He Lingyu could not wait. She tapped the screen to wake it.
[Congratulations on completing the mission: recruit three customers for the restaurant. Mission reward: the restaurant has upgraded to LV.2.]
[Unlock reward: Food types: plain noodles, vegetable dumplings. Drink type: sweet mountain spring water.]
[Land reward: The range of the dilapidated courtyard has expanded. Planting area increased. Farmland x6. Vegetable maturity time: 48 hours.]
[Member reward: Dog x1. Breed: Chinese rural dog.]
He Lingyu’s eyes lit up. She had done it!
The upgrade had succeeded, and it came with a lot of good stuff.
She lifted her head and sneaked a glance at the auntie, who was still focused on enjoying her meal. A nervous thought surfaced.
How would these rewards be delivered? Would the auntie notice something strange?
Fortunately, what she worried about did not happen. Nothing unusual occurred, and they made it through the meal without incident.
“Thank you, miss.” Hua Yue looked nostalgic. “It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten food this delicious.”
Aside from the very beginning of the apocalypse, she had mostly lived on instant noodles and crackers, and even those could be stolen if she was not careful.
He Lingyu waved it off. Helping each other was normal, and if she really counted it up, she was the one gaining more benefits.
“No need to thank me, Auntie. If you like it, you can come often. I’ll always be here.”
Hua Yue did not say anything, only nodded.
Come often?
This time she had been lucky. Once she left, she would not be able to return to her base. She could only head for the next one. If she had bad luck and ran into a zombie with abilities, there might not be a next time.
But she could not say those things to the girl. The girl had already let her eat for free. How could Hua Yue say anything that would put her in an awkward position?
He Lingyu planned to walk Hua Yue out of the yard, but the moment they stepped outside, they both sensed something was off.
Hua Yue noticed first.
In the apocalypse, plants could mutate too, danger everywhere. She had not seen vegetables this lush and green in a very long time. For a moment, she even suspected they were mutant plants.
She instinctively pulled He Lingyu behind her. “Careful. They might be mutated!”
He Lingyu followed her gaze and realized the vegetables had matured.
They should have been ready tomorrow, but after the restaurant upgraded, the maturity time changed to forty eight hours, which meant two days. The shift made it happen right in front of Hua Yue.
“It’s fine, Auntie.” He Lingyu hurried to explain. “I planted these myself. They’re safe to eat.”
Then a new problem hit her, and she muttered it without thinking.
“I just don’t know how to harvest them. Do I pull them up by the roots, or just pick the produce?”
She was an orphan, but she had grown up in the city. The state had supported her education, so her understanding of farming still lived at the level of a farm game, click once and harvest.
Hua Yue could not help laughing. “I’ll help you. Consider it a tiny repayment.”
He Lingyu’s eyes lit up like a puppy. “Really? Thank you, Auntie!”
Hua Yue made quick work of it. There were only two plots anyway, with chives, lettuce, and tomatoes.
“Chives and lettuce grow back, and they’re fast. Tomatoes are simple too, just pick the fruit.”
She followed through completely, carrying the harvested vegetables into the restaurant for her.
He Lingyu’s sharp eyes noticed the computer screen change.
[Detected external labor. Correctly harvested vegetables. Side quest unlocked. Please recruit one employee. Reward: ???]
The reward was not shown, but even without it, He Lingyu wanted this.
Having staff was the best reward, period.
Her gaze slid to Hua Yue.
Heh.
“Auntie, thank you so much. Where are you planning to go next?”
Hua Yue’s eyes dimmed. She was alone. She had lost the daughter she loved most. Wherever she went, it would be the same. If she was lucky, she would reach the next base. If she was not… then dying would not matter either.
“I’ll probably go to the next base.”
The next base?
He Lingyu did not know where that was, but it sounded like Hua Yue had no specific destination.
“Would you be willing to stay here?” He Lingyu hesitated, then pushed through the embarrassment. “I mean, I want to hire you, but I’m kind of broke…”
She rushed to add, “But I can provide room and board. Three meals a day!”
It sounded like the pitch of a ruthless boss squeezing staff twenty four hours a day.
She decided to stop overthinking. Talking to people was hard, and required skill, but she believed sincerity was a guaranteed finisher. So she looked at Hua Yue and blinked slowly, pleading without words.
Hua Yue had wanted to refuse. She did not have much ability. She was only passable at farm work.
But when she met He Lingyu’s eyes, she could not help thinking of her daughter when she was still alive, making the same look when she wanted snacks.
The refusal stuck in her throat.
“You won’t mind that I can’t do much? And I have no abilities. If someone tries to do something to the restaurant, I…”
“Auntie, you’re already amazing.” He Lingyu spoke earnestly. “You just did something I couldn’t do. And you don’t need to handle anything else. You only need to tell me whether you want to stay here or not.”
Hua Yue could feel her sincerity. This time she did not hesitate.
“Alright.”
He Lingyu’s face brightened. “That’s great! Starting today, you’re the first employee of Alive Restaurant!”
She was genuinely happy. She had gained a helper, and she had gained companionship too.
