"We can discuss the specific details of the cooperation after the challenge ends in a few days." Lu You pulled his thoughts back and issued a dismissal.
"By then, I'm afraid yours won't be the only company coming. You can go back and prepare a sincere proposal."
Sun Hongwei and the others were sensible people and understood the underlying meaning in Lu You's words.
They immediately stood up and respectfully handed over their business cards again.
"Boss Lu, then we won't disturb you any further. We will await your message at any time!"
After seeing them off, Lu You closed the shop door, and the whole world finally became completely quiet.
"Sigh, dealing with these people is just exhausting..."
He took a deep breath, suppressing the excitement in his heart.
With a thought, he brought up the system panel.
[Today's Turnover Statistics]
[Cash Income: 3,475,800 Yuan]
[business points Income: 7,126,500 Points]
When he saw the long string of numbers following the business points column...
Lu You felt a wave of oxygen deprivation in his brain, almost fainting from excitement!
Over seven million!
A full 7,126,500 business points!
"Awesome! Ah—!"
He could no longer control himself.
He let out an excited roar in the empty shop!
A few days ago, he was still a pauper who had to budget carefully for a few hundred business points.
Now, he had leaped to become a double-millionaire with millions in cash and a massive amount of business points!
This feeling was ten thousand times more thrilling than winning the lottery!
He rushed into the back warehouse and first spent a few thousand business points in the self-service gourmet area.
He exchanged them for a table of top-tier ingredients for himself.
He rewarded his exhausted body and hyper-excited nerves with a hearty feast.
After eating and drinking his fill, Lu You looked at his huge rest area, which still only had a cot.
The thought that "once you have money, you should enjoy it" uncontrollably popped into his head.
"Ideals are ideals, but while fulfilling them, I shouldn't mistreat myself."
"System!" He waved his hand with a grand air of confidence.
"Renovate this rest area for me from top to bottom!"
[Please provide the Host with renovation requirements.]
"Requirements?" Lu You thought for a moment.
"Lighting! It must have the best lighting! The style should be minimalist yet grand, low-key luxury with substance! As for the rest, you decide! Make it the best for me!"
[Requirements received, generating renovation plan... Plan generated, calculating budget...]
On the system panel, the progress bar rolled rapidly.
[Renovation plan confirmed. Estimated consumption of business points: 300,000 points. Please confirm, Host.]
"How... how much?"
Lu You saw the number clearly.
Even though he had prepared himself mentally, his heart still twitched violently.
A full 300,000 business points! Just to renovate a room?!
This was one-twentieth of what he had worked himself to death for today! His heart was bleeding!
But... on second thought.
"Do it!" He gritted his teeth and said fiercely.
"I work myself to death every day, and after finally earning some business points, if I don't enjoy them, what's the difference between me and a salted fish?!"
"Confirm!!"
With his mental confirmation...
In the blink of an eye, the empty, crude, and massive space before him underwent an earth-shattering transformation!
There was no noisy construction sound, no flying dust.
Everything was completed instantly in silence.
On the ceiling, a lighting design combined with hidden light strips emitted a soft and bright glow.
The open-plan layout of the living room, bedroom, and study was cleverly separated by structure and furniture, giving a full sense of space.
Huge floor-to-ceiling windows, minimalist yet stylish furniture.
Along with green plants and artworks dotted in between... this was no longer just a rest area.
It was a luxury flat in the truest sense!
Lu You looked at all this dumbfounded, feeling as if he were dreaming.
He subconsciously walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window.
Outside the window was no longer the monotonous wall of the back warehouse.
"Holy crap..."
He couldn't help but swear.
Outside the window was actually a boundless, gorgeous sea of purple lavender!
As the breeze brushed past, the sea of flowers undulated, and it seemed as if even the air carried a faint floral fragrance.
"Is... is this real?"
He tentatively pushed open the window, and a gust of fresh air carrying the scent of flowers really hit him in the face!
[System Prompt: The scenery outside the window can be switched at will according to the Host's mood and preferences. Including but not limited to: tropical islands, aurora-lit snowy mountains, fjords, etc.]
"..."
Lu You was completely conquered by this god-tier operation.
"This only cost 300,000??? This is damn well worth three million!!"
These 300,000 business points were not spent in vain! It was a total steal!
He ran around his new home excitedly.
