When Father Xia and Mother Xia woke up, they immediately caught the aroma of food.
They exchanged puzzled glances.
“Who’s cooking so early in the morning?” Father Xia asked, assuming it was one of the families living in the Beijing style courtyard.
Mother Xia, however, felt something was off. She got dressed and walked outside.
The kitchen was brightly lit. Xia Mu was lifting freshly cooked noodles into three large bowls before placing three slices of cabbage neatly on top of each serving. She then washed the pot, scooped in a little lard, and cracked three eggs into the pan one by one.
Mother Xia parted her lips as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she remained silent.
She was working today. When she got off work, she’d see if the restaurant kitchen had any discarded vegetables she could bring home.
“I don’t remember there being any cabbage in the refrigerator,” Mother Xia finally said.
Xia Mu jumped slightly before turning around with a smile.
“I heard someone selling vegetables outside this morning, so I went out and bought one.”
Mother Xia nodded. “I’ll bring vegetables home tonight. You don’t need to buy any.”
Xia Mu paused in the middle of frying the eggs, her eyes stinging.
She knew exactly what her mother meant. She was planning to bring home the bruised vegetables the restaurant no longer wanted.
Softening her voice, Xia Mu said, “Mom, I earned some money from my online part time job yesterday. The payment has already been deposited into my account. I can afford to buy some vegetables.”
Mother Xia shook her head.
Young people didn’t know how to bargain, and they spent money too freely. It was still better if she bought the groceries herself.
She helped Xia Mu carry the bowls of noodles into the living room.
After washing up, Xia Chengren came out and frowned when he saw breakfast.
“I’m not eating. You two should have it.”
Carrying another bowl over, Xia Mu looked at him helplessly.
“Dad, I’ve already made three servings. If you don’t eat yours, the noodles will get soggy and won’t taste good anymore. That would be such a waste.”
The moment he heard the word “waste,” Xia Chengren finally sat down at the table.
After taking their first bite, both he and Mother Xia paused.
The noodles were incredibly fresh, and the flavor was wonderful.
“Your cooking keeps getting better,” Mother Xia praised.
Xia Mu simply smiled.
It wasn’t her cooking.
It was the cabbage.
She quietly observed both of her parents throughout breakfast. After they finished eating, the swelling in their faces had noticeably gone down.
It looked like the vegetables from the Interstellar Federation mall really did improve physical health and strengthen the immune system.
She needed to earn more money so her parents could continue eating vegetables like these.
Meanwhile, System 003 was part of a group chat with System 001 and System 002.
Inside the chat, it asked its two senior systems how to become a qualified system.
System 001 asked, “How far has your Host progressed with the mission?”
System 002 replied, “First of all, don’t give your Host too much authority. Otherwise, your Host will get completely out of control.”
The two veteran systems spoke from the experience of guiding hundreds of Hosts.
System 003 looked utterly confused.
“What mission? What authority? I never assigned my Host any missions. She can build rental houses whenever she wants.”
The moment System 001 and System 002 heard that, both of them stared at System 003 in disbelief.
System 002 sighed.
“And you still want a physical body? At this rate, your Host could sell you off, and you’d probably help count the money.”
That remark came from a painful experience. System 002 still remembered how inexperienced it had been during its first assignment, when its Host had completely fooled it.
The memory was far from pleasant.
System 003 felt wronged.
Why was it getting criticized?
System 001, however, comforted it.
“It’s alright. This is your first Host, so it’s natural that you lack experience. Tell us how your rental business is progressing.”
That was something System 003 knew well.
It immediately reported everything that had happened so far.
After listening, both System 001 and System 002 fell silent.
Only one day had passed.
Yet System 003 had already completed what normally took ten days.
The only reason its Host hadn’t finished the entire beginner phase already was because she was broke, deeply in debt, and desperately saving money to buy medicine for her parents.
This wasn’t a good performance at all.
The Interstellar System Administration might judge System 003 as being careless and simply handing everything to its Host without properly managing the construction process.
If that happened, System 003 would probably be sent back to the little black room for reflection.
The two experienced senior systems immediately stopped System 003 from continuing this approach.
System 001 said, “You can’t hand all your authority over to your Host. We’re rental systems. Everything should revolve around renting properties, while everything else serves as support.”
“For example, you should have your Host recruit tenants. Every time she brings in a new tenant, reward her with something useful for the rental property, like hot water or electricity. Don’t hand over complete renovations the moment someone moves in. If rewards come too easily, they lose their value.”
System 003 blinked in confusion.
“So… that’s how it’s supposed to work?”
System 002 was much more straightforward.
It transferred its own rental management data to System 003.
“Take a look at my rental requirements. They’re practical. You can simply follow them.”
System 001 agreed and also sent over its own management files.
The two senior systems told System 003 to study everything carefully before putting it into practice.
The difficulty had to be increased for the Host.
Only then would the Interstellar System Administration recognize that the system was doing its job properly.
Carrying a mountain of reference materials, System 003 returned to the Apocalypse and began studying them enthusiastically.
The more it read, the happier it became.
So it could manage things this way too!
After finishing breakfast, Xia Mu returned to the Apocalypse.
She immediately received a notification from System 003.
“Mu Mu! The rental system is upgrading. It’ll be finished very soon.”
Xia Mu simply nodded without asking any questions.
Watching her reaction, System 003 suddenly remembered what System 002 had said.
If the Host wasn’t involved in the construction process, she’d gradually lose interest in building the rental property.
That was unacceptable.
The Interstellar System Administration would consider it negligence and send System 003 to the little black room.
Summoning all its courage, System 003 decided to follow the advice of System 001 and System 002.
Completely unaware of its internal struggle, Xia Mu walked to the entrance and noticed that there were far more zombies wandering outside today.
None of them dared approach the rental house.
Instead, they all wandered around beyond the fifty meter safety zone.
“What’s going on? Why are there so many zombies today?” Xia Mu muttered.
After thinking for a moment, System 003 decided it was safe to answer.
“The first group of tenants released the frozen zombies.”
“What? Why?”
“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask them yourself.”
Although System 003 had become much more humanlike, human thinking was still far too complicated for it to understand.
Xia Mu put on her padded winter coat, picked up her weapon, and prepared to head outside when System 003 suddenly began chiming excitedly.
“System upgrade complete!”
“Ding! The Interstellar Federation Mall has been closed. To reopen it, Host must purchase one hundred square meters of land for construction.”
“Ding! Please go outside and recruit one new female tenant. Reward: Hot water access for Single Room No. 1.”
“Ding! Please plant one square meter of flowers in the front yard. Reward: Electricity for Room No. 6.”
“Ding! Please hire one cleaner. Reward: One packet of flower seeds.”
Xia Mu stared blankly.
“…System 003, do I have to complete missions now?”
She wasn’t used to this at all.
She hadn’t expected System 003 to start assigning quests.
System 003 immediately explained, “Host, yesterday was only meant to let you experience what running a rental property feels like. Starting today, everything returns to normal. The rooms you’ve already rented won’t be reset, but from now on, I’ll assign missions that you’ll need to complete before unlocking new features.”
“What about the medicine for my parents?”
That was all Xia Mu truly cared about.
She only wanted to save them.
If she couldn’t save her parents, then what was the point of continuing to live?
She might as well leave this world together with them.
The moment that thought crossed her mind, the entire rental house suddenly flashed with a blinding red light.
A piercing alarm echoed throughout the building.
Both Xia Mu and System 003 were startled.
Even the zombies wandering beyond the fifty meter boundary panicked and scattered in every direction.