Nighttime, by the city moat.

A grandfather and his grandson fled, their expressions filled with panic and despair.

Behind them, a group of men’s jeering and taunting voices followed.

“Keep running, you old fart! A little faster! We’ll let you go once you’re out of Ye City!”

“Tch, these two worthless things can sure run!”

“Hmph, can they run faster than a dog? Go on, let the dogs loose. Let ’em bite ’em.”

“Young Master Liu is the best! He sure knows how to have fun, hahahahaha—”

The barking of vicious dogs erupted from behind them.

The grandfather and grandson’s faces contorted further with fear. Their legs, which had felt like they were filled with lead, somehow managed to pick up speed.

Of the two, the grandfather’s hair was white, his clothes tattered, and the skin on his face was as wrinkled as dry tree bark.

He was gasping for air, a hoarse wheezing sound coming from his throat, as if he had reached his limit.

Yet even in this state, he still carefully shielded the grandson behind him.

The grandson following him was in slightly better shape. His clothes were barely enough to cover his body. He looked to be no more than eleven or twelve, but his expression was vacant and simple.

A boy his age, yet he couldn’t even speak clearly, managing only a few syllables from his mouth: “Grandpa… scared…”

The pitiful pair ran for who knows how long, until they looked up and found themselves at the edge of a river.

The wide city moat blocked their path.

The grandfather froze for a moment, then let out an ancient, mournful cry, “Heavens above! Have you no eyes?!”

The pursuers and their vicious dogs caught up.

The man in the lead, with a crooked mouth and wicked eyes, dressed in silk robes, roared with laughter. “Old man, I said I’d let you go if you ran out of Ye City’s territory, but you didn’t make it!”

The lackeys behind him also burst into raucous laughter, as if watching the old man and the boy’s frantic escape was the most amusing thing in the world.

The old man’s lungs sounded like wheezing bellows. He slowly knelt down and begged, “Young Master Liu, if you want my old life, I have nothing to say. I only beg you to spare my grandson. He was born simple-minded, he doesn’t know anything. Please, let him go! I’m begging you!”

With that, he began to kowtow.

The man called Young Master Liu sneered and kicked him over with one step. “You want me to let him go, so I should just let him go? Who do you think I am, a dog raised by your family?”

The lackeys behind him howled with laughter. “You’re not even as good as the dogs Young Master Liu raises!”

“Young Master Liu, why not just let the dogs kill them!”

A cruel smile spread across Young Master Liu’s face. “This old fart ruined my fun and made me chase him all night. It’s only right to feed you to the dogs. Consider it your final contribution!”

He waved his hand. His lackeys, grinning maliciously, unleashed the vicious dogs.

The trained animals, drooling foul-smelling saliva, pounced on the grandfather and grandson, ready to tear them apart.

Hearing his grandson’s piercing screams, the grandfather felt his soul tear apart. “Heavens! Oh, heavens above! Have you no eyes?!”

Just then, a loud crack sounded from the sky. A bolt of lightning struck down, and a faint white light descended from the heavens, landing in the old man’s palm.

A strange voice sounded in his ear. 【Congratulations, you have received a recruitment notice from the Immortal’s Rest Guesthouse.】

The white light transformed into a sheet of wood-grained paper, upon which were written the four large characters for “Recruitment Notice.”

Unlike the invitation, the moment he received the notice, information automatically flooded his mind: Immortal’s Rest Inn, Myriad Realms, Zhao Xing…

After what seemed like a long time, yet also just an instant, the voice continued to ask him, 【Do you wish to accept the interview?】

The old man didn’t hesitate. “Yes! I accept!”

A fierce wind suddenly rose from the flat ground. The water of the city moat was whipped up ten zhang high.

Young Master Liu and his lackeys, who were standing right by the riverbank, were directly swept away by the water, their screams disappearing into the distance.

The other servants were also blown about, sent tumbling left and right.

When the wind and water calmed, they looked around. The grandfather and grandson were nowhere to be seen.

---

Zhao Xing was once again woken from his sleep.

Even for someone as even-tempered as he was, he was starting to get angry. “You do know that we carbon-based lifeforms require sleep, right?”

The System stammered, “B-but, Host! The employee you wanted to find is here for an interview!”

