyed a bowl of rice noodles by the roadside, and headed home with Old Wang.

While going to ride the tricycle, Ma Lu noticed that Old Wang was staring intently at a spot again.

It was a Mixue Ice Cream & Tea shop, and in the empty space in front of the shop, there were two pigeons walking in a stuttered gait on the ground looking for food.

This was a common sight throughout the city, but Ma Lu had become somewhat concerned due to what Old Wang had previously said.

He watched the two pigeons for a while longer and even took a few steps towards them.

Probably because they had lived in the city for so long, the two pigeons weren't very afraid of people. They hurried off a short distance, but after putting some space between them and Ma Lu, they slowed their pace again.

The pigeons continued bobbing their heads and walking around.

Ma Lu didn't bother with them anymore and rode the tricycle back to the neighborhood where he lived with Old Wang.

First, Ma Lu went to Rookie Station to pick up the Redmi mobile phone he had ordered.

Number 6, perhaps sniffing something amiss, was especially excited when the door opened, circling Ma Lu incessantly.

It wasn't until Ma Lu told it to sit down that 6 finally halted and started wagging its drainpipe.

Ma Lu tore open the packaging and tossed the phone inside to 6 and didn't waste the charger and charging cable either.

After swallowing everything, 6 contentedly returned to the balcony, while Ma Lu went back inside to read his novel for a while.

It was a pity the latex mattress wouldn't be delivered until tomorrow morning.

Because he had stayed up all night hunting yesterday, Ma Lu went to sleep earlier than usual today. After saying goodnight to Old Wang, who was watching TV in the living room, Ma Lu went to bed before nine o'clock.

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And after he had fallen asleep, a pigeon landed on his windowsill, cocked its head, and observed him with its red eyes.

Unlike the dullness typical of ordinary pigeons, this one's gaze carried a hint of scrutiny.

It stood on the edge of the bed for about three minutes, and as Ma Lu turned over, it spread its wings and flew away.

Ma Lu slept until seven o'clock the next morning and woke up feeling rejuvenated, but the bowl of rice noodles from last night had been completely digested.

So he took his toothbrush into the kitchen, grabbed two small buns previously baked by Old Wang from the fridge, and warmed them in the oven.

While brushing his teeth, Ma Lu leaned against the counter, waiting for the bread. Out of boredom, he glanced out the window.

His expression suddenly turned serious.

For he saw another pigeon perched on the rooftop of the building opposite, peeking in his direction.

Ma Lu didn't know if it was Old Wang's influence that had gotten to him, but he was starting to pay more and more attention to the pigeons, making it his first task to look for them wherever he went.

This caused him to see pigeons more and more frequently.