Chapter 4: City Godly Tycoon System (4)

It was rare to be home early and able to have dinner with her daughter, so Xie Shuling wanted to cook a few dishes she usually didn't have time to make when rushing to work.

Thus, she took a pack of hairtail fillets she had stockpiled before the fishing ban, a half-jin bag of Salt field shrimp, and a pack of Chinese sausage her parents' home had stuffed themselves during the New Year from the freezer.

"Yang Yang, do you want the hairtail braised or steamed?"

As for the sausage, it was, of course, to be steamed.

Xie Yang: "Steamed, I guess."

Steaming is less trouble.

On such a hot day, squeezing into a three-square-meter kitchen to start an oil pan and fry fish—just thinking about it made her feel hot.

"Then we'll have it steamed with scallion oil."

Having received her daughter's answer, Xie Shuling was in an excellent mood; she didn't feel the heat at all and began to busy herself in the cramped kitchen.

That evening, the mother and daughter sat together for a dinner that was truly quite sumptuous:

Scallion oil hairtail, salt and pepper shrimp, cold tossed cucumber with beef, and sausage claypot rice.

They both ate until they were rubbing their bellies and burping.

"Mom is going down to take out the trash and pick up a package while I'm at it. Do you want to go down for a walk?"

After washing the dishes and cleaning the kitchen, Xie Shuling tied the bag of food waste shut, preparing to head downstairs.

Her daughter's birthday was coming up soon, and she had ordered a dress from an online shop a few days ago; she had received the pickup notification yesterday but hadn't gone to get it yet.

Since she was home early today, it was the perfect time to throw out the trash and go pick it up.

Xie Yang shook her head: "I still have things to do, so I won't go."

Xie Shuling didn't feel disappointed; she was already very happy that her daughter had spoken so much to her today, so if she didn't want to go for a walk, then she wouldn't.

Xie Yang waited for her to leave, returned to her room to change into a short-sleeved T-shirt, and then headed out slowly, carrying a broom to sweep the hallway floor by floor, starting from the rooftop.

Unit 501 across the hall was rented by a few college students; they didn't cross paths often, and at this moment, it was guarded by an "iron general"—the security door was tightly shut.

The two households on the fourth floor had their doors wide open; the weather was muggy, so they were airing out their homes.

401 was a family of three; the hostess was squatting at the doorway shelling edamame, while the host was tutoring their elementary school-aged child with homework.

402 was where Bai Xuanxuan's family lived.

The Bai family had moved here seven years ago; it was said they had lost their own home due to a failed business venture.

After renting here, Father Bai still dreamed of a comeback, but unfortunately, housing prices had changed every year, rising faster than a roller coaster. Father Bai's burning ambition had been worn away until it vanished; not only had he failed to break even or earn back the lost family assets, but he couldn't even find a stable job and was now driving for a ride-hailing app.

Bai Mu hadn't worked since she got married.

Before moving here, the family hadn't been short of the little salary she might have earned.

After moving here, she had unexpectedly given birth to a second child at an advanced age.

The second child, a son, would be starting elementary school in the second half of the year and was at his most mischievous age; to keep him from causing trouble at home, she had spent the whole day taking him to an amusement park.

They had just arrived home at this hour; Father Bai had gone to give him a bath, and Bai Mu was cooking while holding her aching lower back when she heard the sound of sweeping coming from the hallway and curiously poked her head out.

"Eh? Isn't that Yang Yang? Why are you sweeping the hallway?"

Xie Yang responded lazily: "Mm."

"..."

What was that "mm" supposed to mean?

Why didn't she explain why she was sweeping the hallway?

This old residential complex had no property management; if there was an issue, they had to find the community office to resolve it.

Dirty hallways, stagnant water on the rooftop, piles of cigarette butts in the green belts, and so on were all cleaned and swept by volunteers sent by the community on a regular basis.

The residents in the building, however, kept their doors closed and only cared about their own affairs, at most sweeping the one-square-meter area right in front of their own doors.

As for the stairs and the rooftop, those public areas were absolutely none of their concern. They felt tired enough just from going to work; why would they have the spare time to do charity work?

Therefore, seeing a neighbor in the building—especially the legendary selfish slacker Xie Yang, who supposedly lived off her parents—actually holding a broom and sweeping the hallway was incredibly rare, wasn't it!

Bai Mu felt disdain in her heart but smiled brightly on the surface: "Yang Yang is truly diligent, willing to help us sweep the hallway. Unlike our Xuanxuan, who doesn't even come home on Saturdays; I don't know if she's working overtime at the office or out shopping with some girlfriends."

