Shang Xinglan, Rong Yulong, and Zhao Wenkang were practicing martial arts in the courtyard.
They had always kept up this routine, whether back at the base or while wandering through the Apocalypse. Now that they had arrived at the rental property and learned that there were still other abilities hidden within their bodies, physical training had become an even higher priority.
As Xia Mu entered with her parents, she overheard Zhao Wenkang saying expectantly,
“Do you think Boss Xia will build a gym in the future? The one at our base is packed every single day, and half the equipment is broken. You can barely get a proper workout anymore.”
Rong Yulong nodded.
“Boss Xia definitely will. She just hasn’t built one yet because she doesn’t have enough money.”
Xia Mu, who had just walked in, was speechless.
Xia Chengren and Liu Shuang looked equally bewildered.
Shang Xinglan gave a light cough and signaled the other two with his eyes toward the entrance.
The next instant, all three men froze.
None of them were wearing shirts, exposing their lean, powerfully built upper bodies.
Those perfectly defined muscles.
Those firm, sculpted abs.
Xia Mu’s eyes widened, and both her cheeks and ears instantly turned crimson.
They felt so hot.
Xia Chengren looked at the impressive physiques of the young men before lowering his gaze to himself.
Well… mine isn’t that much worse.
I’m just missing the muscles.
Liu Shuang, meanwhile, calmly looked the three young men up and down.
Silently, she nodded to herself.
Their physiques were much better than those young men she used to see at the nightclub.
Shang Xinglan and the others hurriedly grabbed the shirts draped over nearby chairs and put them on.
Somewhat regretfully, Xia Mu withdrew her gaze.
She had just managed to secretly admire all three of them while simultaneously feeling embarrassed.
The biggest surprise was Shang Xinglan.
His physique was simply flawless.
Combined with that strikingly handsome face and his flamboyant red hair, all of her attention had unconsciously settled on him.
Seeing him finish putting on his shirt, she reluctantly looked away and turned her head toward Single Room No. 6 instead.
Its exterior was still nothing more than plain concrete walls.
Only renovated rooms would later receive a more refined exterior.
“Boss Xia, did you need something from us?”
Having calmly put on his clothes, Shang Xinglan casually straightened them.
Standing there, he appeared refined and incomparably noble, while his blue eyes carried the warmth and depth of the sea.
Liu Shuang and Xia Chengren couldn’t help taking another look at the red-haired, blue-eyed young man.
His presence was far more imposing than that of the other two.
Blinking her long eyelashes, Xia Mu introduced her parents.
“This is my dad, and this is my mom. My mom is now the cleaner for the rental property. She’ll be responsible for cleaning the courtyard. If you have any trash, just leave it outside your door every morning, and she’ll collect it for you.”
Then she glanced at Shang Xinglan before continuing,
“If… if you’d like your rooms cleaned as well, that’ll require an extra fee.”
“A fee?”
Shang Xinglan nodded.
Perfect! He happened to have money he wanted to spend.
“That’s right,” Xia Mu explained. “The cleaner is only responsible for cleaning the courtyard. Cleaning the single rooms costs extra.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she felt that this was only fair.
She wasn’t some heartless capitalist.
Shang Xinglan had no objections.
Neither did Rong Yulong or Zhao Wenkang.
In fact, they welcomed the arrangement.
Their rooms needed cleaning anyway, and none of them wanted to waste valuable time doing housework themselves.
“Boss Xia, how much does Auntie charge to clean a room?” Zhao Wenkang asked.
After glancing at her mother and consulting System 003, Xia Mu answered,
“Fifty Interstellar Federation Credits per single room each month. The payment will be deducted together with your monthly water and electricity fees.”
Water and electricity required payment?
None of them found that surprising.
At their base, utilities also required contribution points.
Hot water, in particular, costs even more.
Everyone readily agreed.
Xia Mu narrowed her eyes happily, her face once again lighting up with a brilliant smile.
Meanwhile, Xia Chengren was silently calculating how much his wife could earn every month.
Fifty… whatever these Federation Credits were… per room.
There were currently five rooms.
That made… three hundred and fifty Federation Credits.
That’s… a little low.
He looked around again.
Aside from the unfinished No. 6 room, the rest of the courtyard was hidden from view.
The rental property system his daughter had obtained really was astonishing.
Still, as more tenants moved in, his wife would eventually have more rooms to clean.
Her income would naturally increase as well.
The only thing was…
He had no idea how he could help his daughter attract tenants.
The outside world was full of zombies, and he certainly wasn’t capable of fighting them.
He couldn’t help feeling worried.
Liu Shuang, however, didn’t frown in the slightest.
Even after finishing the cleaning here, she could still return home and continue working at the restaurant.
But after Xia Mu returned to the lobby, she said, “Mom, I’ll be taking ten Interstellar Federation Credits from each room as a management fee. It might sound like you’re earning less this way, but if we convert it into RMB…”
“One Federation Credit equals ten yuan. Fifty Federation Credits is five hundred yuan. With five rooms, that’s twenty five hundred yuan a month. Once we have more tenants and more people hire cleaners, your salary will be even higher.”
Liu Shuang and Xia Chengren stared at Xia Mu with wide eyes.
This… This was far better than working as a hotel cleaner.
Xia Chengren’s eyes lit up.
There were nineteen rooms in a single courtyard.
If every tenant hired a cleaner, that would be 9,500 yuan from just one courtyard.
And in the future, his daughter would certainly build more rental properties.
Wouldn’t that mean nearly 20,000 yuan a month?
That was far better than working in restaurants or nightclubs.
Liu Shuang had also realized the key point.
She became slightly excited.
If things really developed this way, they could finally afford treatment for her husband.
As for herself…
There was no medicine left that could save her.
It would be a lie to say she wasn’t sad.
But she had already accepted it.
She only wanted to spend the little time she had left with her husband and daughter.
The entire Xia family was satisfied.
The only real difficulty was attracting tenants.
Xia Mu explained that they needed to recruit tenants from a nearby base, but traveling there was dangerous.
Not only were there zombies, but all kinds of unexpected dangers as well.
“I’d like to ask Shang Xinglan and the others to help me promote the rental property at that small base. In return, I’ll waive their rent and utility fees. Mom, Dad, what do you think?”
Before her parents knew about the System, she could only discuss these things with System 003.
But System 003 was still inexperienced and couldn’t compare to her parents’ life experience.
After discussing it together, the couple nodded.
“That sounds fine. Ask whether they’re willing first. If not, we’ll think of another solution,” Xia Chengren said.
Xia Mu nodded. Just then, System 003 confirmed that the mission had been completed.
The System’s voice rang out in Xia Mu’s mind.
“Ding! Congratulations, Host, on successfully hiring one cleaner for the rental property. Please claim your reward: one packet of flower seeds.”
The flower seeds were automatically placed inside the System storage.
Xia Mu reached into the storage space and took out a packet of flower seeds of an unknown variety.
Seeing both of her parents looking at her, she explained, “This is the reward for successfully hiring a cleaner. I need to plant one square meter of flowers outside. Once that’s done, Room No. 6 will have running water and electricity.”
Xia Chengren suddenly felt that he had finally found a way to be useful.
Quietly, he asked, “If I plant them for you, will you still receive the reward?”
Xia Mu blinked, “Ah… Hold on, let me ask.”