Chapter 79 – Has the Broken Plot Taken a New Turn?

“Sorry, we’re not planning to take in new members.”

No matter what kind of ability user Zheng Wen’an was, Jin Chuyu had no intention of letting him join.

“Ah Yu!”

At that moment, the deep-hearted male second lead, Huo Jun, appeared.

When he saw Zheng Wen’an, Huo Jun’s expression darkened.

“Brother Jun.”

Jin Chuyu turned her head toward Huo Jun, a smile unconsciously blooming on her face.

Chu Jiangyue glanced back and forth between the two of them. This development… didn’t quite match the original plot, did it?

「Ahhhhhh!!! Host, do they have eyes for each other? The heroine and my devoted male second lead! Is this going to be a ‘second male lead takes over’ route?!」

The little fox perched on Chu Jiangyue’s shoulder, its tiny feet twitching excitedly. If others could see it, everyone would definitely be staring.

『Calm down, calm down, don’t get too excited. If you get worked up, the plot might shift again, and that would be troublesome.』

Between Jin Chuyu and Huo Jun, Chu Jiangyue personally thought that pairing wasn’t bad.

Zheng Wen’an, however, frowned deeply when he saw Huo Jun, as though things shouldn’t be happening this way—yet he couldn’t explain why they shouldn’t.

“Mr. Zheng, are you trying to join me and Ah Yu’s ability team?”

By logic, Zheng Wen’an, the male lead, with his looks and height, shouldn’t lose to Huo Jun.

But in Chu Jiangyue’s eyes right now, Huo Jun was at least a whole level above Zheng Wen’an.

Why that was, she couldn’t say.

“Yes, I sincerely want to join. Mr. Huo shouldn’t mind, right?”

Zheng Wen’an tried not to lose face, forcing a smile.

What he truly felt inside, though, no one knew.

“I’ve already said our team isn’t recruiting for now. Mr. Zheng, you should look elsewhere.”

Afraid Huo Jun might impulsively accept him, Jin Chuyu quickly rejected Zheng Wen’an again before Huo Jun could say anything.

「Host, host! The plot’s moving again! It says: ‘Script error detected, correcting and revising…’」

The little fox hopped frantically on Chu Jiangyue’s shoulder, though no new storyline appeared yet, making it anxious.

『We can only wait. Let’s see how it plays out. So far, things look pretty good.』

After all, with Zheng Wen’an rejected, he and Jin Chuyu wouldn’t have much interaction going forward.

At least for now, it didn’t look like the male and female leads would develop any romance.

Hearing Jin Chuyu personally refuse Zheng Wen’an, Huo Jun’s lips curled upward slightly.

He didn’t dare show it too obviously, though. “When it comes to the team, we’ll go with your decision.”

Since Huo Jun’s strength was among the best in their group, if he was willing to listen to Jin Chuyu, the others naturally had no objections.

Zheng Wen’an opened his mouth to speak again, but Jin Chuyu cut him off: “Mr. Zheng, don’t be too persistent. There are other good ability teams recruiting in Jianglin Hotel—you’ll have plenty of options.”

With that, Jin Chuyu ignored his reaction and left with Huo Jun.

Of course Zheng Wen’an knew other teams were recruiting. But his instincts told him—he needed to join Jin Chuyu’s team.

Yet unexpectedly, he had been rejected.

In his imagination, Jin Chuyu would never turn him down.

But reality was: he had been refused.

“As for teams recruiting, I know quite a few. Would you like me to introduce them, Mr. Zheng?”

Watching Jin Chuyu reject Zheng Wen’an gave Chu Jiangyue immense satisfaction, so she kindly offered to recommend other teams.

“No, thank you, Jiang… Boss Chu.”

Zheng Wen’an almost called her Jiangyue-classmate again, but when he saw the cold look in her eyes, he forced himself to correct it.

“Then I wish you good luck in finding the team you want, Mr. Zheng.”

Knowing Jin Chuyu had no interest in Zheng Wen’an reassured Chu Jiangyue greatly. As long as things kept going this way, the plot would definitely change drastically.

The only question was—between the male and female leads, who mattered more to the storyline: the male lead or the female lead?

Watching Chu Jiangyue’s back as she left, a shadowy expression crept across Zheng Wen’an’s face.

But since Chu Jiangyue was the boss of Jianglin Hotel, he didn’t dare act recklessly.

---

With no pressing matters, Chu Jiangyue returned to her wooden house. Back in her room, she began browsing through the system shop again.

Her eyes fell on the osmanthus tree she had unlocked earlier.

It even came with a suggestion: plant it by the roadside.

Chu Jiangyue bought one, and what appeared was a sapling that only reached her waist.

『Little Fox, do you think it’s okay if I plant this outside?』

Outside, there wasn’t a single green plant. As far as the eye could see, there were only buildings and endless yellow sand.

If the osmanthus tree could grow, at least it would improve the environment a little.

「Since it’s from the shop, it must be top quality. But if Host plans to plant it outside, I suggest making a proper plan first.」

The osmanthus tree would expand Jianglin Hotel’s covered area once planted.

The more ground it covered, the larger the hotel’s area of influence.

But the downside was that the tree could only be moved manually. Once the hotel upgraded and expanded, if the osmanthus trees already encircled the hotel, moving them later would be troublesome.

So if she wanted to plant them, she needed to carefully consider future plans and the placement.

Chu Jiangyue took out the hotel’s map, flipped it open, and quickly drafted several possible layouts in her mind.

Finally, she decided to plant one tree on each side of the safe passage between Jianglin Hotel and the B City safe base, at the edge of the hotel grounds.

As for planting rows of them all along the passage—that was impossible.

Not only did each osmanthus tree cost 5 silver coins, planting them meant hiring people to do the work, which would still come out of her pocket.

Chu Jiangyue wasn’t a saint—why would she do something that was pure loss?

She bought two saplings and dragged them toward the hotel entrance.

“Boss Chu, what kind of saplings are those in your hand?”

“Eh? Don’t those look like osmanthus trees?”

“Boss Chu…”

As she hauled the trees along, people kept asking about them.

She couldn’t answer everyone, so she just smiled politely.

“Are you going to plant those? Need a hand?”

At some point, Shen Zhigui appeared at her side. Seeing her struggling with the two saplings, he immediately stepped forward to help.

“Thanks, just put them at the hotel entrance.”

Beyond the hotel doors, about ten meters ahead, was the safe passage to B City’s base.

“I’ll help you plant them too. I’ve got experience—after all, I helped with the fire-fruit tree before.”