Chapter 26: Liwan Convenience Store Officially Opens; Garbage Disposal Station Undergoes Repairs…
Hearing the beeping sounds from the system as it checked the convenience store's rules, Zhou Fangdong's palms sweated with nervousness.
He really struggled to come up with these convenience store rules.
After all, it would be too much to ask two vengeful ghosts with a blood feud to work in the same convenience store.
But separating them isn't practical either. If one of them stays in room 104 to work, the other will definitely come over and fight with it from time to time.
This will not only affect the normal operation of the convenience store, but may also affect the tenants who come to the convenience store to shop.
Therefore, Zhou Fangdong simply kept both ghosts as employees of the convenience store in Room 104.
From the past experiences of these two ghosts, we can know that the long-tongued ghost is very sensitive to other people's gaze, and its conditions for killing should also be based on this.
The long-tongued ghost's greatest obsession in life was her own beauty—the praise from others, her parents' favoritism, and her sense of superiority over her younger sister all stemmed from this.
After death, the appearance that one cares about most is destroyed. The contrast is so great that focusing on its appearance will definitely cause it stress.
Furthermore, its tongue rendered it unable to speak after death, so one should try to avoid communicating with it.
The pain of losing her beauty, the anger stemming from her inability to express her suffering, and the hatred towards her sister are all obsessions of the gossipy demon.
When Zhou Fangdong was writing the convenience store rules, he recalled what happened during his role-playing mission in Room 102.
The red envelope that the man in room 102 took when he entered for the second time must have been the money given by the ghost sister in the wedding dress to buy his life.
The reason why the gossipy older sister rushed into room 102 and hanged the man is very likely because the older sister was also present when the man was picking up the money. He ignored his sister and was too focused on his younger sister's things, so the older sister had to kill the man before her younger sister could collect the spoils.
—The older sister, who enjoyed the attention of others in life, hated being noticed after her death. She couldn't stand even being caught in the corner of her eye. But she also couldn't tolerate others ignoring her and paying attention to her younger sister in front of her.
So, just in case, let's make sure that customers entering the convenience store are absolutely not allowed to talk to the clerks. If a customer is talking to the wedding dress ghost and the long-tongued ghost finds out, the long-tongued ghost will definitely be enraged.
The younger sister, who was a ghost in a wedding dress, was obsessed with escaping her family of origin, mainly to escape her life as the comparison group with her older sister, to escape her parents' favoritism, and to escape her older sister's oppression.
She remained silent, suppressing her emotions, until finally she exploded.
She thought she had finally won against her sister and that she would finally find happiness, but the ending was that she was forced into a ghost marriage and suffocated to death in her coffin, completely losing her freedom.
The younger sister, who had never received affirmation from others and never dared to express what she wanted, met her death the only time she rebelled.
The faces on her wedding dress, each one radiating fear, pain, and anger, are external projections of her repressed inner self during her lifetime. The wedding dress that bound her until her death is the embodiment of her tragedy and the vessel through which she speaks after her death.
In life, she was a victim of a ghost marriage, objectified and deprived of her self. The younger sister's main killing pattern is probably that she hates being bound—therefore, you can't meet her face to face, you can't block her way, and you can't mention anything related to weddings in front of her... Try to avoid the wedding dress ghost in the convenience store.
After racking his brains and making countless revisions, Zhou Fangdong wrote the longest set of rules in history.
This was the limit of what he could do. If he failed the system's test, he would have to find a way to abandon the two ghosts and randomly select two more ghosts from the apartment to work as convenience store employees... Anyway, Liwan Apartment had nothing but a lot of ghosts.
After an anxious wait, the system finally spoke:
[The inspection was passed, and the convenience store employees are very satisfied with the convenience store's rules.]
Hidden Quest ③ Completed
[Task Rewards: Free store renovation and decoration. Receive basic convenience store facilities such as shelves, cash register, and refrigerated display cases, and 200 Ghost Coins.]
[The system is automatically setting up the store layout... Please check back after 5 PM.]
An invisible force pushed Zhou Fangdong out of room 104, and the door to room 104 slammed shut.
Zhou Fangdong completely ignored the system's somewhat abrupt behavior and happily glanced at his current Ghost Coin balance.
