Doomsday B&B

That afternoon, it took another three hours for the Thunder Squad and Qi Yun to return to the guesthouse. After returning, they went their separate ways, and Qi Yun went straight to her courtyard to rest without looking back.

Around 4 p.m., Qi Yun got out of her big bed, washed up, changed into a fresh and natural ankle-length dress, braided a few small braids, and then went out to the convenience store.

Inside the convenience store, Tong Yuanyuan was sitting at the counter. In front of her were a cutting board, a fruit knife, a large pile of fruit, and a stack of boxes. She was carefully sorting the washed and cut fruit, packing a small amount of each type of fruit available in the store into each box. Beside her, Qi Huan was helping her bag and pack the boxed fruit.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

The two people, still diligently working, looked up, saw Qi Yun, and spoke in unison:

"Wow! Yunyun, you're back! Did you have fun?" This is Tong Yuanyuan.

"Hello, boss." This is Qi Huan.

"Hello."

"Yes, I'm back. Yuanyuan, you still haven't answered me. What are you and Qihuan doing?"

"I'm making a fruit box for myself. Look, I wash and cut each kind of fruit to the right size, and then put them in a box. When I want to eat one, I just take it out. It's nutritious and convenient. Of course, the main reason is that I'm lazy. Making a fruit box like this means I won't have to wash and cut fruit for a long time, and I won't have to worry about getting my clothes dirty when I eat fruit."

"You're quite clever. I think you could also make some breakfast boxes, dinner boxes, or something. Wouldn't that be even more convenient? Each one would come with something delicious and a drink. Wouldn't that be great?"

"Oh dear, Yunyun, you're right, but I don't have any suitable boxes. Yunyun, can you help me? Can you get me some boxes? Please, please?" As she spoke, Tong Yuanyuan got off the chair she was sitting on, came to Qiyun's side, and shook Qiyun's arm as she spoke.

"Let me think about it?" Qi Yun glanced sideways at the coquettish Tong Yuanyuan.

"Good Yunyun, promise me, okay? Please? Hmm?" He even fawned over her, picking up a piece of fruit with a toothpick and feeding it to Qiyun's mouth.

"Since you're so sincere, I'll agree! You decide what size you want, and I'll get it for you."

"Great, thank you Yunyun, I'll calculate it right away, haha." With that, she ran out without even looking at the pile of fruit.

Qi Yun pulled her back:

"What's the rush? I'm not leaving anytime soon. You should pack up this mess first."

"Yes, ma'am." Then Tong Yuanyuan started preparing her fruit again.

After Qi Yun finished speaking with Tong Yuanyuan, she went behind the counter. Kong Yunhua was calculating bills for customers. After the last customer left, Kong Yunhua turned around and asked Qi Yun, who was sitting in front of the computer:

"Hi boss."

"Hello, how have you been these past few days? Are you settling in well?"

"Thank you for your concern, boss. We've adapted very well. If it weren't for your guesthouse, we don't know if we'd even be alive right now."

"You'll get used to it. You two are both here. Where's the child?"

"Boss, I'm so sorry, we left the kids in the staff break room. We'll check on them when we have time. But don't worry, the kids are well-behaved and haven't done anything to damage the break room."

"Is that all? No need to apologize, it's alright. But what you said reminded me that right now, it's fine to leave your two kids anywhere, but if you have more kids, they won't have anywhere to play or stay. I'll think about it when I get back and add a children's corner to the store, so the kids can play together. Is there anything else about the store?"

"Thank you, boss! It's nothing serious, it's just that all the courtyards are rented out now, and quite a few customers have arrived but there are no rooms available, so they've all stayed near the guesthouse, waiting for you to come back."

"Oh, I almost forgot. I can handle this right away. Do you know where they live? Would it be convenient to notify them?"

“They all live in tents set up behind our guesthouse, against the fence. I didn’t let them live in the front because it was affecting our business too much.”

"Okay, take these number plates. I'll trouble you to go and distribute them to them in a bit. If it's an individual, give them one individually. If it's a family or a team, give one to each family or team. Also, please record how many people are in each group."

"Okay, boss, I'll go right away. There's no one in the store right now."

"Okay, go ahead then. It's fine if someone's there. I'll keep an eye on this. There are a hundred brands. Is that enough?"

"It should be about right. I'll go send it out and see."

"Okay, go ahead."

"Okay, boss, I'm going now." With that, Kong Yunhua stepped out from behind the counter and headed out of the convenience store. He hesitated slightly as he passed the shopping baskets, but still grabbed one.

Kong Yunhua arrived at the back of the guesthouse. Some people saw him and came up to greet him.

"Brother Kong is here. What can I do for you?"

"It's nothing, our boss is back. I'm here to give the order. Could you please call everyone for me?"