Touching this, looking at that, like a child who had gotten a new toy.
Where was there any trace of the serious demeanor he had during the negotiations?
Finally, he threw himself onto the soft, large bed that was big enough for three to five people.
Gazing at the dots of light on the ceiling that looked like a starry sky, he closed his eyes contentedly.
Time to sleep!
Tomorrow, there was another tough battle to fight!
The morning sunlight carried a hint of just the right amount of warmth.
It shone through the polished glass door of the Old Lu Hardware Store, spilling onto the floor and onto Lu You's slightly tired but hyper-excited face.
The challenge all day yesterday had almost exhausted all his energy.
But the mental satisfaction was like a shot of adrenaline, making it hard for him to sleep all night.
The second day was the same as yesterday.
No, it should be said, it was even crazier than yesterday.
The challenge had only just begun.
"Boss! Boss! I'm here!"
A young man with two huge dark circles under his eyes, yet tightly clutching a design drawing in his hand.
The moment the Host announced the start of the competition, he was the first to rush in.
The bullet chat in the live stream room, the moment it went live...
...surged in like a bursting flood.
[It's here, it's here! My digital snacks are finally on air!]
[Selling sunflower seeds, peanuts, and small stools in the front row, and by the way, watching to see what heaven-defying thing God Lu will bring out today!]
[Where's the guy from yesterday who wanted 'light'? Is he out maintaining universal peace today?]
[Upstairs, you think he's Ultraman! But jokes aside, Boss Lu is truly the GOAT!]
The popularity of the challenge, after a night of fermentation...
...not only did not diminish in the slightest, but instead swept across the entire internet even more fiercely.
If on the first day, people still held a mindset of watching the spectacle and questioning...
...then by the second day, the atmosphere had completely changed.
That mere ten thousand yuan compensation was already long forgotten.
Now, everyone standing before Lu You had a light in their eyes called "dreams."
What they wanted were things they might never possess in their entire lives...
...or things that only existed in fantasies.
And in the Old Lu Hardware Store, in this seemingly ordinary corner...
...all impossibilities had a chance to become possible.
And at this moment, another story was quietly exploding on the short video platforms.
Adding a ladle of boiling oil to the fire that was the "Old Lu Hardware Store."
The girl who bought the queen of the night yesterday posted a video in the early hours of the morning.
The video footage was very simple.
A queen of the night bloomed holily in the quiet night.
The petals unfolded layer by layer, like an awakening moonlit fairy, breathtakingly beautiful.
The caption of the video, however, made countless netizens instantly break down.
"Mom, did you see? The queen of the night has bloomed. You always said that the blooming of the queen of the night is for Skanda.
You waited for a lifetime, longed for a lifetime.
They say its bloom is fleeting, but for me, this moment is eternity.
Thank you, Mom, for walking with me through these twenty years.
Also thank you to @Old Lu Hardware Store's Boss Lu You, it was you who allowed me not to miss it and fulfilled this last wish for my mother."
At the end of the video, the camera turned slightly.
The elderly mother on the hospital bed, though her face was haggard...
...had a contented and peaceful smile in her eyes as she quietly watched that blooming queen of the night.
This story was like a heavy tear-gas bomb, instantly exploding on the internet.
The comment section was no longer filled with banter and memes.
Instead, it was filled with warm candlelight and comforting hugs.
[Girl, you must be strong! Mom has just gone to another place to continue guarding you.]
[I'm crying... A fleeting bloom, a radiant eternity. Rest in peace, Auntie, there is no pain in heaven.]
[Suddenly I feel like what Boss Lu sells is not products, but hope, an opportunity to make up for regrets.]
[I take back what I said yesterday about the boss being a dishonest merchant. What he sold wasn't a queen of the night, but a daughter's final love for her mother. This sentiment is priceless!]
[@Yangcheng Culture and Tourism Bureau, your city has produced a god-tier boss!]
[I originally came to watch the spectacle, but now I just want to give Boss Lu a thumbs up. This is true positive energy!]
The two names "Old Lu Hardware Store" and "Lu You"...
...along with this story full of warmth and sadness, completely broke through to a wider audience.
They entered the field of vision of more and more people.
He was not just a magical shopkeeper who could bring out anything...
...but was also endowed with an aura of being a "Dreamweaver of the Mortal Realm."