The hidden quest rewards are so generous, it's practically a perk from the system.
He now has 1500 ghost coins and sincerely hopes there will be more similar tasks in the future.
When Zhou Fangdong left room 104, Miao Zheng was in the corridor, seemingly about to leave the apartment.
Her complexion looks much better now, and apart from her slightly unsteady gait, there's nothing wrong with her at all.
Miao Zheng wanted to go out and buy some ingredients because there wasn't enough food at home, and she wouldn't have dinner if she didn't go out to buy something.
If there's any downside to Liwan Apartments, it's that there are no supermarkets nearby. Being in the suburbs, the apartments are too far from the city; even by public transport, it takes over half an hour, making it very inconvenient to buy anything.
As Miao Zheng passed by room 104, he looked at the door, which was slowly changing and resembled a black vortex, and asked curiously, "Landlord, what's wrong with room 104? How did it become like this?"
"Room 104 is being converted into a convenience store, so the commotion is a bit exaggerated."
"There's going to be a convenience store at Liwan Apartments?!" Miao Zheng couldn't help but cheer. "Landlord, you're so kind! Now we don't need to go out to buy things—by the way, when will this convenience store be built?"
"After 5 p.m., maybe."
"Yay!" Miao Zheng pumped his fist. "By the way, does the convenience store accept cash? Or do they accept other... currencies?"
She actually wanted to say that it was ghost money or paper money, but she swallowed the words back. Although the landlord was very strong, he hadn't explicitly said whether he was a human or a ghost. If she directly said that she would pay with ghost money or paper money, she was afraid that the landlord would think she was trying to take advantage of him.
It's impossible to buy things with some useless waste paper...
However, Zhou Fangdong's answer made Miao Zheng realize that his thinking was still too conservative.
"You don't need to spend money to buy things at the convenience store. Just follow the convenience store rules and ask the cashier to enter the items before you leave."
Miao Zheng was stunned, and then he was overjoyed.
The perks at Liwan Apartments are just too good to be true! Where else in the world can you live with a ghost like this? Not only is the rent low, but everything you buy is free!
Being a tenant at Liwan Apartments is such a blessing!
"I'll go back to my room now, and I'll come back to check on things after five o'clock." Miao Zheng turned to walk back. Since there was a convenience store in the apartment building, she didn't need to go out and bother.
Zhou Fangdong called out to her, "Wait a minute, here's the camera for you."
This is an item that you unlock after Miao Zheng's favorability reaches 100. If you take a picture of a ghost, you can temporarily trap the ghost inside the camera.
After explaining the purpose of the prop to her, Miao Zheng, holding the camera, suddenly fell silent.
She was looking down, lost in thought.
After a long silence, Miao Zheng suddenly raised his head, as if he had made up his mind, and said to Zhou Fangdong with a serious expression, "Boss, do you have any task for me? Just tell me what it is, and I will do my best to complete it, no matter what the cost."
Her fearless demeanor took Zhou Fangdong by surprise.
"I don't have any tasks for you. My only wish is that you tenants can take good care of yourselves. As long as you are safe, I will be at ease."
Miao Zheng nodded vigorously: "I understand, I guarantee I will complete the mission." She gripped the camera tightly, turned and walked towards room 109, her steps as firm as a soldier preparing to go to battle.
Zhou Fangdong was even more confused.
No, what does she know? Did I just give her any instructions?
I always feel that my tenants are all strange, and I can't figure out what they're thinking at all.
With a few hours left before the convenience store renovations were completed, Zhou Fangdong decided to take advantage of that time to check out the apartment building's staircase.
He still doesn't know how to use that sandalwood memorial tablet to control the apartment staircase.
Last night, Zhou Fangdong originally intended to go and take a look, but he didn't expect to encounter that elevator door that suddenly opened on the way. Not only did he waste the replenished lamp oil, but he also almost died there.
When Zhou Fangdong returned to the dark corridor, he found that all the little ghosts who had been playing in the corridor the day before had disappeared, and only a ghost with a melted face stood blankly in the middle of the corridor.
The ghost's head looked like it had suffered some kind of huge impact; its skull had turned into a pile of rotten flesh—as if it had been repeatedly run over by a tire, then scooped up from the ground, kneaded, and forcibly attached to its neck.
