[DING—]
[The system has sent an invitation to the target native residents. The first batch of native residents is expected to arrive in 12 hours. Host, please prepare for their reception.]
[The ’storehouse’ has been simultaneously unlocked.]
"A storehouse?" Learning that the native residents wouldn’t arrive for another twelve hours, Chen Yan lowered his gaze to the newly unlocked feature and asked, "What is this, and where is it located?"
The system did not answer. He asked again, but this time, even the pop-up window disappeared entirely.
"Great, playing dead again."
Seeing that the system had absolutely no intention of explaining things to him, Chen Yan stopped asking for a snub and simply continued strolling down the newly unlocked Qinghe Street. As he looked around, he couldn’t help but sigh.
At first glance, his version of Qinghe Street looked no different from the real one, but a closer inspection revealed quite a few discrepancies. The most obvious difference was the shops on both sides of the street. The real Qinghe Street felt so vibrant and full of life because of the open storefronts lining the road and the wooden plaques and cloth banners visible everywhere. Those were the key elements that made up the bustling atmosphere.
But what about this Qinghe Street? All the doors and windows of the shops were shut tight, and the spaces above the doors were completely bare without a single signboard in sight. Aside from the strong, quaint, and antique aura it exuded, this place was essentially no different from the vanished West City Street.
"It’s a long and arduous road ahead..."
Despite his lament, Chen Yan wasn’t discouraged. After all, he had a cheat.
He continued walking forward. Just as he crossed the familiar Yongtong Bridge, he caught something out of the corner of his eye. A building by the river on the east side of the bridgehead suddenly caught his attention. Back when West City Street was still around, this spot had been a warehouse used specifically for storing various miscellaneous items like ladders and barricades. Now, the warehouse was gone, replaced by an inconspicuous house.
It featured gray brick walls and a single-slope roof. The roof tiles varied in shades of color, and a few were clearly patched on later. The door was just a standard wooden one, completely unpainted. A wooden plaque hung above it, bearing a simple, two-character inscription written in black ink—
[Storehouse]
"Good lord, so a modern warehouse turned into an antique storehouse? You’ve really outdone yourself, System."
Having finally found the storehouse’s location, Chen Yan’s eyes lit up, and he immediately walked over.
CREAAAK—
He pushed the door open and entered. The lighting inside was a bit dim. Chen Yan took two seconds to adjust his eyes before he could clearly see row upon row of wooden shelves. The shelves were completely empty, but they weren’t dirty, as if someone cleaned them regularly.
Just as he was about to step closer for a better look, Chen Yan looked up and happened to see a scrawny old man walking out from behind a row of shelves, carrying a woven bamboo lantern. The old man looked to be in his sixties. His hair was almost completely white, but his eyes were bright and spirited. He wore a faded, gray coarse-cloth tunic tied with a black cloth belt around his waist, and black cloth shoes on his feet. He looked very neat and agile.
"Boss." Seeing Chen Yan standing in the doorway, the old man placed his lantern on a nearby cabinet and gave a slight bow.
"Who are you...?"
Taken aback, Chen Yan’s head was full of question marks. He didn’t know this person at all, nor had he ever expected there to be anyone in here. Yet, the other party acted as if they had known him for a long time, calling him Boss right from the start.
"You can just call me Old Zhai, Boss. I watch the storehouse." Seemingly oblivious to the astonishment on Chen Yan’s face, Old Zhai pointed at the rows of empty shelves behind him and spoke at an unhurried pace.
"Watch the storehouse? What’s there to watch in here?" Looking around at the empty shelves that were barren enough to starve a mouse, Chen Yan couldn’t help but ask.
"There will be things in the future." Old Zhai seemed entirely devoid of a temper; even his tone of voice remained completely unchanged.
Chen Yan frowned and didn’t ask further, opting instead to mull things over in his head. The storehouse had unlocked right alongside the invitation for the native residents. Although he couldn’t quite tell what this place was specifically used for yet, one thing was certain—it was definitely closely related to the native residents.
What he hadn’t expected was that an old man dedicated to looking after the place would spawn alongside the storehouse. But that raised another problem. The system had just clearly told him that the first batch of native residents wouldn’t arrive for another twelve hours. Yet, the Old Zhai standing before him looked and sounded exactly like the ancient people he had once seen on Qinghe Street. It left him utterly bewildered as to where this Old Zhai had actually come from.
"Have you... always been here?" Chen Yan asked tentatively after a moment of thought.
"Yes, Boss."
"When did this storehouse get here?"
"It has always been here, Boss."
Great, there was no need to ask anymore. Chen Yan was certain that Old Zhai was absolutely not a native resident of Qinghe Street; he was most likely an ’NPC’ that spawned when the system unlocked the storehouse. Earlier, he had wondered why the system specifically added the word ’native’ in front of ’residents.’ Now, it seemed the system had categorized the residents of the Qinghe Street scene from the very beginning. It was hard to say what the native residents would primarily do, but the spawned residents appeared to serve functional purposes, just like Old Zhai, who was responsible for looking after the storehouse.
"System, oh System, just what other surprises are you hiding from me?"
Ever since the Qinghe Street scene successfully unlocked, his system had gone into ’loot explosion’ mode, consecutively unlocking various dazzling new features. As a result, Chen Yan had already met a spawned resident before the native residents even arrived. This made him feel more and more that the system had potential just waiting to be tapped into—and a lot of it!
"Can I go in and take a look?" After observing him carefully for a moment and failing completely to see any difference between Old Zhai and a normal person, Chen Yan gave up and pointed behind the old man.
"Please feel free, Boss." With a slight nod, Old Zhai handed the lantern from the cabinet to Chen Yan and stepped aside.
Carrying the woven bamboo lantern with its flickering candlelight, Chen Yan walked between the rows of shelves. The area of this storehouse was larger than he had imagined, but it was just too empty. After walking a full circle and seeing absolutely nothing, Chen Yan returned to the entrance. His gaze fell upon a simple wooden bed right next to the door.
"Do you sleep here at night?" Chen Yan asked Old Zhai, pointing at the wooden bed.
"Yes, Boss." His tone was still unhurried. If he hadn’t seemed flawless in every other aspect, Chen Yan would have suspected Old Zhai of being an emotionless robot.
"Then how do you usually eat?" Even though the other party was highly likely a spawned resident, Chen Yan still felt it necessary to understand how the old man handled his basic daily needs like food, clothing, and shelter.
"I have dry rations from my hometown, Boss. I eat some whenever I’m hungry." Faced with Chen Yan’s endless questions, Old Zhai showed not the slightest bit of impatience. He pulled a linen bundle from under the cabinet in front of the first row of shelves, untied it, and showed it to him. Inside the bundle was indeed a large stack of sesame flatbreads. At a glance, there had to be at least twenty of them.