Chapter 169 First Come, First Served

Li Na gulped down the plum juice in her cup.

The cold liquid slid down her esophagus into her stomach, and she let out a long sigh.

The sweat that had been seeping out due to the high temperature was forced back.

"I'm alive again..." Li Na slumped in her chair, wiping the remaining juice from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, her eyes filled with satisfaction.

Without pausing, Su Xiaoxiao took out a thick, hard-covered manuscript and opened it.

The document is filled with the reservation information for each dormitory room over the past few days.

"After deducting the three cans you three took, there are only forty-seven cans left." Su Xiaoxiao's finger traced across the page, her brows slightly furrowed.

"But there are 120 dorm rooms reserved. We can't allocate them all."

"Never mind, first come, first served."

"Nana, just send the message in the group chat."

Li Na sprang up from her chair, grabbed her phone from the table, and the screen's glow illuminated her excited face. "Alright!!"

Chen Min and Wang worked together to carry the folding table in the center of the dormitory, which was used to store miscellaneous items, to the corridor outside the dormitory.

Su Xiaoxiao used transparent tape to stick the A4 paper with the payment QR code printed on it to the corner of the table. Then she placed the heavy canvas bag in the center of the table, unzipped it, and revealed the neatly stacked black matte tin cans inside.

Ready.

Li Na tapped her thumb rapidly on the phone screen and clicked send.

In a WeChat group of 500 people, a bold and red group announcement popped up and was pinned to the top by the group owner within two seconds:

"@Everyone, the divine plum juice concentrate has arrived! Purely handmade by the owner, production is extremely limited, only 47 cans available today! Price: NT$888/can. Available at the entrance of dormitory 402 on the fourth floor, first come, first served according to the order of pre-orders in the group, while supplies last!"

The moment the message was sent, the entire dormitory building No. 4 seemed to fall into a deathly silence for three seconds.

Followed by.

"Bang!"

The wooden door of one of the dorm rooms upstairs was suddenly pushed open and slammed against the wall with a loud bang.

It was like a signal that triggered a chain reaction.

The sound of doors opening and banging echoed simultaneously throughout the corridors of the entire building: the second floor, the third floor, the fifth floor, the sixth floor...

"Quick, grab your phone!" "Slippers! Where's my left slipper? Never mind, I'm going barefoot!"

"Get out of the way! I only have 900 yuan left in my WeChat account, save me a can!"

"Boom!"

The old, dilapidated cement stairwell was now filled with the sound of heavy footsteps, comparable to the thunder of a thousand horses.

Dust fell from the ceiling and landed on the folding table.

Su Xiaoxiao stood behind the table, her eyelids twitching suddenly.

Less than two minutes.

A dark mass of figures rushed out from around the corner of the corridor.

Dozens of female college students, who usually dress up in a glamorous way when they go out, have no image to speak of at this moment.

The short-haired girl at the front was wearing an oversized men's T-shirt and a black seaweed mask on her face, the edges of which had curled up and peeled off due to sweat.

She ran, panting, her right hand holding her phone high, the screen displaying a payment interface where the number "888" had already been entered.

The girls following behind were even more bizarre and unusual.

Some people had plastic curlers clipped to their hair, others wore pink sandals on their left foot but were barefoot on the cement floor with their right, and still others were holding half a cucumber that had been bitten into.

"Make way! Make way! I was the first one to sign up in the group!"

The girl with the face mask slid to the table and slammed her hands on it, making the metal can inside vibrate.

"Why are you first? I had a private conversation with Li Na about this the day before yesterday!"

Another long-haired girl squeezed forward, trying to push the payment code past the person in front of her to Su Xiaoxiao's face.

"Stop pushing! I want two cans! No, three cans!"

The narrow corridor was instantly packed with people.

The smell of heat and sweat, mixed with the scents of various brands of shampoo and cologne, amplified intensely in the air without air conditioning.

Dozens of hands reached out toward that flimsy folding table.

"Everyone line up! Don't push!" Su Xiaoxiao quickly shielded the canvas bag with her arms and shouted, "One can per person! Check against the list!"

Seeing this, Chen Min and Wang Jia rushed out to form a human wall, standing on either side of the table and desperately pushing the crowd forward.

"Received payment via WeChat, 888 yuan." "Received payment via Alipay, 888 yuan."

The payment notification sound on the table started playing frantically.

The girl who received the black tin can looked as if she were holding a gold brick, and squeezed out of the crowd without looking back, as if afraid that someone else would take it away.

Those at the back of the line watched the tin cans in their canvas bags dwindle at a visible rate, and they stamped their feet in frustration.

"Hey kid, I'm just one spot short. Could you sell me that half-can? I'll pay a thousand!"

"Sister, let's split the cost! I'll put up 500, you give me a third, please!"

The noise in the corridor grew louder and louder, almost lifting the roof off the dormitory building.

The loud noise traveled unimpeded through the courtyard to the dormitory manager's office on the ground floor.

In the duty room, an old floor fan was creaking and groaning, blowing out a hot, plastic smell.

Aunt Wang sat on a bamboo rattan chair, holding a large palm-leaf fan in her hand, fanning herself vigorously.

She is 52 years old and is in the most severe stage of menopause.

Adding to the problem, the dormitory building had been experiencing power outages and the air conditioners were not working. The sweltering 38-degree Celsius heat in Jiangcheng kept her up all night, and she developed large patches of red rashes on her back.

Hearing the rumbling footsteps and screams from upstairs, Aunt Wang felt her temples throbbing, and a surge of anger welled up inside her.

She suddenly stood up, knocking the bamboo and rattan chair to the ground.

She pushed open the door, grabbed a large palm-leaf fan, and rushed upstairs in her black cloth shoes.

"What's all the noise about! We're at the market!"

Aunt Wang has an extremely loud voice; this roar penetrated the floorboards and echoed in the corridor.

The girls who were queuing up to buy the items were jolted awake, and the noise stopped abruptly.

Aunt Wang climbed up to the fourth floor, panting, and roughly pushed through the crowd.

When she saw the table in the middle of the corridor, and the canvas bag on the table full of black tin cans, her eyes widened.

She was especially furious when she heard the announcement "Received 888 yuan" coming from her phone.

"Alright! I knew it! What were you girls doing, acting crazy in this sweltering heat!"

Aunt Wang pointed at Su Xiaoxiao's nose with a palm-leaf fan, strode forward, and slammed her palm heavily on the table.

"Snapped!"

"Openly setting up stalls in the dormitory! Illegally selling unknown products! Selling a single can for over 800 yuan, are you running a pyramid scheme or committing fraud?!"

Aunt Wang became more and more excited as she spoke, pointing at the girls around her and spitting as she spoke:

"And you guys! What are you all dressed like, running around in the hallway! Don't you want to graduate?"

The corridor was completely silent.