Looking at its face alone, it's impossible to tell the front from the back, because no matter which direction you look at it, it looks very abstract and bloody.
Since turning off the live person filter in Skill 3 yesterday, Zhou Fangdong has not turned it back on.
He found that his mental fortitude was getting stronger and stronger, and now he no longer felt anything when facing these disfigured ghosts up close.
Indeed, people are made through practice.
Zhou Fangdong hadn't intended to pay any attention to the ghost, but it moved and walked up to him.
It was at this moment that Zhou Fangdong noticed the ghost's clothing.
He was wearing a sanitation worker's uniform stained with blood, and judging from his physique, he should be a healthy adult male.
Ghosts that appear to be adult males are rare in the Liwan Apartments; at least Zhou Fangdong hasn't seen many on the first floor.
After all, those who are persecuted in reality are mostly vulnerable groups such as children, women, and the disabled. Most of those who suffer bullying in life and become vengeful ghosts after death are also these kinds of people.
"Is there something you need?" Zhou Fangdong remained calm, since the ghosts in the apartment wouldn't attack him; he could just treat them as randomly spawned NPCs.
The ghost shook its head, but this subconscious action caused its fleshy head to shake like jelly, startling it so much that it quickly covered its head with both hands.
The ghost remained in that position, reached inside its head with both hands, and pulled out something that looked like a card, handing it to Zhou Fangdong.
Zhou Fangdong took it.
This is a card covered in blood, the writing obscured by dark red and black bloodstains, making it impossible to read what is written on it.
Just as Zhou Fangdong received the card, a system task pop-up appeared:
[Beep—Host detected to possess a cleaner's work pass for Liwan Apartments. Side Quest 4 activated.]
Side Quest 4: Repair the garbage collection station at Liwan Apartments
As more and more tenants move in, the amount of waste generated daily at Liwan Apartments is also increasing. To maintain the cleanliness of the apartments and create a tidy and comfortable living environment for tenants, a waste recycling station is essential.
① Locate the original garbage disposal station at Liwan Apartment and assign one person/ghost to manage the garbage disposal station.
②Find and hire the deceased cleaners and put them back on the job (0/5)
③ If there are humans at the waste disposal station, a work code for the waste disposal station needs to be established.
④ Develop a duty roster for cleaners
As the mission pop-up appeared, the card in Zhou Fangdong's hand also changed.
The bloodstains on it quickly faded away, as if time had reversed, and in the blink of an eye, it became brand new.
This is a work permit. At the top, it says "[Liwan Apartment Cleaner]" in large letters, below which is a one-inch photo and the employee's name.
The image in the one-inch photo wasn't human, but rather the afro-haired monster in front of me.
Its name is Qian Duolai.
Looking at the name, Zhou Fangdong nodded approvingly and handed the work permit back to the ghost in front of him: "A very auspicious name, I like it very much. Qian Duolai, would you be willing to accept my offer of employment and become a cleaner at Liwan Apartments again?"
The man with the afro took the work permit with both hands and nodded vigorously.
Without any support, its head finally gave way, and with a splash, it spilled all over the ground, red and white fluids all over the place.
Zhou Fangdong narrowly avoided the danger.
Seeing Qian Duolai squatting on the ground frantically trying to reshape his head, Zhou Fangdong comforted him, "Take your time cleaning up, don't rush. I'll go find a garbage disposal station when I have time, and once everything is ready, I'll let you go back to work."
Zhou Fangdong saw its neck move; it must have been nodding.
Seeing this, he didn't linger any longer and continued walking towards the stairs.
Standing at the top of the stairs, Zhou Fangdong took out the sandalwood memorial tablet with his name on it.
After looking at it for a long time without figuring out how to use it, Zhou Fangdong, unsure of what to do, asked the system directly: "System, how do I use this key that controls the apartment's stairwell?"
A barely perceptible electrical hum passed by, and the system seemed to give a subtle sigh.
Place the memorial tablet on the steps with the pattern of mummified corpses, and light an incense stick in front of the tablet. The staircase will then open/close.
Is there a difference between turning it off and turning it on?