Zhao Xing wanted to roll his eyes. “Was that someone I wanted to find? Wasn’t that someone you forced on me to scam my money?”

He huffed and puffed as he got up. “I’m telling you, I don’t care who it is this time, I’m not letting them pass this interview! You want to hire someone with only two thousand yuan in the bank? In your dreams…”

Grumbling, he got dressed and went to the guesthouse entrance.

The night was quiet.

The guests were all asleep, but the guesthouse lights were on. Thus, he immediately saw the bedraggled grandfather and grandson outside the building.

Zhao Xing had sharp eyes. He thought he saw traces of blood and hurried over. “What happened? Sir, are you two injured?”

The old man had already seen what Zhao Xing looked like from the information he’d received.

The moment he saw him, he fell to his knees. “Immor… Thank you for saving us, Immortal! Thank you for saving us…”

He then pushed his grandson’s head down. “Quick, kowtow to the Immortal!”

The simple-minded child dazedly kowtowed to Zhao Xing.

Zhao Xing couldn’t stand this. He quickly helped them up. “Let’s not talk about this first. Hurry inside and let me look at those wounds!”

He understood in his heart that this pair must have had a terrible experience before arriving here.

The grandfather and grandson entered the house.

Seeing the smooth walls, the brand-new floors, and the bright lights, they felt as if they had entered a celestial paradise.

Especially the unknown fragrance floating in the air—a single sniff made them feel relaxed from head to toe.

It was even more pleasant than the incense Young Master Liu wore. Could this be the incense of the immortals?

The two of them were too nervous to move. Zhao Xing had to physically press them down into chairs and brought over iodine and gauze to treat their wounds.

With so many guests here every day, these were standard supplies.

After a quick examination, he sighed in relief. Although there was blood on them, their wounds were not serious, mostly just scrapes.

In comparison, their mental state was a more serious issue. Both of them looked terrified, their eyes bloodshot. It was clear they hadn’t slept well in a long time.

After treating their wounds, Zhao Xing went to the kitchen and heated up some porridge. He usually never had leftovers; this porridge was what he had specifically set aside for his own breakfast tomorrow morning.

Two bowls of hot porridge were placed on the table.

Tears streamed from the old man’s cloudy eyes, and he was about to kneel to Zhao Xing again. “Thank you, Immortal, thank you…”

Zhao Xing helplessly helped him up and told him to eat. He then looked at the child. Although the boy was simple-minded, he had been taught well and had no problem eating by himself.

After the old man and the boy had finished eating, Zhao Xing asked about their experience.

The old man’s name was Lu Shan. His ancestors had been imperial chefs, and he had inherited their culinary skills, working as the head chef at the Liu family’s restaurant.

Not long ago, Old Master Liu had passed away, and the two Liu brothers had divided the family assets. Because he owed the elder Liu brother a favor, he had gone with him.

He had thought he would still be working at the restaurant and that the family division wouldn’t make a difference to him. He hadn’t expected the elder brother to hand over the restaurant to his good-for-nothing son to manage, and that’s when the trouble started.

The young master Liu had no skills but was a malicious person. Seeing the restaurant’s customers dwindle, he came up with a poisonous plan to add “Five Elements Powder” to the food to get the customers addicted.

Lu Shan had accidentally found out about the young master’s scheme. Horrified, he agonized for days before telling the elder master, hoping he would control his son.

The result was predictable. A father who could raise a son like young master Liu couldn’t be a good person himself. He handed Lu Shan directly over to his son.

What followed was the young master toying with Lu Shan and his grandson for fun, telling them that he would let them go if they could run out of Ye City’s territory.

In reality, he had no intention of letting either of them live.

Lu Shan had lost his wife and son in middle age and had only this simple-minded grandson left. Seeing his grandson nearly mauled to death by dogs, he had almost fallen apart completely.

He was naturally eternally grateful to Zhao Xing for saving them. It wasn’t just that he saw him as an immortal; if Zhao Xing told him to jump into the river right now, he wouldn’t hesitate.

After hearing the story, Zhao Xing also sighed.

He had been determined not to hire anyone, but looking at the current situation… If this pair were to go back, they could only return to where they came from.

