Chapter 3

After carefully examining the not complicated control panel three times, Yuan Zhou had a clear idea in his mind. He glanced at the night sky outside the glass window and then looked at the time on his phone, which read 20:49.

Although it was so late, Yuan Zhou, unable to contain his excitement, began to think about the task.

"Having a shop of my own, the shop downstairs is already mine, both legally and in reality, but why is the task status still incomplete?" Yuan Zhou mused, tapping his fingers lightly on the bedside table.

The system displayed: "To own a shop that can operate and belongs to the host."

With this, Yuan Zhou understood the standard of the task. He got up and started rummaging through the wardrobe.

He pulled out a piece of clothing, then pushed it back, and pulled out another. After a few minutes of searching, he finally found a piece of clothing specifically for cleaning.

Holding the clothes, Yuan Zhou was lost in thought for a moment.

The clothes were a stain-resistant dark blue, made of pure cotton, comfortable to wear, and easy to wash. It looked like an ordinary T-shirt, but it had the words "Yuan Zhou Noodle Shop" printed all over it.

This piece of clothing was what his parents used to wear during the summer when they were alive, or it was a cultural shirt bought at a stall during a family trip, and then printed with the words.

As for the two pieces his parents wore, Yuan Zhou had already burned them and buried them with the graves.

After changing into the clothes in a few quick movements, Yuan Zhou thought for a moment and put on a baseball cap. He took a towel from the bathroom and, wearing slippers, went downstairs.

"Click"

He flipped the dusty switch on the wall, and several fluorescent tubes lit up brightly.

The first floor was still as dirty and messy as before, even the imprint of his fall was still there, a clear silhouette on the yellow tiles.

The thirty-square-meter space was divided into a kitchen and a dining area, with a one-meter-wide door directly opposite the entrance. Six long red tables were placed in the dining area, each with four chairs, but they were now scattered and knocked over by the distraught Yuan Zhou.

"Creak"

Yuan Zhou pushed a few tables, and they all made unpleasant noises, with one of them falling over with a "thud."

"It seems none of them can be used," Yuan Zhou shook his head and examined the chairs more closely.

He found that only the one he had sat on was relatively intact, but it was also a bit wobbly after the fall, and all of them needed to be replaced.

The wallpaper on the walls had peeled off, and the kitchen was filled with the old noodle shop's equipment, including a double-burner gas stove, which made a "hiss" when slightly touched, and a noodle-cooking pot, which might be broken but was not intended to be used anyway, as he neither knew nor wanted to run a noodle shop.

As night fell and the stars twinkled,

At exactly 9:00 PM, various "clattering" sounds came from the former Yuan Zhou Noodle Shop. Passersby who occasionally walked by would look curiously at the sounds coming from the shop without a sign.

Three and a half hours later, Yuan Zhou was covered in dust, with dirt patches on his face, spider webs on his cap, and a towel that had lost its original color. His feet, visible through his slippers, were covered in a layer of black grime.

In this state, he stood at the stairwell, a self-satisfied smile on his face, having saved the cost of hiring a cleaner.

Looking at the clean dining area and kitchen, ignoring the piles of garbage at the door, the small shop was starting to take shape.

He threw the white towel, now unrecognizable, into the garbage bag.

"Ouch, my old back from 1992."

Stretching lazily, Yuan Zhou went upstairs, his first task being to wash up in the bathroom, as he dared not enter his room in this state.

Half an hour later,

With water dripping from his hair, Yuan Zhou sat in a chair, pulling out a piece of paper to start listing the tasks for the next day.

One hand slowly tapped the table, while the other wrote diligently...

After planning the tasks for the next day, without bothering to dry his hair, he fell into bed and went to sleep, not even covering himself with a thin blanket, and soon fell into a deep sleep.

In April, the weather in Rongcheng was just right, neither cold nor hot, perfect for a good night's sleep.

The answer to the riddle "What is the first thing you do when you wake up?" is "open your eyes," but clearly, this was not the case for Yuan Zhou.

With his eyes still closed, he accurately felt his way to the toilet, finished his business, and then fell back into bed with a "thud," continuing to sleep without opening his eyes the entire time.

He had barely lain on the bed for a minute when Yuan Zhou suddenly opened his eyes, as if a spring had been pressed in his back, and he jumped up, "System!"

The system did not respond.

Seeing that the task status in his mind was still incomplete, Yuan Zhou finally confirmed that this was not a dream.

In a good mood, he started washing up to complete the tasks he had planned the night before.

Standing in front of the main door, he took a deep breath and forcefully opened it, the sound startling Mr. Tong, the owner of the dry cleaner next door.

"Ah, it's Yuan Zhou, are you going out?"

Mr. Tong's shop was the best business on the street, as everyone had a few nice clothes that they sent to the dry cleaner. Seeing Yuan Zhou open the door was quite a surprise, as it had been three years since it was last opened.

"Aunt Tong, good morning." Yuan Zhou, who was admiring his work from the night before, was interrupted by Mr. Tong's voice.

"Oh, you're cleaning up the shop? Are you planning to open it? Aunt Tong will definitely come to try your food when you do." Mr. Tong walked out of his shop, looked at the garbage piled by the door and the clean floor, and asked kindly.

"Yes, thank you, Aunt Tong. By the way, does the garbage collector still come every day?" Yuan Zhou thought about the many pieces of scrap metal that could be reused.

After all, reopening the shop would require a lot of money, and he only had the untouched 50,000 yuan in savings. Even a small amount of money was valuable, and it saved him the trouble of disposing of the garbage.

"Yes, yes, are you selling it? The person will be here soon, I'll call you when they arrive." Mr. Tong said enthusiastically.

"Thank you, Aunt Tong. I'll go find someone to fix the wallpaper and the kitchen." Yuan Zhou smiled gratefully and then closed the door and left.

...

"Boss, how much for this clothing?"

Mr. Tong, who was still in a daze, immediately responded and returned to his shop when he heard a customer.

Yuan Zhou, who hadn't walked down this street in a long time, observed as he walked. Many of the shops were no longer the same as before, and several were under renovation, with new owners.

Only he, Aunt Tong next door, a hardware store, and an anime merchandise shop remained.

"Hey, a hardware store..." Thinking for a moment, Yuan Zhou entered the hardware store.

"Boss Zhao, are you there?" Yuan Zhou called out as he entered.

The hardware store hadn't changed much, with the items still in place, as if they hadn't been moved.

PS: Today, I received my first comment, first tip, and first recommendation. I'm very happy, thank you, Hai Xiang. I will update two chapters every day from now on. Thank you~~~

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