Chapter 1

In the clean, minimalist two-bedroom apartment, piece after piece of large furniture symbolizing a new home was carried into the living room; after unloading the final refrigerator, the mover cautiously wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Young man, you've worked hard; have a glass of water," said the hostess, who was tallying the items, handing him a cup.

The mover thanked her profusely, drained the water in one gulp, and secretly sized up this wealthy family.

There was the slender, sharp, and capable hostess; the slightly overweight yet quite robust host; the fair-skinned, refined son; and the round-faced, smiling, adorable daughter.

What a truly happy family.

Not only were they a standard family, but they were also low-key; living in a house worth six figures per square meter, yet wearing clothes that weren't designer brands, looking just like the 39.9-yuan bargains one buys online.

But nowadays, the wealthy are all low-key; perhaps these ordinary-looking clothes were custom-made by some high-end brand, with a single garment worth a year of his own labor.

How enviable!

After settling the bill, the mover left with a face full of envy.

Once the movers had departed, the sharp and capable hostess, Zhao Rong, used her left hand to fiercely grip her right hand, which wouldn't stop trembling; her voice shook just like her hand as she suddenly lifted her head as if waking from a dream and asked her son, "Huaihuai, this apartment... 160,000 per square meter, over ninety square meters, more than ten million... does it really belong to you?"

The somewhat robust host, Qin Congwen, rubbed his lower back that he had strained just last year, and pressed further, "And that so-called canteen, do we really take it over directly without paying a penny?"

The smiling, adorable daughter, Qin Luo, looked at her phone and exclaimed, "Cleaning services cost 100 yuan an hour?! Brother, let me clean for you; I'll only charge 50!"

The refined son, Qin Huai: "..."

Qin Huai glanced at the exclamation mark in the upper left corner of his vision, nodded affirmatively, and said, "Dad, Mom, that's right; your son has inherited an estate."

The story began a month ago.

Our protagonist with a System, Mr. Qin Huai, was originally an ordinary orphan who had never activated his System; at age ten, he was adopted by the Qin couple, who ran a breakfast shop across from the orphanage and had no children of their own for many years. Later, his parents ordinarily conceived and gave birth to an ordinary younger sister. After an ordinary academic career, he successfully gained admission to an ordinary first-tier university, spent an ordinary college life, returned to his hometown, and began the ox-and-horse life of selling breakfast at the family shop from 5 AM to 9 PM. Then, an ordinary lawyer showed up at the door.

According to the lawyer, Qin Huai's biological parents were an inspiring example of a couple who built a commercial empire from nothing; after years of searching, they finally found the child they had accidentally lost years ago. Alas, fate was unkind and villains were at work; after a series of absurd plots that even business war dramas couldn't conjure, their company went bankrupt. The couple, distracted while driving, suffered a car accident and both perished, leaving Qin Huai an inheritance consisting only of an ordinary, never-occupied two-bedroom apartment located in the Yunzhong Community of Shan City, integrating school districts and commercial zones, quiet amidst the noise, with a market value reaching eight figures, and a community canteen at the community entrance where the contract had already been signed granting five years of contracting rights, fully renovated and awaiting opening.

Simply put, two years after graduating with a bachelor's degree, through his own hard work and the inheritance he received—

Qin Huai had achieved financial freedom!

"Brother, why did you inherit that so-called community canteen? Didn't you say selling breakfast was the most exhausting thing, and that once you had money in the future, you'd definitely change our family's breakfast shop into a dim sum shop?"

Zhao Rong and Qin Congwen felt that the hourly cleaning workers online were too expensive and preferred to clean themselves; finding Qin Huai and his sister Qin Luo underfoot in the house, they kicked the two out to find something to do, leaving the siblings no choice but to go to the convenience store opposite the community, buy two drinks, and sit there enjoying the air conditioning.

"It doesn't cost anything; the five-year contracting fee has already been paid, the over six million in renovation costs have been settled, all channels are secured, and even the store manager is ready to go. How is this different from those novels you secretly read every night where a female lead transmigrates into an apocalypse and the System gives her a small shop to run? Since it's part of the inheritance anyway, it would be foolish not to take it," Qin Huai said.

Qin Luo threw Qin Huai a look that said, "Keep lying; that kind of nonsense might fool Mom and Dad, but don't think you can fool your intelligent and clever sister," then buried her head in her drink and said nothing.

In reality, Qin Huai was indeed lying.

A community canteen, a project that sounded purely charitable and had nothing to do with making money, was something Qin Huai would absolutely never touch, even if it were free.