"Brother Kong, could you tell me what this is about?" the person asked nervously, afraid that the boss would return and leave them and their group without a place to stay.

"Don't worry, it's good news! Just go and hand them over," Kong Yunhua said with a smile.

"Okay, I'm relieved that it's good news. I'll go get some people now." With that, he quickly walked towards the tent.

Kong Yunhua waited for about 5 minutes, and quite a few people arrived one after another. A little while later, the person who had given the notification also arrived.

"Brother Kong, everyone's here, you can notify them now." Then he stood aside.

Kong Yunhua looked around, found a slightly higher spot, and stood on it.

"Now, everyone listen to me. Our boss is back. From now on, either as a family or as a team, each person will be a separate unit. One person from each unit will come forward, and the rest of you will step back. You have 10 minutes to discuss this. No time will be served after that." After saying this, he stood there without caring about the chaos around him, glanced at his watch, and then fell silent.

Taking advantage of the chaos, the person who made the notification ran to Kong Yunhua's side again:

"Brother Kong, hello. My name is Zhao Zhiwen. I used to sell insurance, but now I'm all alone. My neighbor saw that I was all alone and brought me here. I came to ask if the boss is still hiring. With so many people here, you and your wife must be too busy. Could you please ask him if you can find someone, even a temporary worker would be fine?"

Kong Yunhua looked up at the person beside him. Although the man looked exhausted, his overall demeanor was quite good, and he seemed capable and shrewd. Kong Yunhua felt that if the boss needed someone, he was very likely to hire him, so he spoke up:

"Let's do this in a bit. You help me finish this while I'm at it, and then I'll take you to ask the boss."

"Okay, thank you, Brother Kong." Zhao Zhiwen was so happy he didn't know what to say.

"Alright, time's almost up. Here, take this shopping basket."

"Alright, Brother Kong."

Kong Yunhua glanced at his watch and called out:

"Alright, time's up. Is everyone ready?"

"All right."

"OK OK."

After Kong Yunhua finished asking the question, a few scattered replies came from the other side.

"Ready? Line up, 10 people per line, hurry up."

"Zhao Wenzhi, right?"

"Yes. Brother Kong."

"Go and help them line up quickly."

"Okay, Brother Kong, I'll go right away." After saying that, he walked into the crowd, and about 5 minutes later, Zhao Wenzhi returned.

"Brother Kong, the queue is already formed."

"Okay. You stand over there for now." Without waiting for Zhao Wenzhi's reply, he said to the others:

"From now on, no matter what I say, you just need to listen to me. Our boss is back now, so we can arrange courtyards for you. I have number tags here, and I'll shuffle them. Each representative will come and take one, and we'll arrange the assignments according to the number tags. Okay, wait a moment. When I say 'start,' you'll move forward in a serpentine pattern, starting with the person in the first row on my left, and draw a number from here. Understand?"

"Understood!" This time everyone answered with extra enthusiasm. Kong Wenhua then began counting, collecting the extra number plates, placing the rest face down in the shopping basket in Zhao Wenzhi's hand, and after preparing, spoke again:

"Alright, come over here, the first row of the first line on my left."

"Here I am." The person whose name was called answered excitedly, then took three steps at a time to walk up to Zhao Wenzhi, stretched out his hand, and tremblingly took a number plate. He didn't even dare to look at it before running away.

Then one by one, people came up and took their own number plates. Although their behavior was very different, they were all for the same purpose.

"Alright, now keep your number plates safe. I have a piece of advice for you: never try to take advantage of someone just because their number is near the front, or you won't be allowed into the guesthouse again." With that, he turned and left, ignoring what was happening below. Zhao Wenzhi followed Kong Wenhua into the convenience store.

"Boss, we've finished distributing the number plates. A total of 95 have been issued."

"Okay, I got it. Go and call two people over, and have Sister Qi Huan come over to our house. After work, you two will each be responsible for one points redemption machine and one self-service check-in machine. Remember to make sure the people you call are quick learners, otherwise it will be too much of a hassle."

"Okay, boss. I'll tell Qi Huan to come over. Oh, and this is Zhao Wenzhi. He said he's looking for a job. He's quite clever, so he came with me to ask if you're still hiring."

"Oh? Then let him stay here for now. Let him go and inform the people. You and Sister Qi Huan can wait in the shop."

"Okay, thank you, boss." Without waiting for Kong Wenhua to say anything, Zhao Wenzhi spoke with delight, bowed to Qi Yun, and then ran off quickly.

Qi Yun glanced at Kong Wenhua and said:

"Hey, you're really quick-witted, Brother Kong. I'll be behind the counter. After you call Sister Qi Huan, just stand next to the two machines. Get busy for a bit, and I'll treat you to dinner later."

"Okay." With that, Kong Wenhua went to Qi Huan's side by the bar and told her what he needed to do. The two of them then stood next to the machines.