From the sounds of it, the Liu family was very powerful in Ye City. Sending this old man and young boy back would be like throwing a rabbit into a wolf’s den.

Zhao Xing couldn’t bring himself to do something like that.

He sighed, resigned. “Alright. You’ve passed the interview. From now on, you are official employees of the guesthouse. Room and board are included. As for the salary… for now, let’s just go with Qingyang City’s minimum wage.”

He remembered that the minimum wage in Qingyang City was either eight or nine hundred yuan. It wasn’t that he was being cheap, but he really couldn’t afford any more.

Lu Shan was stunned. He hadn’t expected to actually be hired. In his mind, he had just been taken in.

He was about to kowtow to Zhao Xing again. “Thank you, Immortal! Thank you, Immortal! This old slave will definitely work hard in the future, I will be your ox and horse…”

For the third time, Zhao Xing, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, helped him up. “Uncle Lu, we don’t do all this kneeling here. Please don’t do it again. And don’t call me Immortal. From now on… just call me Boss.”

Lu Shan immediately corrected himself. “Yes, yes, thank you, Boss…”

Zhao Xing shook his head helplessly, then got up to prepare a place for the two of them to stay.

There were originally three storage rooms on the first floor.

One had been converted into a bedroom, which he lived in himself.

Another was used by him to store the dangerous items given to him by otherworldly guests.

The last one was a real storage room, currently filled with miscellaneous junk.

Zhao Xing simply cleared out the last storage room, set up a cot, and let the two of them make do for now.

He then taught them how to use the bathroom to take a shower and brought them a stack of clothes. “These are my clothes from middle school, for the kid to wear. As for this, it was left by my grandfather, but he has already passed away…”

He hesitated. Most people probably wouldn’t like to wear the clothes of someone who had passed away.

But Lu Shan was even more hesitant.

The old man stroked the thick, soft clothes, almost in fear. “Th-this is all good fabric! Wouldn’t it be a waste for us to wear it…”

Zhao Xing said helplessly, “Clothes are for people to wear. How could it be a waste?”

Although Lu Shan had worked for the Liu family his whole life, the family was harsh to their servants, and his wages were very low. He had very little money, not even a single winter coat.

Every winter, he had to huddle in the back kitchen of the restaurant to get by.

Old tears streamed down his face again. “Thank you, Boss, thank you…”

Zhao Xing shook his head helplessly and put down the clothes. “You two should rest well for the next couple of days. There’s no hurry to start working.”

He left after saying this, not knowing if Uncle Lu had heard him.

The System stammered, “Host, didn’t you say you wouldn’t…”

“Hmm?” Zhao Xing interrupted it with a half-smile. “Wouldn’t what? Did I say something?”

The System hemmed and hawed for a long time. “N-no… the Host didn’t say anything…” So frustrating!

And in the room, Uncle Lu carefully put away the clothes. He lay down in the soft, warm bed with his grandson, feeling the warm satisfaction in his belly and the smell of medicine on his body.

It all felt like a dream.

He couldn’t help but reach out and touch the clothes at the head of the bed again, afraid that none of this was real.

The simple-minded child also copied him, carefully touching the clothes, and suddenly blurted out a word: “Immortal!”

Lu Shan said, “That’s right. We met a kind-hearted immortal. Xiao Tong, from now on, you can’t make the immortal angry. You have to listen to what the immortal says, you understand? He is not only an immortal, but also our benefactor. We must repay him well.”

The child, whose nickname was Xiao Tong, nodded seriously. “Xiao Tong will work hard! Sweep the floor!”

The next morning, the moment Zhao Xing woke up, he smelled an enticing aroma.

He followed the scent to the kitchen and saw that Lu Shan had already been busy all morning.

A golden millet porridge was cooking in a clay pot, a thick layer of congee skin already formed on top.

In the Delicious Iron Wok on the other side, potato pancakes were being fried.

One by one, the small, palm-sized pancakes would sizzle when placed in the oil pan.

The hot oil would bubble up, frying the bottom to a golden brown before being flipped over to fry the other side…

The aroma of fried carbs filled the air.

“Uncle Lu… slurp!” Zhao Xing said.

His eyes were shining. How could it be so fragrant?

Was this the skill of a chef from another world? He had hit the jackpot!