Chapter 38: Community 135
At 6:00 AM, Chu Yun woke up in her familiar large bed, habitually stretching her arms.
Yesterday, she had posted a message in the “135 Sisterhood” group chat, announcing that she was hiring 10 helpers. The requirements were a serious work ethic, an outgoing personality, and good communication skills, with preference given to those with relevant experience. After a successful trial period, they could be hired long-term. Those interested could go directly to Room 502 today to find Xu Dongdong for an interview. Xu Dongdong was better at interpersonal relationships than she was, so he had proactively taken over this task.
She operated her personal interface to enter Happy Farm. She had bought a lot of things in Green City, and the game had also awarded her plenty of prizes, so she could plan it out properly.
The 12 mu of land was arranged into a rectangle of 3 plots horizontally and 4 plots vertically. In the first row of 3 mu, she left two mu completely empty, intending to set up a farm marketplace there.
At the junction of the first and second rows stood the fruit trees. The area adjacent to the fruit trees was shaded, so she placed a super television there and connected it to the charging port of the solar generator, making it convenient for entering players to relax and enjoy entertainment.
Next to the television, she placed a double-door refrigerator. She liked to chill her lychees and watermelons for a while before eating them—cool and refreshing, they tasted exceptionally comforting on a hot summer day.
A few outdoor parasols were set up on the empty space next to it, under which sat empty vegetable display racks. She then arranged a few chairs, waiting for the fruits and vegetables harvested by Xu Dongdong’s newly recruited players to be laid out.
Slightly further away, she placed two restrooms, one for men and one for women.
In addition, the pots, pans, bowls, plates, and food steamers she had purchased in Green City were also neatly arranged to one side.
With the hardware facilities properly set up, she began configuring the tasks. Hiring employees required issuing tasks, and allowing other players to sightsee also required creating tasks, except that the latter didn’t require any physical labor from the players.
Task 1: Recruits 11 helpers. Primary duties: Selling vegetables, cleaning, and maintaining order. Reward: 10 Gold Coins + lunch and dinner.
Task 2: 1,000 tourists. Task: Visit Happy Farm. Primary benefits: Watch television, purchase fruits and vegetables at fair prices.
Tasks 3, 4, 5: Same as above.
The tasks previously configured for Xu Dongdong, Uncle Li, and the others had already been converted into long-term tasks, so they didn’t need to be issued additionally.
The duration for the first task was 1 day, running from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM. The subsequent tasks started an hour later, running from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, with each task lasting 3 hours.
Once the tasks were configured, Chu Yun reviewed them a few times to ensure everything was correct before clicking publish.
On everyone’s personal interface, a prominent notification was pinned right at the top.
[The personal instance Happy Farm has been unlocked. Please check the tasks.]
Clicking into it revealed the specific details of the tasks and the descriptions of the rules.
Far away in Community 906, a dark-complexioned player was currently stamping his feet in frustration. He was among the earliest batch to spot the task notification, and seeing the limited spots, he had immediately filled out an application. However, after waiting left and right, his application wasn’t approved, and a closer look revealed the task bar had turned gray, indicating the task had already ended.
He let out a long sigh and then applied for the tourist task, instantly receiving an automated approval. Chu Yun had configured this task for automated system approval on a first-come, first-served basis; success was guaranteed as long as it was claimed. However, since the task’s starting time was 8:00 AM, he could only wait patiently. As the very first player-owned personal instance, there would likely be a massive crowd!
Ping! You have a new task application, please check it promptly.
Ping! …
The moment it was published, the notification chimes rang out continuously without a pause.
Chu Yun entered the task list, and upon opening it, countless player applications flooded in. The tasks she had issued this time were public tasks, precisely to attract the attention of players from other communities.
She opened the reasons for application one by one, only clicking the confirmation button when she spotted the familiar secret signal.
In the blink of an eye, the time reached 7:00 AM, and both the veteran and new employees materialized right on time on the empty ground of the first row. Chu Yun had configured the rules so that to make management convenient, the spawn location was basically confined to this single patch of land.
The moment they entered the farm, a reminder of the rules echoed in everyone’s minds.
[Welcome to the Happy Farm instance. Please abide by the instance rules; violators are solely responsible for the consequences.]
[Rule 1: Fighting, brawling, stealing, and plundering are strictly prohibited within the instance.]
[Rule 2: Please complete your tasks within the designated time.]
[Rule 3: All rules are configured solely by the instance farm owner.]
The old employees greeted one another as soon as they entered, directing curious glances at this batch of new employees. Recruiting over 10 people this time—could there be another massive move?
Chu Yun delivered her onboarding briefing as per her routine: “My management here is relatively flexible. As long as you complete your own work, I won’t demand much else regarding what you do. However, I won’t keep anyone who plays tricks or slacks off. If you do your work honestly, I will consider hiring you long-term. Long-term employment allows you to bypass other game instances, and you can also receive gold coins every day.”
Those who came were all honest, diligent, and older farmers or ordinary workers, and there was even a teenage girl. Upon hearing Chu Yun’s words, every single one of them was brimming with drive. In this game fraught with risks and unknowns, having a stable and safe job was a luxurious wish that many dreamed of.
