Chapter 18: Another Loan
The glass-fronted refrigerators lined one wall, their contents long spoiled. The glass was fogged with grime, but she could make out the faint outlines of containers and bottles left behind.
The floor was littered with discarded wrappers, broken glass, and the occasional shoe, as if whoever had been here before had left in a hurry or maybe running away from danger.
Liora reached out and touched one of the shelves. The cold metal felt unfamiliar under her fingers. She trailed her hand along it, marveling at its structure and how neatly it must have been arranged once.
"This is incredible," she murmured, her voice filled with wonder.
Zhou Yinuo, still holding Liora's arm, smiled at her reaction. "This is just a small supermarket. You should see a mall. It's like this but a hundred times bigger."
"A hundred times?" Liora asked, her disbelief evident. She turned to look at Zhou Yinuo. "How could anyone need so many things?"
Zhou Yinuo laughed softly. "People lived very different lives before the apocalypse. They didn't just buy what they needed. They bought what they wanted, even if they didn't need it."
Liora frowned, trying to wrap her head around the concept. "How strange. Why would you buy something like this? Just to waste so much... it seems foolish."
As they walked further into the store, Liora's gaze fell on the glass windows lining the front.
They reflected her image faintly, along with the silhouettes of Zhou Yinuo and the boys. She paused to examine them, her fingers brushing the cool surface. The way the light refracted was mesmerizing.
Liora tilted her head. "This glass... It's so smooth and clear. As a princess, even she does not have this kind of mirror. So clear." She thought to herself. her eyes shining brighter as she looked at more and more strange things and advanced technology of this world.