Chapter 10: Reward—Random Fruit Tree Seedling

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After Xie Silin moved into the double suite by himself, he began considering who he could ask to be his roommate.

But before finding one, to afford the daily 400 copper coin room fee, Xie Silin accompanied Shen Zhigui and the others on daily outings to gather supplies.

Almost everything he could sell, he converted into copper coins using the hotel’s exchange machine.

Over the past few days, Shen Zhigui and his group had brought back a number of survivors.

The latest task—“Host, receive 20 guests and complete the first top-up”—was quietly completed without Chu Jiangyue noticing.

At this moment, Chu Jiangyue was looking at the new rewards from completing the task.

【Task: Host, receive guests and complete the first top-up (20/20) — Completed
Task Reward: Unlock 3rd-floor rooms (triple rooms) ×20, Random Fruit Tree Seedling ×1, Experience +200】

【Current Hotel Level: 1 (290/100)】

【Conditions for Level 2 hotel upgrade met. Upgrade? Yes/No】

【Task Released: Issue 100 hotel ID cards
Task Reward: To be unlocked】

Seeing the fruit tree seedling, Chu Jiangyue immediately straightened up.

After the zombie virus outbreak, the next challenge would be three months of high temperatures, during which many plants had withered.

Those that survived had mostly mutated; encountering a mutated plant while scavenging meant almost no chance of survival.

But now, she had unlocked a fruit tree as a reward. Doesn’t that mean she could sell fresh fruit in the future?

Chu Jiangyue immediately claimed all the rewards, and the fruit tree seedling appeared at her feet.

Fortunately, she was the only one in the hotel lobby at the time, so no one saw it.

『Little Fox, where would be best to plant this fruit tree?』

Inside the hotel wasn’t suitable, and outside wasn’t ideal either. Soon, temperatures would rise even more, making it extremely difficult for ordinary people outside—they could easily get sunburned.

「Host, just plant it at the hotel entrance. The system will automatically include the tree within the hotel area, so don’t worry about it dying.」

Little Fox was secretly surprised by the fruit tree seedling Chu Jiangyue had received.

The drop rate for this series of rewards was rumored to be very low. Many predecessors had complained about it. And yet, Chu Jiangyue had pulled one on just the third task?

Still, the fox didn’t show its surprise. The more trees planted, the more benefits the host would enjoy later.

Chu Jiangyue, unaware of the fox’s thoughts, was a little surprised by its advice.

『Just plant it directly? Do I need to water it?』

「Water it once after planting, then once every two days after that. No need to worry too much.
Of course, if you want, you can feed it some wood-elemental ability energy—might be a surprise~」

Unlike ordinary seedlings that require careful nurturing, these fruit tree seedlings from the post-apocalyptic hotel had incredible vitality.

『Okay, no one’s around, I’ll plant it now.』

Chu Jiangyue carried the seedling to the hotel entrance and realized she didn’t have gardening tools.

『Little Fox, do you have a shovel?』

Without a shovel, how could she dig the soil?

「…」

Little Fox went silent. Because the drop rate for plant rewards was so low, it had forgotten to equip the hotel with a tool shed.

Chu Jiangyue: @#&$%^!!

“Boss Chu, what are you doing?”

Chu Jiangyue was scolding the fox-programmer when Shen Zhigui unexpectedly appeared.

Weren’t they supposed to be cooking?

“Oh, I just found a seedling. It’s growing well, so I wanted to plant it at the hotel entrance to add some greenery. But I brought it back and realized I don’t have any gardening tools.”

Shen Zhigui noticed the healthy little seedling and thought, nearby plants seemed wilted—this clearly wasn’t a plant native to the area.

But he didn’t expose Chu Jiangyue’s idea. If he wanted to stay at the hotel smoothly in the future, he had to know what to say and what not to say.

People who understand the situation are the ones who survive.

“I’ll ask the others.”

Soon after, Shen Zhigui returned with a large iron shovel.

Honestly, seeing such a noble, refined man holding a shovel was a little disillusioning.

Chu Jiangyue had to suppress a laugh with great effort.

Jiang He, following behind Shen Zhigui, raised his glasses slightly when he noticed the lively little seedling at Chu Jiangyue’s feet.

This was truly a person capable of running a hotel in the apocalypse.

Chu Jiangyue took the shovel from Shen Zhigui and started digging about a meter to the left of the hotel entrance.

“Need any help?”

Looking at her thin arms and legs wielding the shovel, Shen Zhigui thought it didn’t quite fit her image.

「No, host. You have to plant the hotel trees yourself, or they won’t survive.」

Chu Jiangyue pulled back the shovel she had almost handed over. “Thanks, but I can manage.”

She pressed the shovel down, trying to dig as much soil as possible in one go.

After digging about half a meter deep, she stopped, set the shovel aside, moved the seedling into the hole, filled it, watered it, and channeled wood-elemental energy—all in one motion.

“All done. Thanks for the shovel. I’ll clean it and return it to you.”

Chu Jiangyue carried the shovel to the first-floor public restroom to wash off the dirt.

“No need. I’ll take it back and let them wash it conveniently,” Shen Zhigui said, taking the shovel and heading back toward the guest rooms.

Inside the hotel, no one noticed that the soil around the newly planted seedling gradually began returning to normal color, and the seedling slowly sprouted.

The contrast between the soil inside and outside the hotel was striking.

Chu Jiangyue waited in the hotel all day but didn’t receive a third group of guests. After six o’clock, she closed the hotel and began cooking for herself.

Even from their rooms, Shen Zhigui and the others could smell the aroma of her cooking.