She opened the panel to check her points.
Points held: 1,850
Inventory: Points-based air conditioner x1, vending machine x1, permanent water recycling system, luxury hotel building fragment x1, points converter x1, hotel single bed x1.
Staff: 0
Hotel rooms: 101
Level: 1,850/100,000
Tasks: None
The points just kept piling up, what a real pushover of a…
Catching herself thinking that, Bao Taozi went quiet.
Yuan Gungun let out a loud, indignant snort inside the system space.
Once she’d finished tidying up, it was nearly midnight, and the countdown on the panel had reached 10 minutes.
Bao Taozi walked over to her family, picked up her little brother, and sat down between her grandparents.
“Only ten minutes left. Whatever happens, don’t worry, you’re all safe inside my hotel’s protective barrier.”
As she spoke, she pinched her little brother’s chubby cheeks. “In a bit, a big monster’s going to come attack Earth, is little Bao Li scared?”
Her little brother laughed so wide his gums showed.
“Not scared! My sister’s Ultraman!”
The child’s innocent words eased the tension in the adults’ hearts. Ever since 10 p.m. the night before, when it was still bright as day outside, everyone had already realized something was very wrong, and Bao Taozi’s baffling abilities had made them suspect that life as they knew it was about to change completely.
The eldest uncle, Bao Weiguo, took his trembling wife’s hand and pulled her into his arms.
Both grandparents rose to their feet, holding hands, and looked outside.
Bao Taozi held Bao Li in her arms, with Uncle Qi standing behind her.
“Ding! The apocalypse has begun! Wishing the host smooth sailing!”
The system’s voice rang out along with a blinding flash of sunlight. Everyone shielded their eyes with their hands.
【Apocalypse Task Released】
【Task One: Successfully sign up five members.
Task reward: Lottery ticket x1 (can accumulate for a ten-pull draw), full-hotel automatic cleaning function (points version)】
Accept, accept, accept! No more cleaning by hand!
A moment later, everyone opened their eyes.
The world was utterly silent, not even the sound of wind rustling grass.
Grandmother covered her mouth, quietly crying, terrified to make a sound. This kind of dead silence was more frightening to the old woman than anything.
Just then, a pair of arms wrapped around her, gently patting her back.
Bao Taozi looked over at her grandparents and couldn’t help smiling warmly. This is good.
Now that the apocalypse had begun, she could finally speak plainly.
She pulled the still-shaken group back to their seats.
“You’ve all seen it now, the apocalypse is here. The reason it’s so quiet outside is that everyone except us, inside the barrier, people, animals, and plants alike, have all fallen into a coma. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you. That’s exactly why I brought you all here. As you’ve seen, I have certain abilities, and those abilities came with a restriction that kept me from telling anyone about this before the apocalypse started. From now on, I hope my family will help me build the one clean, safe haven in this whole apocalypse!”
Even though they’d had some mental preparation, everyone still went pale from the shock.
“Although the hotel is mine, it does run on certain rules, even my own family can’t stay here for free. That’s why I had Uncle Qi trick you all into bringing along so many valuables. This here is the points converter.”
She pulled the pure white machine out of her system inventory.
Then she took out the five gold bars Uncle Qi still had left and handed them to him.
“Uncle Qi, why don’t you go first and show everyone how it works, put the gold bars on it.”
Qi Heng didn’t expect he’d still have gold bars left to use, and happily took them. He already knew, from now on, points like these would be an unavoidable part of daily life.
The moment the gold bars were placed on it, the display showed:
Name: Qi Heng
Points: 5,000
Congratulations, you are now a Peach Hotel member!
Then a pink card slid out from the machine, printed with the words “Peach Hotel Membership Card” in white lettering, with a counter below showing the remaining points balance.
Bao Taozi rubbed her forehead, she didn’t expect the card to be pink.
Qi Heng examined the card with amazement.
Everyone else couldn’t wait either, lining up one by one to register.
Name: Bao Shuqian
Points: 30,000
Congratulations, you are now a Peach Hotel member!
Name: Yue Shumei
Points: 10,000
Congratulations, you are now a Peach Hotel member!