She was socially anxious, yes, but being alone here all the time was still lonely. And at night it was so quiet it was scary.
Hua Yue’s smile deepened as well. It was clear both of them felt they were the one getting the better deal.
On the computer, the side quest showed as completed, and a hiring contract appeared on the counter.
He Lingyu picked it up and glanced through it. It was a proper contract, the kind a normal company would use, except the benefits were the promised room and board, and the requirement was to follow the owner’s instructions.
She saw no issues and handed it to Hua Yue. “Please take a look. If everything’s fine, we’ll sign.”
Hua Yue was a little puzzled. In the apocalypse, why bother with formalities like this? Still, she signed immediately.
What job was better than one that fed and housed you?
They both signed their names.
“Hua Yue.” He Lingyu smiled. “Auntie, your name sounds really nice. My name is He Lingyu. You can call me Lingyu or Xiao Yu. And I’ll call you Auntie Yue, alright?”
“Alright, alright, Xiao Yu’er!”
Hua Yue looked at her with pure affection. How wonderful. Such a lively, lovable life.
“Xiao Yu’er, what do you need me to do now? Sweep? Wash dishes?”
“Not yet, Auntie Yue.” He Lingyu guided her into a chair. “Once customers come, you’ll have plenty to do. For now, rest a bit. I need to check what we should do next.”
She went to the counter. The reward had already appeared on the screen.
[Congratulations on completing the side quest: recruit one employee.]
[Reward: Employee dorm area unlocked. Note: After signing the contract, employees are protected by the restaurant.]
A place to sleep?
No more sleeping on the floor?
That was fantastic news. He Lingyu had been worrying about how to explain it to Auntie Yue. She had finally convinced her to stay, then expected her to sleep on the floor too? That would have been awful.
A faint sound came from behind her. He Lingyu turned and saw a staircase that had appeared at the corner.
A second floor.
Nice.
“Auntie Yue, let’s go see the staff dorm!”
He Lingyu tugged Hua Yue upstairs, her heart full of anticipation.
And then…
“Cough, cough, cough…”
Did a place like this really exist?
It looked like a decayed attic straight out of a horror movie.
The space was not small, but it was coated in dust. It was nothing like the first floor, which had been clean when it appeared.
He Lingyu went completely silent. She did not even dare look at Hua Yue.
Would Auntie Yue think she was a black hearted boss running a fake recruitment scam?
Hua Yue, however, stayed calm. “It’s fine. It’s messier than expected, but the space is big. Once we clean it up, it’ll be comfortable.”
He Lingyu forced a laugh. “Ha ha. Yeah. We’ll clean together. We’ll definitely finish before tonight. Totally.”
Hua Yue finally laughed at He Lingyu’s expression. “Alright, Xiao Yu’er. In the apocalypse, having a safe place that blocks wind and rain is already something to celebrate. Don’t look so miserable.”
She patted He Lingyu’s head tenderly, the way she had patted her daughter countless times.
The feeling was unfamiliar to He Lingyu, yet surprisingly nice.
They carried up a bucket of water and cleared the clutter from the hallway first. Once the corridor was passable, they each picked a room and started cleaning.
The rooms all shared the same layout. Inside, they were not too dirty, and a simple cleanup was enough.
The only problem was that the rooms had nothing in them.
Nothing at all.
Overall, the bathroom fixtures were complete, but there was not a single piece of furniture.
He Lingyu had only one thought.
Tasks.
Give me tasks right now.
She needed to grind out furniture rewards.
Fortunately, the furniture task was not difficult. The first refreshed mission on the computer was:
[Mission: Sow vegetable seeds in the farmland. Reward: Comfortable large bed x2.]
So they would not be sleeping on the floor tonight.
By the time they finished cleaning, it was already late. He Lingyu and Hua Yue went down, scattered seeds in the plots, and watered them, completing the mission.
When they returned upstairs, a bed and bedding had already appeared in each room.
He Lingyu expected Hua Yue to ask questions, or at least look surprised, but she did not.
Hua Yue’s expression did not even flicker, as if the bed had always been there.
He Lingyu assumed the game automatically adjusted other people’s perception, but in truth, people in the apocalypse knew what to ask and what not to ask.
If you wanted to survive, a bit of willful ignorance was essential.
Besides, there were plenty of ability users. Hua Yue assumed He Lingyu dared to open a restaurant here because she had some hidden skill. A storage type ability was not impossible.
The two of them silently agreed not to mention it.
“Looks like we won’t get any more customers today.” He Lingyu smiled. “Auntie Yue, rest early. It’s been a long day.”
Hua Yue did not feel tired. Back at base, ordinary people without abilities had far more work than this every day.
But she did not refuse. She nodded and returned to her room. She needed time alone to think about everything that had happened today.
Happiness had arrived too suddenly. It felt unreal.
He Lingyu went back downstairs to the computer, thinking that it would be nice if her room had a computer too. It would save her from running up and down every night.
She checked the computer because she wanted to see if there were new missions, and also claim the rewards for reaching Level 2.
[Ding. You have a new mission waiting to be completed.]