As soon as Ye Lixuan and Fu Honghui stepped out, they noticed two older people standing in the lobby. They were not exactly elderly, yet they could hardly be called young either. The marks left by time were evident on their faces.
The moment they saw Liu Shuang and Xia Chengren, they immediately thought of Xia Mu.
Xia Mu’s beautiful features had inherited the best traits from both her parents.
The instant Xia Chengren saw them, he knew they were tenants staying in his daughter’s rental property. Altogether, there were five tenants.
He unconsciously straightened his back, feeling both nervous and awkward as he forced himself to smile.
“Hello. Are you tenants staying at my daughter’s place?”
Ever since he had been injured in his youth and lost the ability to do heavy labor, leaving Liu Shuang to support the family, Xia Chengren had rarely spoken to strangers. Aside from the neighbors in their courtyard, the people he met while collecting recyclables, and his younger brothers from the Xia family, he seldom initiated conversations.
Now, the only reason he managed to greet these unfamiliar people was because they were his daughter’s tenants.
Watching her husband, Liu Shuang’s eyes grew distant.
Ever since that injury had robbed him of his ability to perform physical labor, the pride he once carried had disappeared overnight. He had become quiet, withdrawn, and deeply insecure.
Even so, he had always done everything within his power to support their family and lighten her burden.
Thinking of that, Liu Shuang’s eyes reddened. She forced back the tears that threatened to spill over.
She didn’t have much time left.
During the little time she had remaining, all she wanted was to stay by her daughter’s and husband’s side, smiling as she faced the days she had left.
Ye Lixuan and Fu Honghui exchanged a glance.
Having survived for more than a decade in the Apocalypse, they were extremely sensitive to people’s emotions.
Since it was clearly a private family matter, they pretended not to notice.
Still, the couple’s warm smiles were dazzling enough to catch them off guard.
No wonder Boss Xia smiled so often.
She had clearly inherited it from her parents.
“Are you Boss Xia’s parents?” Ye Lixuan asked cautiously.
Xia Chengren took a moment to overcome his discomfort before meeting their eyes directly.
He needed to help his daughter judge the character of her tenants.
He nodded, clasped his hands behind his back, and tried to make himself appear a little taller.
He couldn’t let his daughter lose face.
“I’m Mu Mu’s father, and this is my wife, Mu Mu’s mother.”
Liu Shuang simply smiled gently without saying anything.
Outside the home, she always made sure to preserve her husband’s dignity and help him build his confidence.
Ye Lixuan and Fu Honghui immediately stood properly.
Boss Xia’s parents wore such warm, sincere smiles that the two men suddenly felt rather embarrassed.
“Hello, Uncle and Auntie. We’ve rented a single room for three months, so we’ll be staying here during that time. We’re heading out now,” Ye Lixuan quickly reported like an obedient student.
“You’re going out this late?” Xia Chengren asked as he looked outside. Although it wasn’t dark yet, his battered old watch showed it was already nearly six o’clock.
“We’re used to it,” Fu Honghui explained. “Daytime lasts much longer than nighttime here.”
Xia Chengren and Liu Shuang stared blankly for a moment.
So that was how it was.
Then Xia Chengren smiled and nodded happily.
“Alright, alright. Be careful out there. The zombies outside are very dangerous.”
“Thank you for your concern, Uncle and Auntie. We’ll be careful,” Fu Honghui replied with a nod before pulling Ye Lixuan away.
Ye Lixuan waved cheerfully as they left.
Only after they had gone beyond the rental property’s safe zone and put on their ice skates did Ye Lixuan become lively again, chattering nonstop beside Fu Honghui.
Xia Chengren blinked.
Watching a horde of zombies suddenly lunge toward the two men, his eyes widened in alarm.
“Liu Shuang… th… those are zombies.”
His voice trembled without him even realizing it.
Liu Shuang’s face also turned pale with fright, but she remained much calmer.
After all, having worked in restaurants and nightclubs, she had seen all kinds of situations.