“You old man, didn’t you tell me this walking cane was some cheap flea-market junk!” Grandmother said furiously.
“Old lady, old lady, stop hitting me!”
Grandfather had a cane-collecting hobby, and this time he’d brought every single one! The most expensive one alone was worth thirty thousand points, impressive, considering a single gold bar was only worth 5,000.
Qi Heng also loaded his remaining four gold bars in, giving him 25,000 points total.
The eldest uncle and his wife registered their membership cards next.
Name: Bao Weiguo
Points: 15,000
Congratulations, you are now a Peach Hotel member!
Name: Li Qing
Points: 3,000
Congratulations, you are now a Peach Hotel member!
The eldest aunt was thoroughly regretting things now, she’d only brought herself to blame.
To comfort her aunt, Bao Taozi had everyone stand back and began pulling out from her space the supplies she’d had Qi Heng prepare in advance for both families.
There was urgently needed water and dry rations, since they couldn’t fit cooked food into their own space, plus plenty of cold-weather and heat-insulating clothing, even in children’s sizes.
There was also baby formula and the like for Bao Li, though since those had expiration dates, she hadn’t stocked too much, a very thoughtful touch all around.
As for the items in Bao Taozi’s own inventory, she couldn’t just hand them out to her own family for free anymore now that the apocalypse had started, as far as the system was concerned, her role now was hotel owner, first and foremost.
Otherwise it’d have to be sold at a markup!
Bao Taozi was furious about this and negotiated terms with the system, her own little brother couldn’t go without proper nutrition, she’d cover him herself!
The system reluctantly agreed, knowing better than to push her too far.
The elders couldn’t be provided for either, but they were at least allowed to live in the main villa without paying points.
The eldest uncle and his wife, though, weren’t so lucky.
They’d have to spend points to stay in a hotel room, and so would Qi Heng, for now, everyone would just have to squeeze into the elders’ room to sleep tonight, since their original rooms were no longer accessible.
Bao Taozi had them all sort through their belongings and take stock. Even though they kept insisting it wasn’t necessary, Bao Taozi felt that now that the apocalypse had come, one’s own supplies were one’s own lifeline, they needed to know exactly what they had.
So the five of them began sorting out their belongings.
Bao Taozi’s task was also complete.
【Task complete
Task reward: Lottery ticket x1 (accumulates for a ten-pull draw), full-hotel automatic cleaning function (points version), automatically added to inventory.】
She quickly opened her inventory and tapped the automatic cleaning function, discovering it wasn’t a physical item, just a new broom icon on the panel. Checking the details, each use cost 10 points, not too greedy, all things considered.
Satisfied, Bao Taozi tapped the icon, and instantly the entire villa was spotless, even the dishes they hadn’t had time to wash yet were sitting neatly stacked on the table, sparkling clean.
She then tapped the permanent water recycling system in her inventory and hit install, no more worrying about water!
While happily browsing the panel, everything suddenly went dark.
“Old man! It’s gone dark!”
“Not just dark, the lights aren’t working either. Strange, though, the air conditioner’s still running fine?”
That sneaky little…!
It hadn’t given her lights at all, what a waste of all those lamps she’d bought!
“Host is unjustly accusing the system! Deducting 20 points! You clearly just didn’t notice the power system in the renovation menu!”
Bao Taozi quickly opened the renovation icon, and sure enough, there it was, a whole-house power system tucked below.
She quickly clicked to purchase it, 1,000 points, gone just like that!
So expensive!
“Expensive, my foot! After you buy this, all the points guests pay for electricity from now on go straight to you! You’re basically making a killing here, come on!”
That did make sense, now that she thought about it!
She quickly had it installed, and instantly the whole house lit up bright and warm.
After that, she taught everyone how to top up their electricity credit, then went over the hotel’s rules.
No one had the slightest complaint. After all, in the middle of an apocalypse, just having someone think of them this much was already moving enough, they couldn’t exactly expect to be supported forever by their granddaughter or niece. Besides, Taozi had already said she’d take care of Bao Li going forward, which already left everyone feeling more than a little embarrassed, but given how worried they were about the child’s health, they had no choice but to swallow their pride and agree.