Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Cleaning

After carefully looking over the not very complicated screen three times, Yuan Zhou understood . Seeing the night view outside the window, he once again glanced at the time on his phone that read 20:49 .

Although it was already this late, Yuan Zhou couldn’t help but excitedly start thinking about the mission .

“To own my own store; The store downstairs currently already belongs to me, whether it be legally or in reality, but why is the mission state still uncompleted?” Yuan Zhou pondered while lightly tapping his bedside table .

Could it be that it’s because he hasn’t hung up a signboard, or hasn’t opened it for business?

Seeing that the system still hadn’t responded, Yuan Zhou asked it directly, “What sort of conditions do I have to fulfill for it to be considered my own store?”

System: “Possess a store belonging to the host that is capable to do business . ”

With this, Yuan Zhou understood the conditions for the mission . He got up and started rummaging through his wardrobe .

He pulled one piece out to look at before stuffing it back in, then pulled out another one . After searching for a few minutes, he finally found an outfit suitable for him to use for cleaning .

Holding those clothes, Yuan Zhou became lost in thought .

The clothes were a durable navy color, made of pure cotton, and were very comfortable . It was easy to wash and looked like an ordinary T-shirt, but there was a design on the front with the words ‘Yuan Zhou Noodle House’ .

[T/N: homonym of the MC’s name, but written with different characters, meaning ‘circumference’ . ]

These clothes were what his parents wore in the summer when they worked, back when they were still alive . Once when the family of three were heading out to play to celebrate the New Year, they even had it printed by a vendor’s booth with shirt printing .

As for his parent’s two shirts, Yuan Zhou had already burned and buried them with his parents at the cemetery .

Quickly changing into the shirt, Yuan Zhou thought for a moment before putting on a cap . He retrieved a towel from the bathroom, slipped on a pair of slippers, and then headed downstairs .

*Click*

Flipping on the dust-covered switch on the wall, and a few fluorescent lights started emitting bright light .

The first floor remained just as messy, even the traces of him slipping earlier was still there, the distinct imprint of a human’s side lay prominently on the yellow ceramic tiles .

A total area of 30m², with the kitchen and dining hall separated by a one meter wide door that was positioned directly opposite the main entrance . The hall was arranged with six red tables, each table accompanied by four chairs . However, they were not in their original positions right now, they were scattered around after being broken during Yuan Zhou’s rampage back then .

*Creak*

Yuan Zhou pushed out several tables, they made unpleasant sounds, and there was even one that collapsed onto the ground with a bang .

“Seems like they’re all unusable . ” Yuan Zhou shook his head, then took a careful look at the chairs .

As expected, he discovered that only the one he used to sit on was considerably intact, but because it fell forward before, it was now a little shaky, they all have to be changed .

The wallpapers on the walls all came off as well . The kitchen’s appliances were all used for the noodle shop, a pair of gas stoves whose rings broke from the light tap . There was also a pot for cooking noodles, it was unknown whether it was broken or not, but he didn’t intend to put it to use either since he didn’t know how to cook or operate a noodle stall .

As night fell, stars emerged .

At nine o’clock at night, in the round interior of Yuan Zhou Noodle House, all kinds of creaking and rattling could be heard . Occasionally, pedestrians who were walking by heard the noise and would give it a baffled glance because this shop which didn’t even have a signboard had sounds coming from the inside .

Three and a half hours later, Yuan Zhou’s whole body was covered in dust as he faced the dirty walls on the east and west side . His hat had a spiderweb on it . The original color of the towel he held could no longer be made out, and there was a layer of black dust on the sole of his slippers .

Towards this appearance, his face showed a contented smile while standing at the top of the stairs . He had saved the money for inviting a cleaner .

Looking outside of the clean kitchen and lobby, and of course also ignoring the garbage piled up at the doorway, this shop already bore the appearance of a small store .

Grabbing onto the towel that was originally white at first, he threw it into the garbage pile with a “bang” .

“Ouch, my year ‘92 old back . ”

Stretching his body, Yuan Zhou went upstairs . The first thing he needed to do was go to the bathroom and get cleaned . He did not dare enter his own room in his current state .

Half an hour later .

Yuan Zhou’s hair was dripping wet as he sat down on a chair . Then he pulled out a sheet of paper and began to write down what he needed to do tomorrow .

One hand slowly tapped on the table, while the other was used to seriously write…

Making plans for tomorrow’s matters, he fell down on the bed while disregarding his still wet hair and began to sleep . He didn’t even cover himself with the thin quilt before going to dream land .

In April, living in Lotus City, the weather happened to be neither hot nor cold, it was the perfect time to sleep .

They say when the brain experiences a sudden change, what is the first thing to do when waking up? The answer is opening the eyes, but for Yuan Zhou it wasn’t like this .

With his eyes closed he was able to accurately move to the bathroom and do his business . After relieving himself he fell back on his bed with a “bang” and continued to sleep . For the whole journey from beginning to the end he never opened his eyes .

Not even lying down for a minute Yuan Zhou opened his eyes . Jumping up from the bed like a spring, and called for the “system!” .

The system showed a response .

After seeing the mission status was still uncomplete in his head, Yuan Zhou finally ascertained that it wasn’t a dream .

In a good mood, Yuan Zhou washed up and prepared to complete the tasks he had planned out last night .

Standing at the front door, he took a deep breath and pushed open the doors with his strength . The sound of this scared Boss Tong from the dry cleaning store next door .

“Ah, it’s Yuan Zhou, are you going out?”

Boss Tong was the one who owned the shop with the best business on this street . After all, everyone has a few good clothes that they couldn’t wash well themselves and would send them to the dry cleaners . She still had a bit of surprise seeing Yuan Zhou opening the doors now . After all, they had never been opened since the store closed down, and this would be the first time in three years .

“Auntie Tong, good morning . ” Yuan Zhou had been looking at the results of his work last night in satisfaction, but was interrupted by Boss Tong’s voice .

“Oh, you’re fixing up the store? Are you getting ready to open up business? Then Auntie Tong might need to come try the dishes you’ve made when the time comes . ” Boss Tong came out from her own store,

“Mn, thank you then Auntie Tong . By the way, do the rubbish retrievers still come every day?” Yuan Zhou recalled that there was a lot of scrap iron inside that could be recycled .

The store needing to buy items for reopening also expended a lot of money, and he didn’t have any other savings apart from the fifty thousand he hadn’t yet touched . Even the tiniest mosquito could provide nourishment . Furthermore, that would help him avoid the hard labor of throwing away the trash himself .

“Yes, they do . Are you selling this? It’ll still be a while before they come, I’ll give you a shout when they do . ” Boss Tong said warm-heartedly .

“Then I’ll trouble you to do so, Auntie Tong . I’ll first look for someone to fix up the this wallpaper and the kitchen . ” Yuan Zhou gave a grateful smile, and said one final line before leaving .

……

“Boss, how much will cleaning this outfit cost?”

Once the lamenting Boss Tong heard that she had business, she promptly replied and returned to her own store .

Since it had been a while since he walked along this street, he walked while observing . Many of the stores on this street had already changed to different occupants than those from the past . A few of the shops were also undergoing renovation, or had even changed owners .

The only ones remaining were himself, Auntie Tong from next door, a general hardware store, and an anime and manga store in the corner .

“Oh, hardware store…” After thinking a bit, Yuan Zhou visited the hardware store .

“Boss Zhao, are you here?” He said, entering the store .

The hardware store hadn’t changed much, things were still arranged the way they were before, like nothing had moved .