In nightclubs, some people loved bizarre roleplaying games, dressing themselves up to look terrifying. Some of their makeup had been even more horrifying and disgusting than the zombies standing before them now.
The couple watched as Ye Lixuan and Fu Honghui skillfully dodged the zombies while gliding away on their ice skates.
The clumsy zombies slipped and fell one after another, knocking nearby zombies over as well.
The whole scene was oddly comical.
Just then, Xia Mu came down from the attic.
She had changed into a thick down jacket.
Seeing the poor expressions on her parents’ faces, she hurried downstairs.
“Mom, Dad, what’s wrong?”
She couldn’t help worrying.
Did I make them adapt to all of this too quickly?
Liu Shuang shook her head instead of answering.
“You said that if I became the cleaner, your mission would be completed. Then I’ll be the cleaner for your rental property.”
Seeing that there wasn’t the slightest trace of reluctance in her mother’s eyes, only calm determination, Xia Mu happily nodded and led Liu Shuang over to the machine used for exchanging Interstellar Federation Credits.
In her mind, she asked System 003, “I want to hire Mom as the cleaner. How do I do that?”
System 003 replied, “Register her information first. She’ll receive an identity card, which will allow her to freely enter the courtyard to clean.”
“I understand.”
Xia Mu guided her mother through the registration process.
Liu Shuang watched as her daughter tapped away on the small machine’s screen, entered her personal information, and finally took her photograph.
A silver card emerged from the slot beneath the machine.
It looked incredibly sophisticated.
“Mom, keep this card. With it, you’ll be able to freely enter and leave the courtyard to clean. Later, I’ll introduce you to Shang Xinglan and the others and ask whether they’d like you to clean their rooms.”
Xia Mu was already calculating in her mind.
If her mother cleaned their rooms, she would have to charge an additional cleaning fee.
She absolutely couldn’t let her mother work for free.
Liu Shuang accepted the card.
When she turned it over and saw Xia Mu’s name along with the words Xia Mu’s Rental Property, warmth filled her eyes.
Seeing that his wife had received an identity card, Xia Chengren wanted one too.
However, his awkward pride got in the way.
In the end, he simply fell silent again, becoming the same taciturn man he had been back in J City.
How could Xia Mu fail to notice the expression on her father’s face?
Her father had always struggled to communicate.
Even when he wanted something, he would never ask for it, choosing instead to bottle everything up inside.
“Dad, there isn’t a suitable position for you yet. Once one becomes available, I’ll make you an identity card too, so don’t feel sad.”
She hurriedly explained.
Xia Chengren glanced at his daughter and pursed his lips.
Was that really what I looked like? Was it that obvious?
Still, seeing both his daughter and his wife so happy, he chose not to explain.
Instead, he quietly followed them toward the courtyard behind the building.
As they walked, Xia Mu told her parents why she had chosen a courtyard as her rental property.
It was because the place she was most familiar with growing up had always been a courtyard.
The moment Liu Shuang and Xia Chengren saw the elegant courtyard, simple yet possessing an understated sense of luxury, they found themselves unable to look away.
Xia Chengren sighed with admiration.
“This courtyard was built very well. It’s even grander than the Jiang Residence in our alley.”
The Jiang Residence was the largest and most impressive private courtyard in their neighborhood.
According to local stories, the Jiang family had purchased it back in the 1980s, and it had remained in their possession all the way to 2030.
Liu Shuang nodded in agreement.
This courtyard truly was even more magnificent.
Xia Mu smiled. Of course it was.
It had been produced by an interstellar system.
How could it possibly be anything less than excellent?
“Let’s go inside. Each courtyard contains nineteen single rooms. Right now, five rooms are occupied, one room hasn’t been renovated yet and has no tenant, and the remaining rooms haven’t been built.”
Xia Mu didn’t need an identity card herself and could freely enter any courtyard.
She simply led her father and mother through the courtyard gate.