Chapter 39: The Eccentric Mother and Son

“That’s right, I’m the owner.”

Chu Jiangyue could, of course, see what this mother-and-son pair was plotting. But since they hadn’t acted yet, she didn’t make a move either.

“Boss Chu, they probably don’t mean anything by it.”

Clearly, Song Chengjun had already reminded them multiple times on the way over: they could do whatever they wanted in Jianglin Hotel, as long as they didn’t break hotel rules or offend the boss.

Were these two deaf or had they forgotten already? It hadn’t been long, and they were already causing trouble.

“Captain Song, don’t worry. I’m not an unreasonable person.”

Some people just want to bring trouble on themselves—why stop them? Living would just waste resources.

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“One woman running a business and appearing in public all the time—back in our day, people would gossip about that.”

Those nearby exchanged glances. It was already the apocalypse, early morning, and yet some still cared about such things?

This was obvious scheming—the kind that everyone could see.

“Oh? And what do you think I should do?”

Chu Jiangyue glanced at the old lady, smiling, though the smile didn’t reach her eyes.

“Business should be handled by men. Women should just stay home, support their husbands, and raise children.

My son was a manager before the apocalypse. Marry my son, let him run the hotel, and your hotel will reach new heights.”

“What does she mean by this? Am I some cheap system? Look at her son—there’s no way I’d agree, even if the host wanted to! Host, you can’t agree!”

The Little Fox was stunned. In this era, someone was still pushing the “support-your-husband-and-raise-children” line—and targeting its host!

“Don’t worry, I’m not stupid.”

Chu Jiangyue gave the Little Fox a reassuring glance, then turned back to the old lady.

“Hmm, sounds reasonable to you?”

Hearing Chu Jiangyue, the old lady and her son lit up. They just wanted to try their luck—they didn’t expect this Boss Chu to be naive.

If it were them, they wouldn’t run a hotel this way—charging such low rates, practically like charity.

“Then hurry up and hand the hotel over to my son!”

The old lady’s greed was obvious, without even trying to hide it.

“Boss Chu…”

Song Chengjun opened his mouth to stop Chu Jiangyue.

“Old lady, do you think I’m a fool?”

The old lady was momentarily speechless. She had indeed intended to treat Chu Jiangyue as a pushover.

“I…I just see you working so hard alone, and I thought my son could help you a bit!

As the saying goes, a husband-and-wife team makes work easier. In these hard times, a woman still needs a man to rely on.”

“No man? I’m still doing better than anyone else here. Besides, even if I wanted one, your son wouldn’t meet my standards.

Want a room or not? If not, move aside—there are others waiting.”

Chu Jiangyue completely lost patience with this mother-and-son duo. If they hadn’t already obtained identity cards, she might have thrown them out. She really didn’t want these kinds of people staying in her hotel.

“Of course we want a room! Boss Chu can change her mind anytime; my son is single now.”

The old lady wasn’t about to give up on Chu Jiangyue. With a glance at her son, they signed up for a 30-day standard double suite.

Each paid 30 silver coins, expressions as if it was killing them to part with it.

Chu Jiangyue ignored them, continuing to register others for lodging.

Fortunately, no more eccentrics appeared after them. But Building 1 didn’t have enough rooms, so later they moved to Building 2.

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After registering everyone, Chu Jiangyue went to the restaurant.

Those who had seen the announcement yesterday and were interested came over.

Some were simply curious onlookers—during the day, they couldn’t go outside, so they didn’t want to miss any excitement.

Chu Jiangyue somehow found a loudspeaker and placed it at the restaurant entrance, looping the “Big Eater” event rules.

Even Song Chengjun came over, especially lighting up when he saw the Fire Fruit prize.

He had been at the base previously and missed the fruit’s ripening—now it was impossible to buy anywhere.

He didn’t expect the “Big Eater” event to include Fire Fruit as a prize.

Shen Zhigui and his group also saw the Fire Fruit reward. But each had already bought at least 20, so they weren’t particularly eager to compete.

Lin Xuyuan, a fire-element ability user, brightened when he saw Fire Fruit in the advanced challenge.

“You want to participate?”

Shen Zhigui looked at Lin Xuyuan’s expression and understood his intent.

“Yeah, even if I fail, it doesn’t matter—we still get to eat meat buns for free once.”

“No… you probably didn’t read carefully. At the bottom of the announcement it says: if the challenge is not completed (first place), the buns eaten during the competition will automatically deduct corresponding copper coins.”

Free? How naive!
With Boss Chu’s temperament, she wouldn’t be that generous.

After observing Chu Jiangyue for some time, Shen Zhigui had a good sense of her love for money.

He didn’t mind—he actually found her little expressions whenever she earned coins quite amusing.

---

“Uh…”

Lin Xuyuan was surprised. The buns eaten during the contest weren’t free?

Su Zhucheng laughed: “That’s definitely Boss Chu’s style. But paying a bit for a chance to get a whole day of free meals—many people want that.”

After all, when paying for their own three meals, they were cautious due to the price.

But during free-meal opportunities, they would definitely splurge.

The priciest dish in the restaurant was braised pork, 500 copper coins per serving—not something they’d eat every meal.

Participating in the advanced challenge could even win a week of free meals and Fire Fruit.

Non-fire users could resell it at high price to fire-element users.

Among the visitors from B City base, there were several fire-element users, so selling wouldn’t be a problem.

“I’ll give it a try—what if I succeed?”

Lin Xuyuan decided to participate; he had enough money for a few buns.

Meanwhile, Song Chengjun also called over fire-element users from his group to enter the advanced challenge.

Seeing the bustling scene, Chu Jiangyue smiled with her eyes squinted.

Come, come, the more the better—meat buns for everyone!

“Little Fox, record a video of this event, edit it, and we can use it as a promotional video later.”

In the apocalypse, places that could host events with meat buns weren’t common.

“Got it!”

The Little Fox quickly found the best spot, eyes sparkling, and began filming.