Chapter 15: A Wave of Guests Arrives

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The sudden blaring alarm made Chu Jiangyue jolt.

“Damn fox! What are you doing?”

What time was it now? She had clearly said to wake her at 9 a.m. the next day, and it was only midnight—midnight!

「Host, it’s not my fault! Shen Zhigui and his group are back… and they brought a bunch of people with them.」

These were all potential guests. Even a second’s delay in attending to them would be a loss for them.

Chu Jiangyue forced a smile: “Do you know why I set working hours? If everyone came whenever I was off duty and I had to get up to let them in, then what’s the point of having working hours?
Do you know what a seller’s market is? A seller’s market means they have to follow my rules, not the other way around!
Little Fox, you’re new and don’t know better—I don’t blame you. But from now on, even if guests arrive after hours, don’t disturb me unless it’s an emergency. Got it?”

Chu Jiangyue knew that if she didn’t set this straight, this kind of situation would keep happening. She had no desire to be dragged out of bed in the middle of the night ever again.

「Sorry, Host… I was just too anxious.」

Little Fox drooped its ears and lowered its head to its chest, looking pitiful.

“Alright, don’t let it happen again. How many people did Shen Zhigui bring?”

If Little Fox was excited enough to wake her, there must be a lot of them, right?

「Not too many, not too few—exactly 100 people. Your task can be completed, Host!」

Chu Jiangyue’s current task was to host 100 people and successfully issue identity cards.

Hearing that the task could be completed slightly improved her mood, and she was no longer as angry at Little Fox for waking her.

“Let’s go check it out.”

Shen Zhigui’s group of five had originally planned to bring people the next morning, but unexpectedly ran into a minor zombie surge that night.

Five of them alone couldn’t handle so many zombies.

After weighing the situation, they had no choice but to flee overnight, and the original group of nearly 200 people was now reduced by half.

Honestly, even Shen Zhigui felt relieved to safely return to the hotel.

However, when they reached the hotel and saw the closed doors, Shen Zhigui realized the situation was awkward.

Chu Jiangyue had repeatedly emphasized her working hours and told them not to come after hours unless it was an emergency.

Even without a clock, they could tell it was late—Chu Jiangyue would already be off duty and likely resting.

Without her opening the door, the survivors, lacking identity cards, couldn’t enter.

“What do we—”

“Forget it. The third floor is Boss Chu’s private space; we can’t get up there.”

“So what do we do?”

This large, exposed group would be easy prey for zombies if they couldn’t enter.

For now, they could catch their breath thanks to the hotel’s partial protection against zombies.

But this protection was temporary. Over time, it would no longer work.

Bad luck had brought them right into a zombie surge.

“Why aren’t we going in?”

“Yeah, we finally found a place without zombies around.”

“They brought us here but didn’t settle us properly—what kind of thing is that?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. They helped us escape the zombie surge; you want someone to take responsibility for your whole life?”

…

There was all sorts of chatter in the crowd. Shen Zhigui and his group heard the ungrateful complaints, but others stepped up to defend them.

Honestly, the five of them felt conflicted at this moment.

“Wait, I think I see lights on the second floor!”

Xie Silin tried to check the second floor, hoping they might be lucky enough to catch Chu Jiangyue awake.

Sure enough, lights were on.

Shen Zhigui and the others looked toward the second-floor stairs and saw the glow of light.

Soon, Chu Jiangyue came down, fully dressed with a large fisherman’s hat on her head.

“You really know how to pick your return time.”

Although they had brought guests, being woken up in the middle of the night still annoyed her.

Little Fox could only be pinched and squished when no one was around—a string of data couldn’t die no matter how she handled it.

But that didn’t mean Shen Zhigui and the others could escape responsibility.

“It was unexpected; we’ll be careful next time.”

Shen Zhigui knew this timing was indeed awkward.

“Alright, bring them in. Have them line up and follow your instructions for how to proceed.”

Chu Jiangyue opened the hotel doors, yawned, and leisurely walked behind the counter.

Shen Zhigui’s group, feeling guilty, didn’t complain about her apparent laziness and began maintaining order themselves, leaving one person at the front to teach the newcomers how to exchange for copper coins.

“Wait, we have to pay to get a card? Are you a scam group?”

Chu Jiangyue glanced at the person asking, wary but not very bright.

“At this point, what would we gain by scamming you? We’re too busy to bother.
If you have doubts, you can leave now; we won’t force you.”

After surviving such a tiring journey and hearing complaints along the way, they were finally at the hotel, only to be accused of being scammers. Xie Silin immediately lost the will to serve.

Truly, no good deed went unpunished.

“I… I didn’t mean that…”

The doubter hadn’t expected Xie Silin to tell them to leave. After barely escaping here, they didn’t want to walk away.

Chu Jiangyue ignored the minor commotion and, seeing the task headcount steadily increase, felt her mood gradually improving.

“Boss, I see it says this is a hotel?”

Finally, someone noticed the most important point.

Chu Jiangyue looked up and nodded slightly at the person asking: “Yes. Those who want to stay, get an identity card first, then line up here with me.”

Hearing this, many people obediently lined up.

“Are there really buns for sale?”

Honestly, with the sudden apocalypse, many homes had no stored food. Many hadn’t eaten a proper staple meal for days.

In the North, steamed buns were considered a staple food.

“Of course. No copper coins, no scams.”

Chu Jiangyue waved her hand, and a virtual screen appeared at the front desk. Xie Silin diligently showed them how to purchase.

After paying, the buns or steamed buns appeared directly in front of them.

How they stored them afterward was their own problem.