The closed staircase is closed and no one, whether human or ghost, can use it to reach the second floor, and ghosts on the second floor cannot use it to descend.
The staircase is currently damaged. If the staircase is opened, it will move freely at night, catching wandering tenants and repairing itself.
The apartment staircase cannot be opened or closed consecutively; each operation must be spaced 72 hours apart.
Zhou Fangdong fell silent.
What a strange staircase! Does it even hunt for food on its own?
Let's keep him locked up for now, since he doesn't need to go up to the second floor anyway.
Zhou Fangdong put away the memorial tablet and teleported back to his room.
By 5 p.m., the convenience store renovation was finished. With a notification from the system, Zhou Fangdong opened the rental interface and took a look.
The preview interface for room 104 has appeared, with a convenience store thumbnail on the screen.
The original two-bedroom, one-living room, one-bathroom apartment has been completely opened up, leaving only two rooms. One room is used as a convenience store, and the other is used as a warehouse.
The convenience store has a minimalist interior design, mainly in green and white. Although the store is not large, it is fully equipped with a regular snack shelf area, a prepared food area, a beverage area, a frozen and refrigerated area, and a checkout area.
The system is very efficient; it filled all the shelves with goods in such a short time.
His two ghost employees, the long-tongued cashier ghost, were perched on the ceiling above the cash register, while the wedding dress ghost, the stock clerk ghost, was next to the freezer in the freezer section at the farthest point in the room. The two ghosts kept the greatest distance between them.
And at the entrance of the convenience store, there was a chubby pixelated figure peeking out...
Upon seeing the chubby pixelated figure, Zhou Fangdong immediately stood up.
Has Zhao Dawei finished get off work?
To prevent Zhao Dawei from entering the convenience store rashly, Zhou Fangdong directly clicked on the room preview interface and teleported to the door of room 104.
He was initially worried that Zhao Dawei might encounter danger if he entered the convenience store without knowing the store's rules, but when he arrived at the store, he realized that he had been overthinking it.
Unlike ordinary convenience stores that play soft music, Liwan Convenience Store broadcasts its rules on a loop.
It's not very clear in the pixelated rental interface, but it's clearly visible in reality. The convenience store rules are posted on the walls and at the entrance, which are very eye-catching.
[Liwan Apartment Convenience Store]
1. The convenience store has only two employees: a stock clerk and a cashier.
2. Cashiers will only appear at the checkout counter, while stock clerks will be dressed in red wedding gowns and walk between the shelves.
3. Do not talk to convenience store employees.
4. Do not look directly into the cashier's face, and do not show any unusual expressions to the cashier.
5. In the checkout area, it is forbidden to mention the stock clerk.
6. Do not discuss anything related to x's wedding in the convenience store.
7. Do not block the way for the stock clerk. If you see red clothes between the shelves, move away from that shelf and let the stock clerk pass first.
8. If you see two employees in the same area, leave the convenience store as quickly as possible and notify the landlord.
9. Coffins and anything related to weddings are not sold in the convenience store. If you find any such items, please notify the landlord immediately.
10. You don't need to pay when you buy things at convenience stores. Just take the items to the cashier and let the cashier enter them into the account.
11. If a convenience store employee asks you for ghost coins or incense offerings, do not give them to them. The landlord will come and resolve the issue.
Standing at the door, Zhao Dawei saw the rules, but even knowing them, he had no intention of going in. He just stood there curiously watching from the doorway.
He was very timid and would never rashly enter the suddenly appearing store before figuring out what was going on.
Zhao Dawei breathed a sigh of relief after seeing Zhou Fangdong appear out of nowhere in the convenience store.
Just to be on the safe side, Zhao Dawei cautiously asked, "Landlord, do you own this convenience store?"
Zhou Fangdong nodded: "I own it. Liwan Apartments is too far from the city center, making it inconvenient for you to go out and buy food."
"You don't have to spend money to buy things at Liwan Convenience Store. You can come to the convenience store to buy things whenever you need them. As long as you follow the convenience store rules, the employees will not harm you."
Zhao Dawei was completely relieved.
The landlord was so kind; maybe he noticed that the man was reluctant to spend money on food...
Because his salary hadn't arrived, Zhao Dawei dared not spend his money. For the past few days, he had only eaten one meal a day, which was bread and milk without production dates given to him by the furniture store manager.
