Chapter 17 Host, Time to Get to Work!
Shen Zhigui and the others turned to look in the direction Xie Silin pointed, where they all spotted the wooden cabin.
"There's even a path connecting these two houses - could this be Boss Chu's doing?"
Su Zhucheng quickly noticed some subtle details.
As expected, when Su Zhucheng spoke up, everyone turned to look at him: "Seems there's less water in your brain than I thought."
Jiang He smiled faintly and murmured a remark.
"With such a big commotion, we didn't hear anything last night - isn't Boss Chu a bit too supernatural?"
Lin Xuyuan found this all utterly unbelievable; ever since meeting Boss Chu, he felt everything had started becoming unscientific.
"One can only say, the world is vast and full of wonders."
"Then where's Boss Chu? After making such a big fuss, isn't anyone going to explain things to us?"
Xie Silin just glanced back and realized their dwelling had transformed from a 2-story mud-brick building into a 10-story red-brick house with a slanted roof.
Given that they exited without needing to descend stairs, their room was likely still on the 1st floor.
"Boss Chu won't be up until 10. Let's eat breakfast first, gather supplies outside, and return by noon—he should be awake by then."
"I envy Boss Chu. His life now is even more comfortable than before the apocalypse."
Not even corporate slaves pre-apocalypse lived as luxuriously as Chu Jiangyue does now.
"If you think your account balance can sustain you in this hotel for life, you're welcome to lounge around too."
Due to Jianglin Hotel's exchange system, besides hunting Level 1 zombies for cores, they'd also collect valuables like gold, silver, jewelry, and antique vases.
Pity most items they deemed valuable turned out nearly worthless at the converter.
The final conclusion is that fighting zombies to collect crystal cores for exchange is the most cost-effective option.
"Hey! There's an extra bok choy available for purchase here! Too bad I didn't collect any seasonings, otherwise I could have bought a few stems to try."
Returning to the lobby, Xie Silin originally planned to buy a meat bun for breakfast, but unexpectedly discovered the hotel had added new food items.
The vibrant green bok choy looked so appetizing at first glance.
When Xie Silin mentioned it, Shen Zhiguai immediately looked over. Seeing it was indeed bok choy, his eyes lit up.
"Wow! The price looks quite appealing too."
Lin Xuyuan initially wanted to suggest buying a few heads to stir-fry, knowing Jiang He's space must contain seasonings.
But upon seeing the price - 100 copper coins per leaf, with two leaves equivalent to their daily lodging fee - he reconsidered.
"Esteemed colleagues, perhaps… we could pool some coins together? Each contribute to buy two or three leaves that we can share?"
Xie Silin certainly couldn't bear to purchase too many at once himself, but spending on one or two leaves was within his means.
Shen Zhigui directly selected 20 leaves, completed the purchase with a swipe of his card in one smooth motion. Twenty small cabbage leaves appeared on the counter the next second, which Shen Zhigui handed directly to Jiang He: "You guys handle the rest."
Jiang He then tossed them to Xie Silin: "You're in charge of washing the vegetables. Open the door—we'll cook in your room."
"Got it! Right away!"
Xie Silin held the baby bok choy, unable to suppress the grin on his face.
Only after all five of them had entered Xie Silin's room did Jiang Jianhai and Liu Yiyi's door finally creak open. The two exchanged a glance before slamming their door shut again with a loud "Bang!
Chu Jiangyue had been woken up late last night and worked overtime until 2 a.m. After returning to her room, she collapsed into bed and fell asleep immediately.
By the time she woke up, it was already 9:30 in the morning.
However, since she'd already decided yesterday to start work two hours later today, Chu Jiangyue wasn't in any rush.
「Host! Host! The hotel renovation is complete, and new tasks were released yesterday. So many guests are waiting to check in - hurry up and get to work!」
Seeing Chu Jiangyue moving sluggishly, even showing signs of going back to sleep, the little fox quickly urged her.
New tasks?
Chu Jiangyue opened the system panel and indeed saw that after the hotel upgrade was completed yesterday, the system had issued a new task:
[Task Issued: Building 1 has been fully unlocked. Please host guests and complete check-ins (8/100)]
"They really didn't plan to give me any time to rest at all."
Just unlocked a whole building, and immediately got hit with a guest check-in task—even a workhorse from a production brigade would find this cruel.
「Host, this isn't my fault! Tasks are autonomously issued by the system based on your progress. There's no time limit for completion—it's already very humanitarian!」
The little fox quickly distanced itself, claiming ignorance—it was just a system spirit with no responsibility for task modules.
Chu Jiangyue didn't say anything more. She was just venting a little.
"Speaking of which, your fur… it seems much smoother than before?"
Whether it was Chu Jiangyue's imagination or not, she felt the little fox's fur appeared more realistic than previously.
「Right, right! Host, you noticed it too! When the hotel reaches Level 5, I'll gain physical form!」
Then, it could finally eat to its heart's content, no longer just watching its host enjoy meals while remaining unable to taste anything itself.
"You can obtain physical form? But your appearance… wouldn't that be problematic?"
Nine-tailed foxes only existed within the legends of Dragon Country.
「We're in the apocalypse now, host. You've awakened supernatural abilities - isn't the appearance of a nine-tailed fox equally possible?」
The little fox proudly displayed all nine of its tails to Chu Jiangyue.
Currently, only Chu Jiangyue had the privilege of being able to pet all nine tails.
"You do have a point there."
With supernatural abilities emerging, there was no need to strictly adhere to science anymore.
「Oh dear! I was supposed to come remind you to go to work, but we've gone completely off topic! Get up quickly, Host, and prepare for work!
There are already many people coming again, wanting to consult you about accommodation issues.」
The changes at Jianglin Hotel are obvious to anyone with eyes, and of course there are clever individuals who might think rooms could be available.
But with Chu Jiangyue's prolonged absence, many who came hoping to try their luck grew impatient waiting.
The daytime temperatures are too high now—they can't afford to waste too much time at Jianglin Hotel.
"I know, I know, I'm already getting ready."
Chu Jiangyue climbed out of bed, quickly brushed her teeth and washed her face, then grabbed a random outfit from the wardrobe to change into.
Spurred on by the little fox's urging, Chu Jiangyue successfully emerged from her room in 30 minutes, then made herself breakfast.
By the time she finished breakfast and came out of the two-story wooden cabin, it was almost 11 o'clock.
After yesterday's upgrade, the coverage area of Jianglin Hotel has expanded significantly, with the boundary now marked by the extent of the lawn.
Within the lawn-covered area, the comfortable spring-like temperature remains unaffected by external weather conditions,
Sharp-eyed observers have already noticed Chu Jiangyue emerging from her wooden cabin and walking towards Building No.1.
"Boss Chu, you've finally arrived!"
"Boss Chu, are there any rooms available today? Can I book one?"
"Good morning, Boss Chu!"