Chapter 189 - Technology Changes The World
Chapter 189: Technology Changes The World
Su Yang was drowning in embarrassment, but Qu Xiaomeng was pleased. Maybe because as a new lecturer, being called ‘Miss’ by her student meant something to her. She nodded proudly as she replied softly, “Hi, Mr. Su Yang.”
Both of them continued shopping after the awkward introduction.
Su Yang was almost done with his ‘groceries’, and all that was left was the New Orleans drumette.
Qu Xiaomeng knew where the drumettes were, so she brought Su Yang to the deli section and selected a big drumstick for him.
However, Su Yang sharply noticed his lecturer gulping nervously when she selected the drumstick. He asked, “Ms. Qu, are you hungry?”
Embarrassed, Qu Xiaomeng instinctively denied, “I-I’m not hungry!”
Su Yang looked at her strangely. He picked up the grilled drumstick and sniffed it in front of her. “Wow, this smells really good!”
Gulp! Qu Xiaomeng gulped again while her big round eyes were staring at the drumstick in Su Yang’s hand. However, in the next moment, she closed her eyes and shook her head like a little puppy, trying to discard her desire for food.
Su Yang watched the dumb, cute, and busty lecturer acting like a silly child. He sighed.
‘Well, at least they are still brother and sister in terms of intellect.’
After Su Yang got what he wanted, it was Qu Xiaomeng’s turn to shop. He pushed the cart loaded with his groceries while following her around the supermarket.
Women had a bad habit during shopping. They would spend very little time actually buying items because they spent most of the time window shopping. Maybe it was because they liked the feeling of shopping.
Men were the exact opposite of that. They hated troublesome and trivial stuff and preferred to go straight to their destination and get what they sought.
For the first time in his life, Su Yang realized how boring it was to accompany a woman shopping.
Qu Xiaomeng wanted to eat but was afraid of getting fat, so window shopping was her only choice. She walked to the potato chips section and selected a pack of cucumber-flavored Lays. She gulped and stared at it for a while before putting it down.
Then, she got another pack of tomato-flavored Oishi chips, looked at it, and put it down. She repeated the process with a bag of seaweed and a bag of Jell-O.
At first, Su Yang was energetic, but Qu Xiaomeng’s hesitance quickly wore down his patience. He said in an impatient tone, “Ms. Qu, are you buying anything or not?”
Qu Xiaomeng was drooling over a bag of jerky when she heard Su Yang rush her, so she responded angrily, “Yeah! I’m buying stuff, so stop rushing me!”
Su Yang kept quiet. He had taken money from Qu Xuan after all, so he was in no position to demand anything.
Qu Xiaomeng quit hesitating after Su Yang rushed her. She left the snacks section with a heavy heart and brought him to the rice section. She grabbed a big bag of rice and wanted to put it into the shopping cart.
Immediately shocked, Su Yang stopped her right away and said, “Ms. Qu! Are you really going to buy a bag of rice?”
Qu Xiaomeng carried the bag of rice, which was half of her size, and looked at Su Yang with a confused gaze. “Uh, ya? Didn’t Xiaoming tell you about this?”
‘Xiaoming? Who’s Xiaoming?’
Su Yang did not know who Qu Xiaomeng was talking about at first. ‘Is she talking about Qu Xuan? So, his nickname is Xiaoming?”
Su Yang said, “Ah…he didn’t tell me anything.”
Qu Xiaomeng put the bag of rice into the cart and started to count on her fingers. “I’m here to restock food for my house. Other than rice, I need two bottles of oil, a bag of flour, and a carton of milk.”
‘Qu Xuan…Qu Xiaoming, you little b*stard! You are dead the next time when I see you!’
Su Yang said, “Can Qu Xuan carry all those groceries by himself?”
She said without hesitance, “Of course. He might be lazy, but he’s actually quite strong.”
Su Yang remembered how easily Qu Xiaomeng had picked up the bag of rice. ‘I guess it’s family genetics…’
He then pointed at his slim body. “Then, do you think I can carry all these?”
Qu Xiaomeng sized Su Yang up and finally realized the problem. “Oh, you’re right! You can’t.”
‘Wait, can you not be so straightforward? Men can’t handle the world ‘can’t’ from a woman!’
Su Yang activated his [Verbal Canon] and started to brainwash Qu Xiaomeng. “Look, it’s already the modern age of the internet, right? Everyone is buying rice, flour, and oil on the internet, and delivery is included. Who still comes to the supermarket just for that?”
Qu Xiaomeng was confused. “Really?”
“Of course! With JDL[1] 211 supermarket delivery service! If you order today before 11 a.m., you will get your groceries on the same day, and if you order before 11 p.m., you will get your groceries before 3 p.m. tomorrow! That’s the 211 service! And it’s super convenient!”
Qu Xiaomeng was slightly surprised. “Really?!”
Su Yang nodded. “Of course!” He then continued to brainwash Qu Xiaomeng. He told her that the internet had changed the world and technology was changing everyday, so she should not be like a foreigner who had just arrived in Shanghai and was shocked by a rental power bank.
In the end, Su Yang successfully bluffed Qu Xiaomeng to only get two cartons of milk, only because she insisted she wanted to drink them that night.
With the two cartons of milk and Su Yang’s own groceries, they headed to the counter to pay.
However, when they arrived at the counter, they realized that most of the counters in this supermarket had changed into an automated self-checkout system, so they had to pay with Alipay.
Customers could put their groceries on the counter and scan the barcodes, and the receipt would be automatically printed out. Next, all they needed to do was scan their face with the camera and the payment would be successful.
Unfortunately, the new technology made Su Yang and Qu Xiaomeng waste a full five minutes, but they still could not get it done. In the end, they had to ask for the cashier’s help to complete the transaction.
After successfully paying for his groceries, Su Yang shook his head and exclaimed, “I was just saying how fast technology changes, and we already ran into some new technology. Last week, when I was here, they hadn’t even implemented the system.”
Qu Xiaomeng was quiet. She carried her two cartons of milk and walked with a lowered head for a while before she said, “You have no idea how scared I was back then. For a moment there, I panicked. I didn’t know that I can order groceries online and have them delivered to me on the same day. I also didn’t expect to pay for groceries with my face.
“I feel like I’m getting outdated. It’s like I’m walking with my head down, and when I look up, the world is no longer the world that I know.”
Su Yang smiled. “Isn’t this one of the charms of this era? Technology changes everyday, and the world changes every second. You don’t need to feel outdated. I surf the internet everyday, but I was still shocked back there. However, human beings are good at adapting to changes. A few years later when you look back, you will notice that there are a lot of new things around you that have changed the world.”
Qu Xiaomeng nodded.
Su Yang sent her back to her home and even went in for a cup of water. He then simply gave an excuse and escaped.
He started to feel embarrassed because other than helping Qu Xiaomeng carry her milk, he had also earned 500 yuan from her brother and even drank a cup of water at her house! Even Scrooge McSu Yang started to feel guilty.
After he got home, he took out everything he bought and started to cook…or rather, prepare the prescription. He opened the system shop and checked the steps via the tutorial video.
‘Yeap. As strange as ever. I even need a grill to roast the chicken? Am I having a barbecue?’
After going through the tutorial, Su Yang snuck over to Little Hus’ den to steal the +1 Modern History Essentials of Huaxia textbook.
[1] JDL – Jingdu Delivery Logistic