Over the past few days, Zhao Dawei has noticed that his stomach has shrunk considerably.
But now that there's a convenience store in the Liwan Apartments, he no longer has to worry about food.
“By the way, Mr. Landlord,” Zhao Dawei said to Zhou Fangdong, recalling the strange guest he had encountered at work that day. “I met a very strange guest today. He seemed to be a Taoist master living in a temple. He said I was going to have a bloody disaster.”
Zhao Dawei briefly recounted his experience at work, emphasizing that the customer was very interested in the amulet he was wearing and seemed quite afraid of Liwan Apartments.
After listening to Zhao Dawei's explanation, Zhou Fangdong felt inexplicably guilty.
I have a feeling that Zhao Dawei's sudden bloodshed is related to him.
Zhou Fangdong took a lamp oil from the door of room 101 last night. The changes in room 101 made him feel very uneasy... Could Zhao Dawei be in big trouble because of this?
This middle-aged man has already had a lot of bad luck, and Zhou Fangdong doesn't want him to be seriously injured or die because of him.
Zhou Fangdong opened the system shop and quickly browsed through it, hoping to find some useful items for Zhao Dawei.
He currently has 1,500 ghost coins on him and isn't afraid to spend them.
Zhao Dawei now carries exorcism talismans and peace charms, so he's not afraid of encountering ghosts or monsters; what he fears is encountering some treacherous humans.
Zhou Fangdong saw several newly unlocked items in the online store, including a mobile phone.
This phone looks very similar to the one in his hand; it's practically a copy.
The system previously stated that because the tenant's phone does not belong to the apartment, it cannot provide data to the tenant's phone.
Therefore, as long as the tenants are inside the Liwan Apartment, their mobile phones will be without signal, and they will be unable to contact the outside world or each other. If they encounter danger, it all depends on when Zhou Fangdong notices it.
However, with this phone, the tenant can contact him anytime... and the phone is very cheap, only a little more expensive than the amulet.
Zhou Fangdong used 100 Ghost Coins to buy a mobile phone in the system store, and then used the free data coupon given by Miao Zheng to activate data for the phone.
Zhao Dawei's phone was completely different from his own; it could actually download apps, including common games, which made Zhou Fangdong a little envious.
Although he couldn't bring himself to steal a tenant's phone, he still felt that the system was discriminating against him... Damn it, why can't he download games on his phone?
Zhou Fangdong took out his phone and glanced at it. He found that although his phone screen was still empty, he now had a communication function.
Upon opening it, I found only Zhao Dawei's contact information.
This feature is probably just to make it easier for him to contact tenants who have mobile phones in the mall.
Zhou Fangdong sighed silently and handed the phone to Zhao Dawei.
He explained the phone's functions to Zhao Dawei, saying that with this phone, he could be contacted even if Zhao was in the Liwan Apartment or the furniture store. If the misfortune were to befall him, he could use this phone to ask for help.
Zhao Dawei gratefully accepted it.
He was just wondering how his phone had suddenly ended up in the landlord's hands when, in the blink of an eye, the phone's appearance changed.
It turned out that the landlord had specially modified his phone to take care of him.
Zhao Dawei put his phone away, said goodbye to Zhou Fangdong, and then went to his room.
He still didn't have the courage to go into the convenience store.
Zhao Dawei plans to come back tomorrow. He's off work tomorrow, so he'll wait by the door to see which tenant wants to buy something, and then he'll go in with them.
After watching Zhao Dawei enter room 101, Zhou Fangdong did not return to his own room.
The unexpected attack by a hundred demons ten days earlier than planned has put him under a lot of pressure. He needs to continue cleaning the rooms and try to rent out all the rooms on the first floor as soon as possible.
Currently, of the rooms on the first floor, room 101 is rented to Zhao Dawei, room 102 to Duan Wenyu, room 104 is a convenience store, and room 109 is rented to Miao Zheng.
Of the several connected rooms, only room 103 is still empty. Let's clean room 103 next.
Zhou Fangdong recalled that when he inspected the rooms on the first floor, apart from room 104 with three mummified corpses hanging from the ceiling, room 103 was the most shocking to him.
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