Chapter 13: First Warning! Double Penalty
"Can't you tidy up more rooms? Because of you, Brother Wen'an has nowhere to stay! How can you be so selfish!"
Liu Yiyi scolded Chu Jiangyue, then angrily grabbed her ID card and headed toward the guest room area.
Chu Jiangyue: ???
Her? Selfish?
If she were truly selfish, she wouldn't have been keeping watch at the hotel every single day without fail, always available to help guests check in.
If she were selfish, the room rates wouldn't be as low as 200 copper coins per day!
That's right—both the room prices and the unlocked food prices could be adjusted by Chu Jiangyue. The current prices were actually the system's minimum suggested rates.
Chu Jiangyue even felt that not raising the prices made her somewhat of a saint.
[Detection of malicious intent from guest Liu Yiyi toward the hotel owner. First warning issued! Guest Liu Yiyi will be penalized with double charges for all hotel services.]
This sudden penalty immediately cleared all of Chu Jiangyue's pent-up frustration.
Look, how dare they yell at her in her own territory—utterly senseless.
"On what grounds!"
"Miss Liu, mind your language~"
Chu Jiangyue's words were nothing short of salt rubbed into the wound.
Liu Yiyi feared that any further provocation would lead to outright expulsion. Swallowing her resentment, she ultimately held back.
As soon as Lui Yiyi entered her room, Chu Jiangyue's expression instantly darkened.
『Little fox, am I really not allowed to kill Lui Yiyi?』
Liu Yiyi had repeatedly suffered humiliations before her and now harbored murderous intent. Keeping her around was just asking for a knife in the back someday.
「She hasn't met the male lead or the female lead yet, nor has she triggered the necessary plotlines, so…」
So it's a no.
Chu Jiangyue felt uneasy but ultimately suppressed those emotions.
"She'd better not cause trouble in this hotel…"
As she spoke, her tone carried a hint of gritted teeth.
At 5 PM, the sun had already begun to set, and the temperature had dropped slightly.
Shen Zhigui's group of four and Xie Silin emerged from their rooms, just in time to bump into two potbellied men returning with their luggage.
When the two men saw Shen Zhigui's group of five, their expressions showed momentary surprise, but quickly returned to normal.
"Young fellas heading out? It's scorching outside—you'd better minimize outdoor activities."
"Thanks for the reminder, but we still need to kill zombies to earn crystal cores."
Gold and jewelry will eventually run out, but zombies are endless (at least for now). If they want to continue staying at the hotel, their primary source of income will have to be exchanging zombie crystal cores for copper coins.
"Kill zombies to earn crystal cores? What does that mean?"
It was clear from their reaction that these two had never fought zombies before—with their flabby physiques, they probably couldn't even outrun an entry-level zombie.
"Might as well tell you - Level 1 zombies have appeared in our neighborhood recently, and their brains have evolved crystal cores.
Crystal cores can be exchanged at the hotel - one Level 1 crystal core equals 100 copper coins."
Just kill two Level 1 zombies, and you'll earn enough for a day's lodging.
As for food, if you're not picky, 20 copper coins for a steamed bun per day will keep you from starving.
"100 copper coins! That's way too little—it's not even enough for one night's stay!"
The potbellied man, who earlier wanted to buy a watermelon for Chu Jiangyue, instinctively exclaimed upon hearing that a Level 1 zombie crystal core could only be exchanged for 100 copper coins.
"I was just informing you, not asking you to fight zombies."
Xie Silin felt slightly irritated by the potbellied man's words.
Jianglin Hotel's 200-copper-coin daily rate is already very cheap. I guarantee if any safe base were established now, their lodging fees would only be higher than the hotel's.
Anyway, Xie Silin had already made up his mind. He wanted to take advantage of Boss Shen and his three companions still being here to learn a few more tricks from them. That way, when Boss Shen's group left, he could hold his own.
In times like these, if you don't strive to grow stronger, you'll eventually end up as food for the zombies. He didn't want to live such a pitiful life.
Shen Zhigui glanced at the two potbellied men but didn't say much in response to their words.
"Boss Chu, this time we plan to go a bit farther to spread the word about Jianglin Hotel to some survivors."
"Sure. As thanks, once the fruit tree outside the hotel matures, I'll prioritize selling the first batch of ripe fruits to you."
Chu Jiangyue couldn't sell the food he ate himself, but there were no such restrictions on the fruits the tree naturally bore.
When Chu Jiangyue mentioned the fruit tree, Shen Zhigui's eyes lit up as well.
Due to the zombie virus, most of the fruits they found nowadays had already rotted—unless they were in completely sealed plastic packaging.
The zombie virus has only been spreading for a few days. For long-lasting fruits, this situation makes no sense at all.
But they had no choice but to accept this reality.
When they saw Chu Jiangyue digging into half a watermelon alone today, they were genuinely envious.
"Well then, thank you for your promise, Boss Chu."
Shen Zhigui had absolutely no intention of refusing. Though no one knew when that fruit tree would bear fruit, it didn't stop him from agreeing.
"Boss Chu, this isn't fair. Fruits grown in the hotel should be shared with everyone. What's the meaning of selling them exclusively to them?"
The nosy potbellied man was at it again.
"If you can also help promote my business outside, I can arrange to give you a share too. How about that?"
Chu Jiangyue's words successfully shut the nosy potbellied man up.
He wanted the fruits, but he wasn't willing to risk his life to earn them.
In his opinion, those men had nothing better to do—traveling so far, it'd be a joke if they never made it back.
However, no one paid attention to his thoughts. Shen Zhigui and the others stood outside the hotel, confirmed that the temperature was bearable, and then left without hesitation.
「Host, I seem to have detected some information about Shen Zhigui and his group, but it's incomplete.」
This was a fragment of information it suddenly received when Chu Jiangyue and Shen Zhigui reached their verbal agreement.
The little fox suddenly spoke up, delivering news about Shen Zhigui's group, which immediately snapped Chu Jiangyue out of his drowsiness.
『Care to elaborate?』
"Shen Zhigui and his group will leave Shengshi Huadu together with the male lead's team in half a month, then join the official safe base in City B.
After that, it only mentioned Shen Zhigui's team going on a mission… and then nothing more."
There were no details about what mission it was, where it took place, how long it lasted, or whether it succeeded—just an ellipsis.
Hearing this vague and incomplete information, Chu Jiangyue frowned slightly.
Something's off… really off!
Shen Zhigui and his group were clearly more capable than that Zheng Wen'an. How could Zheng Wen'an make a name for himself while Shen Zhigui and the others remained unknown?
Could he really just be an insignificant side character?
『Is that all? What mission did they carry out? Did they go on a mission as soon as they entered the base?』
「No idea」
『Then what use are you?!』
Little Fox: I'm upset but I won't say it T﹏T