Chapter 14 Dinner Dispute
Shortly after Shen Zhigui and the others left, it was time for Chu Jiangyue to get off work. Without hesitation, she closed the hotel door and began preparing her own dinner.
Halfway through cooking, the two potbellied men and Liu Yiyi from the room were drawn over by the aroma.
"Boss Chu, you wouldn't sell us watermelon at noon, but surely you can sell us some of tonight's dinner, right?"
Chu Jiangyue ignored him. The speaker was the ever-meddlesome potbellied man.
"Boss Chu, Uncle Jiang is talking to you. Isn't it rude to ignore him?"
Liu Yiyi was delighted to see someone causing trouble for Chu Jiangyue. Hearing Jiang Jianzhong speak, she chimed in from the sidelines.
The other man remained silent but made no effort to intervene. In Chu Jiangyue's eyes, this kind of person was the most despicable—doing nothing, claiming innocence when trouble arose, yet still reaping the benefits if things went well.
"It seems I didn't kick you hard enough that day. Look how lively you've become in such a short time."
Chu Jiangyue finished cooking and looked up at Liu Yiyi.
Mentioned about her humiliating history of being kicked, Liu Yiyi's expression stiffened momentarily.
"You actually kicked someone? As a hotel owner, your service attitude is utterly terrible!"
Jiang Jianzhong voiced his dissatisfaction again, launching into paternalistic remarks, which Chu Jiangyue couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge.
"If you have a problem with me, you're free to leave the hotel. Otherwise… keep your mouth shut!
And you—if you don't want to be kicked again, behave yourself in this hotel. Otherwise… I'm sure your dear Wen'an brother would gladly take your place here?"
With that, Chu Jiangyue carried the prepared dishes to the dining table in the lobby on the first floor.
『Little Fox, next time we upgrade the renovations, can we move the kitchen and dining area to my second floor? This setup is really inconvenient.』
If she's on the 2nd floor, even if the aroma of her cooking drifts down to the 1st floor, no one can barge in to disturb her peace.
「But host, I followed all the guidelines for upgrades and renovations. The final appearance isn't within my professional scope.」
The little fox is still a newbie with no permissions at all—it's had to figure out most things on its own.
Chu Jiangyue sighed. No wonder she was assigned to a world where the male lead was a hypocritical scumbag acting like a "central air conditioner" (flirting with everyone). Truly a newbie mistake—she knew nothing.
However, just as Chu Jiangyue finished setting the dishes and was about to sit down, Jiang Jianzhong—for some inexplicable reason—suddenly snapped, snatching the stir-fried tomato and eggs she'd just placed on the table, plate and all.
[Warning! Warning! Detected misconduct from a guest. To maintain civilized and harmonious buyer-seller relations within the hotel, punitive electric shock will be administered to the offending guest, Jiang Jianzhong, followed by immediate eviction. Re-entry permitted only after 24 hours.]
At this moment, Chu Jiangyue's wood-type ability also sprouted a vine, tying up Jiang Jianzhong completely.
The tomato and egg stir-fry in his hands was also taken by Chu Jiangyue's wood-type ability and placed back on the table.
"What… what is this thing!"
Liu Yiyi was seeing supernatural abilities for the first time and didn't yet know Chu Jiangyue was using wood-type powers, only wondering if she was seeing ghosts.
Chu Jiangyue had no intention of explaining to Liu Yiyi either, her gaze fixed on Jiang Jianzhong whom she had tightly bound with her wood-type ability.
"I refuse to sell to you, and you resort to stealing? You've got some nerve!"
"Boss Chu, we haven't had a hot meal in days—he was just too desperate. Please let him go."
The portly man who had been watching from the sidelines quickly spoke up in Jiang Jianzhong's defense when he saw him being tied up.
But Chu Jiangyue merely glanced at him without a word, watching coldly as Jiang Jianzhong's figure disappeared from the hotel, leaving behind only a few vines grown by her wood-type ability.
When the person was gone, Chu Jiangyue also retracted all the scattered vines on the ground, which eventually vanished without a trace at her fingertips.
"Boss Chu, how can you be so cold-blooded? If he gets exiled to an area with zombies, it would mean Uncle Jiang's death!"
Liu Yiyi's words successfully made Jiang Jianhai, who had just pleaded for Jiang Jianzhong, hold his breath.
At the thought of this possibility, his gaze at Chu Jiangyue became reproachful.
"So worried? Should I pull some strings and send you to his side?"
Chu Jiangyue looked at Liu Yiyi with a half-smile, as if mocking her attempt at moral coercion—she had clearly picked the wrong target.
As long as she had no morals, no one could coerce her.
Jiang Jianhai also turned his gaze to Liu Yiyi, but since she had only wanted to provoke Chu Jiangyue and wasn't willing to pay the price, she immediately fell silent.
"And what about you, Mr. Jiang?"
With everyone standing around like this, Chu Jiangyue completely lost her appetite. All she wanted now was to send them away as quickly as possible.
Although Jiang Jianhai was angry that Chu Jiangyue had sent his younger brother away, he wasn't willing to go out searching for him either.
So after mumbling some vague words, he found an excuse to retreat to his room.
With no one else around, Liu Yiyi, afraid of being kicked so hard she'd cough up blood again, immediately slipped back to her room.
Only when everyone had left could Chu Jiangyue finally sit down and eat in peace.
Every single one of them was nothing but trouble.
Delayed by Liu Yiyi and the Jiang brothers, it was already 7 p.m. by the time Chu Jiangyue finished dinner.
By then, the sun had completely set, and darkness had begun to fall.
However, based on her experience from her previous life, Chu Jiangyue knew that starting from the day the zombie outbreak began, sunset would occur later and later until the polar day phenomenon appeared.
The appearance of the polar day phenomenon would mark when the hot weather completely transitioned into extreme heat.
That was when the global apocalypse truly began.
Chu Jiangyue glanced outside, put the dishes into the kitchen's automatic washer, and went upstairs to the second floor.
『Little Fox, do you think Shen Zhigui and the others will make it back safely tonight?』
「I'm not sure either, Host.」
In the plotline the Little Fox received, Shen Zhigui's team and Xie Silin didn't even have names, so it couldn't predict their fate.
Moreover, due to the appearance of Jianglin Hotel, the plot had already deviated. But the Little Fox didn't think it was a big deal, so it didn't raise any alarms.
Well, whether they return or not depends on their luck.
Chu Jiangyue wasn't one to dwell on things. When she didn't get an answer from the Little Fox, she didn't overthink it—she just grabbed her pajamas and went to take a shower.
On the dressing table, there were many skincare and makeup products. After her shower, Chu Jiangyue directly applied a sheet mask.
To be honest, her current life is much more comfortable than before the apocalypse.
After finishing her skincare routine, Chu Jiangyue didn't stay up late and climbed into bed very contentedly, ready to sleep.
"Wake me up at 9 tomorrow."
Well, work starts at 10, waking up at 9 to wash up—sounds about right.
「Got it, Host. Good night, Host~」
"Good night, sweet dreams."
Little Fox: Though, technically, I don't actually need to sleep.
(__)..zzZZ
Midnight, 12 o'clock.
[Beep! Beep! Beep! Host, wake up!]