But this was not the case—

He had a System.

Qin Huai tapped the exclamation mark in the upper left corner of his vision into the void.

Player Name: Qin Huai

Unlocked Catalog: 0/12

Skills:

Dough Leavening (Intermediate): Your dough leavening technique has defeated 99% of breakfast shop masters nationwide. (0/10000)

Filling Preparation (Advanced): Your filling preparation level has defeated 100% of breakfast shop masters nationwide. (0/100000)

Finger Technique (Beginner): You completely fail to shape your pastries. (0/1000) Oil Station (Intermediate): The fried dough sticks you make are quite good. (0/10000)

Knife Work (Beginner): Home-cook level. (0/1000)

Heat Control (Beginner): Won't kill anyone with poison. (0/1000)

Dish Tasting (Advanced): Fine, you are quite good at eating. (Non-upgradable)

Management (Intermediate): Fairly good at business; won't lose money. (0/10000)

Lying (Master Level): Speaking human language to humans and ghost language to ghosts—that's you! (0/1000000)

Main Quests: (Optional)

1. [Canteen Opening]: As a qualified protagonist, perfectly accepting sudden windfalls is your basic quality, not to mention that this community canteen is the inheritance left by your biological parents. Please take over the Yunzhong Canteen and ensure it opens successfully!

Quest Reward: Popularity Traffic +100 [Select: Yes/No]

2. [Inheriting the Family Business]: As a qualified protagonist, perfectly inheriting the family business is your basic quality, not to mention that more than half of this business's reputation was earned by you personally. Please inherit the Qin Family Breakfast Shop, seize sole control, and succeed in taking the throne!

Quest Reward: Popularity Traffic +100 [Select: Yes/No]

Side Quests:

1. [Chen Huihong's Troubles]: As an outstanding neighborhood committee auntie, Chen Huihong has stuck to her post for many years, working diligently and taking joy in helping others. However, few realize that the enthusiastic Auntie Chen also needs help from others. Chen Huihong's daughter attends the First Experimental Primary School, which will hold a Parent-Child Cooking Day event on June 27. Chen Huihong has practiced kneading dough and chopping fillings for three months, yet the dumplings she makes are so bad that even the family dog shakes its head at them. Please help Chen Huihong shine at the Parent-Child Cooking Day and bring honor to her daughter.

Quest Reward: Title: [Chen Huihong's Approval], Popularity Traffic +100 [Select: Yes/No]

Side Quests: None (Activates after selecting a Main Quest)

Achievements: None

Titles: None

Items: None

Evaluation: A novice just starting out

Game Instructions:

1. This game has extremely high freedom; players must explore on their own.

2. This game will not interfere with any player choices; players must strive to unlock the catalog.

3. All interpretations belong to the game.

With the System issuing so many quests right off the bat, Qin Huai felt that not staying would be a disservice to the System's stingy rewards.

Facing Qin Huai's strange behavior, Qin Luo, used to it, pursed her lips and complained loudly, "Brother, do you still think I'm a three-year-old? Do you really think I'll believe, like I did when I was little, that there's a red exclamation mark in the upper right corner of your vision that shows 'Game Loading' when clicked? You couldn't even make up a complete story; you made me run around the kindergarten boasting to my classmates that my brother has a System. Grandma still remembers that incident. Why don't you just say you decided to inherit the community canteen because the System issued a quest to you the moment you walked inside?"

Qin Huai nodded with a serious expression: "That's right, you've discovered it; there's no need to hide it from you anymore. Originally, the System wasn't activated, but unexpectedly, the moment I walked into that Yunzhong Canteen, it activated and issued two main quests: either return home to inherit the breakfast shop or stay here to take over the canteen. Luo, you know me; I love a challenge, so of course I'm staying here to take over the canteen."

Selling breakfast requires getting up at 5 AM every day; it's truly not work for humans.

Qin Luo: ……

Furious, Qin Luo grabbed the ice-cold cola that Qin Huai hadn't taken a single sip of and gulped the entire thing down in one go.

After Qin Luo finished drinking, Qin Huai considerately advised, "Drink less; we're about to eat. Mom just messaged me, telling me to find an expensive restaurant to treat Ouyang and Sister Hong to a good meal. They've helped us a lot these past few days. If you fill up on so much now, where will you have room for dinner?"

A burp stuck in Qin Luo's throat, unable to be released yet impossible to suppress: ……

〒_〒

Big brothers are the worst!

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