Chapter 15: A Wave of Guests Arrives
The sudden alarm startled Chu Jiangyue awake.
"Damn fox! What are you doing?"
Do you even know what time it is?
She clearly said to wake her at 9 AM the next day—it was only midnight right now, midnight!
「Host, it's not my fault! Shen Zhigui and the others are back, and they've brought a whole group with them」
These are all potential customers—delaying their reception even a second would mean losses for them.
Chu Jiangyue smiled without warmth: "Guess why I set business hours? If I have to open the door for everyone who comes after hours, then what's the point of having business hours at all?
Do you know what a seller's market is? A seller's market means they have to follow my lead, not the other way around!
Little fox, I won't blame you for being inexperienced since you're just freshly minted. But remember—unless it's an emergency, don't disturb me outside business hours, even if guests arrive. Understood?"
Chu Jiangyue felt that if she didn't have a serious talk with the little fox, this situation would keep happening.
Chu Jiangyue absolutely didn't want to be dragged out of her warm bed in the middle of the night again.
「Sorry, Host… I was too impatient」
The little fox drooped its ears, lowering its head to its chest—a truly pitiful sight.
"Alright, just this once. How many people did Shen Zhigui bring?"
If the little fox was excited enough to wake her up, there must be quite a few, right?
「Not too many, not too few—exactly 100 people! The Host's mission can be completed now!」
Chu Jiangyue's current mission was to receive 100 guests and successfully issue them identity cards.
Hearing that the mission could be completed, Chu Jiangyue's mood improved slightly, and she wasn't as angry about being abruptly woken up anymore.
"Let's go down and take a look."
Shen Zhigui and the other four had originally planned to bring people over the next morning, but they unexpectedly encountered a small zombie horde that night.
With just the five of them, Shen Zhigui's group stood no chance against so many zombies.
After weighing the pros and cons, they had no choice but to leave overnight with their group. The original team of nearly two hundred people had dwindled to just half by the time they escaped.
To be honest, even Shen Zhigui breathed a sigh of relief when they safely returned to the hotel.
However, upon arriving at the hotel and seeing its tightly shut doors, Shen Zhigui immediately realized the awkwardness of the situation.
Chu Jiangyue had repeatedly emphasized her business hours to them, insisting they not disturb her outside those hours unless it was an emergency.
But now, even without a clock, it was clear it was deep into the night—Chu Jiangyue had already clocked out and was likely asleep.
Without Chu Jiangyue to open the door, these survivors, lacking identity cards, couldn't enter the hotel.
"What should we…"
"Don't even think about it. The second floor is Boss Chu's private space—we can't get up there at all."
"Then what do we do?"
With this crowd gathered here, if they couldn't get inside the hotel, they'd be sitting ducks—zombies would catch their scent in no time.
The reason they can still catch their breath now is because the hotel's surroundings provide some shielding effect against the zombies.
But this effect is temporary - it will lose its effectiveness over time.
They were just unlucky to encounter a zombie horde.
"Why aren't we going inside?"
"Yeah, we finally found a place not surrounded by zombies."
"They brought us here but didn't settle us properly - what kind of arrangement is this!"
"Don't talk nonsense! It's already good enough that they helped us escape the zombie horde - you expect them to take responsibility for your whole life?"
...
The crowd was saying all sorts of things. Shen Zhigui's group of five heard those ungrateful comments, but some people also defended them.
To be honest, Shen Zhigui and the other four were feeling rather complicated at this moment.
"Wait! I think I saw lights turn on on the second floor!"
Xie Silin originally wanted to check the second floor, hoping they might get lucky and catch Chu Jiangyue awake at night.
To their surprise, the lights on the second floor really did turn on.
Shen Zhigui and the others also looked toward the staircase on the second floor, where they indeed saw light.
Soon after, Chu Jiangyue appeared fully dressed but wearing a large fisherman's hat as she came downstairs.
"You really know how to pick the perfect time to return."
Although they had brought her guests, being woken up in the middle of the night still left Chu Jiangyue quite displeased.
The little fox—she could only grab and knead it freely when no one was around. After all, it was just a string of data; no matter how much she pinched, it wouldn't die.
But that didn't mean Shen Zhigui and the others could evade responsibility.
"This was an accident. We'll be more careful next time."
Shen Zhigui also knew the timing was truly awkward.
"Fine, bring them in. Have them line up, and explain the procedure to them."
Chu Jiangyue opened the hotel door, yawned, then slowly walked behind the front desk.
Shen Zhigui and the other four, knowing they were in the wrong, said nothing about Chu Jiangyue's obvious slacking and voluntarily began maintaining order. One of them stayed at the front of the line to teach the others how to exchange copper coins.
"Why do we have to deposit items to get a card? Are you some kind of scam group?"
Chu Jiangyue glanced up at the person who raised the question. While their vigilance was commendable, their reasoning was lacking.
"At a time like this, what use would we have for cheating you out of money? Even someone with nothing better to do wouldn't be this idle.
If anyone has doubts, feel free to leave now. We won't force you."
After all the hardship endured on the journey, and having just heard those people's complaints, it was frustrating to finally wait for Boss Chu to open shop only to be accused of being scammers. Xie Silin immediately felt like he couldn't be bothered to deal with them anymore.
Truly, no good deed goes unpunished.
"I…I didn't mean it like that…"
Those who raised objections never expected Xie Silin to immediately tell them to leave. Having struggled to escape here, they were unwilling to depart just like that.
Chu Jiangyue paid no attention to this minor commotion. Watching the mission participant count rise one by one, her mood gradually brightened.
"Boss, I noticed the sign outside says this is a hotel?"
Finally, someone noticed the most crucial question.
Chu Jiangyue lifted her gaze and gave a slight nod to the inquirer: "Yes, but currently, the hotel is fully booked and can't provide accommodations for now.
However, we currently have steamed buns and meat buns for sale—20 copper coins per steamed bun, 30 copper coins per meat bun, with unlimited supply."
Though the steamed and meat buns were cheap, even small profits add up. Chu Jiangyue still introduced them to the group.
"You really sell steamed buns here?"
To be honest, since the apocalypse arrived abruptly, many households had no food reserves left. Quite a few people hadn't properly eaten staple food in days.
In the north, steamed buns are also considered staple food.
"Of course, tricking you wouldn't earn me any copper coins."
Chu Jiangyue raised his hand and waved, conjuring a virtual screen at the front desk. Xie Silin very conscientiously stepped forward to teach him how to make purchases.
After payment was completed, steamed buns or baozi would instantly appear before him.
As for how to store them—that was their own problem to consider.