This one sentence hit two of Xie Yang's sore spots:

First, her daughter had a job, and a Formal Worker position at the neighborhood office at that;

Second, her daughter had girlfriends and good friends, unlike Xie Yang, who didn't even have a single friend—and if she did, they were just online scammers out to cheat her of money and affection.

Xie Yang raised an eyebrow: The love-struck Bai Xuanxuan? She must have run off on a date, right?

Seeing Xie Yang pass by her without a word to continue sweeping the stairs, Bai Mu felt it was boring, curled her lips, and went back inside to cook.

Every time Xie Yang finished a floor, she used a dustpan to collect the dust, paper scraps, and cigarette butts she had swept together; by the time she filled a dustpan, she had reached the first or second floor.

Wang Jiaqi opened her door carrying trash and saw Xie Yang sweeping the hallway; she froze for a moment and called out softly in disbelief: "Yang Yang?"

Xie Yang nodded toward her.

Wang Jiaqi hissed inwardly: It really is Xie Yang? I didn't recognize her wrong! Oh my goodness! Why is she sweeping the hallway without a sound?

Recalling the wailing that had come from the fifth floor around four o'clock, it sounded exactly like Sister Shuling crying.

Could it be that Sister Shuling caught her daughter doing something bad, and the mother and daughter had an argument or a fight? And this time, Sister Shuling decided not to indulge this girl anymore and hardened her heart to confiscate her phone?

Once an internet-addicted youth is without a phone, they have nothing to do but sweep the hallway, right?

Wait! Why would someone sweep the hallway just because they have nothing to do?

If it were her, even if her head were caught in a door, she wouldn't sweep the hallway; it wasn't her hallway, after all.

It's a public area; you'd have to be bored out of your mind to sweep it.

No! If she were bored out of her mind, she'd rather sleep than sweep the hallway!

Wang Jiaqi was completely baffled by Xie Yang's act of sweeping the hallway and finally concluded:

It was most likely done for Sister Shuling to see! Pretending to be pitiful and begging for sympathy, all for the purpose of getting her phone back.

At this moment, Wang Jiaqi felt she had seen the truth.

Xie Yang finished sweeping the hallway of her own Unit Building, then continued to sweep the hallways of the east and middle units next door.

After a full round of sweeping, almost every Unit Building had residents discussing her unusual behavior:

"Who was that person just now? A community volunteer? Or a cleaner hired by our residential quarter?"

"Our residential quarter doesn't even have property management, where would a cleaner come from? Even if there were one, it would be a volunteer sent by the community."

"I heard a few days ago that the community is preparing for an inspection; it's probably a temporary cleaner hired for the inspection."

"That couldn't possibly be Xie Yang."

"You know her?"

"You don't know her? She's that spendthrift from Unit 502 in the west building who got scammed in an online romance and took out online loans to top up games! I went to watch when the police came to her door that day; her mother is truly pitiful to be saddled with such a troublesome daughter."

"Ah? So it's her! Why did she think to sweep the hallway? Could it be that she's looking for a door left open with no one inside so she can sneak in and steal?"

"Oh my! Now that you mention it, it really is possible! Isn't that how thieves scout for targets? No, no, I have to go report this to the community. When will it be our residential quarter's turn to have an Elevator installed and unit access control added? The way it is now, I have no sense of security."

"I'm off tomorrow and will be home, I'll go with you."

"I'm going too!"

Xie Yang was completely unaware that her act of sweeping the hallways had caused a panic among a group of people, who were even planning to team up overnight to report her unusual behavior to the community.

She leisurely finished sweeping the stairs and hallways of the entire building, carried her broom and dustpan back home, and listened all the way as the Shenhao System broadcasted happily:

【Ding! Congratulations to the Host for completing the hallway cleaning Task, reward: one dilapidated old building in Wanhua Residential Quarter! The property deed will be delivered to the Host through normal channels.】

【Ding! In view of the Host's excellent performance in completing the Task more than 10 hours ahead of schedule, an additional reward of one Shengshi Taoyuan Villa is granted to the Host.】

Hearing the second reward announcement, Xie Yang was delighted: "This is the correct way to open the Shenhao System! Student Xiao Hao is making progress!"

The Shenhao System lifted its cheerful little face: 【Really? Thank you for your affirmation, Host! I will continue to work hard!】

Main System: 【...】

A Sub-system as pure as a blank sheet of paper meeting a Host like this—wouldn't it be devoured until not even the dregs were left?

How could it have originally thought the Host was a peerless, great philanthropist with a heart for the world and compassion for all?

The Saint System has misled it!