Previously, Uncle Li and his crew knew how to farm, and being fortunate enough to secure those spots had made the other old men and ladies in the community burning with envy. Now that they were also fortunate enough to await this opportunity, they had to cherish it properly.
Those who could make it here were basically the batch who woke up relatively early and were industrious. When the people behind found out what they had missed, there was no telling how much they would regret it.
It was the first time many had laid eyes on Happy Farm, and they looked around curiously. The 12 mu of land was much larger than a soccer field. Nearby stood towering trees laden with fruit, under which actually sat a super large LCD television, and the area next to it resembled a vegetable market, packed with various utensils. Far away lay fields planted thick with crops—a scene of vibrant prosperity.
With a plot of land this large and such an abundant harvest, they didn’t have to worry that this job wouldn’t last long. Every single one of them looked at Chu Yun with radiant smiles, awaiting her further arrangements.
“Alright, I’ll divide the labor for you now.” Chu Yun pulled out her little notebook.
“Uncle Li, the five of you will continue as before, primarily responsible for the cultivation of the farm fields. The others will be responsible for sales at the marketplace, hygiene, and our daily meals. If anyone is too busy, you can help one another out.”
Chu Yun paused briefly and continued, “Starting at 8:00 AM, 1,000 players will enter every 3 hours, coming from various communities. Our primary task is to serve our customers well. Can we do that?”
“Yes!”
The response was deafening.
After Chu Yun allocated the tasks according to personal expertise, the crowd dispersed in all directions.
Xu Dongdong and Yu Wenhao had stayed for a long time and were already highly familiar with the farm. The two of them completed patrols from time to time, providing guidance to the new employees who didn’t know what to do upon arrival.
Chu Yun felt as though she had become redundant. With nothing to do, she switched on the television, grabbed the remote control, and lay down on a lounge chair beneath a fruit tree, comfortably stretching her limbs as she began watching a movie.
She selected a comedy; life had been a bit bitter recently, so she needed to inject a little sweetness.
The cheerful and entertaining sounds of the movie blared, instantly boosting the spirits of the surrounding people. Those further away accelerated the movements of their hands significantly, while those nearby perked up their ears to listen. It was a comedy, after all; just hearing the sound brought joy.
The fruits and vegetables were harvested by the cultivators and delivered to the side of the brook, where a few of the newly arrived employees washed them clean before transporting them to the marketplace. The glass display racks were large and wide; Chu Yun had purchased two massive rows, allowing each compartment to hold one or two varieties of vegetables.
The fruits and vegetables were neatly arrayed, with price tags and payment codes displayed according to the configured rates. The rules of this instance were established by Chu Yun, so the payment codes could link directly to her personal interface.
Chu Yun pulled up the farm interface to take a look. Likely because it was the very first player-owned personal instance in the game world, its popularity was exceptionally high, and all the tasks had been fully claimed before it even hit 8:00 AM.
With everything fully prepared, at 8:00 AM sharp, the first batch of 1,000 tourist players flooded inside.
The moment they entered, they scattered, inspecting this novel instance with pure wonder. Compared to the survival instances they had experienced previously, Chu Yun’s farm counted as remarkably minor. Though small, it was entirely free of danger, serving practically like a utopian paradise to all the players.
“Oh my god! Someone genuinely collected 5 Land Item Cards so quickly? That’s too formidable!”
“More than five—looking at the surface area of this land, it’s far more than 5 cards.”
“Holy shit, comparisons really are odious.”
“I dream of owning a farm like this—self-sufficient, with no worries about food or drink.”
……
They were thoroughly sick of expressing their envy.
However, some people saw so many supplies and developed a severe case of sour grapes. A curly-haired woman griped with absolute bitterness, “Genuinely heartless. Possessing so many supplies yet refusing to help the weak, choosing to make crooked money here instead.”
If Chu Yun looked closely, she would discover that the woman’s features were very familiar—it was Zhang Xiaomei, whom she had encountered amidst the zombie horde in the first Highway Survival instance.
Except, she had changed significantly compared to last time. Back then, she had died in the zombie attacks, which translated into real-world damage as losing half her hair and gaining a scar on her face. She had been somewhat attractive back then, but now she could be called ugly. Having lost a massive asset for survival, she had cursed this piece-of-shit system for a long time because of it.
Hearing her words, the surrounding people couldn’t bring themselves to agree. How could she count as making crooked money? These supplies weren’t available in the community convenience store, and the prices were even cheaper than the convenience store; she was practically selling them at a discount!
However, they didn’t know her anyway, so they didn’t meddle in others’ business, merely casting a glance at this strange woman before heading to their preferred areas to browse.
Chu Yun had instituted a purchase limit: each person could only buy one pound of staple food, half a pound of fruit, and half a pound of vegetables at one time. Staple foods cost 1 Gold Coin a pound, vegetables cost 2 Gold Coins a pound, and high-yield fruits with short growth cycles like watermelons also cost a mere 2 Gold Coins a pound, while lychees cost 5 Gold Coins a pound.
A pound of staple food could equal 5 to 7 plain white mantous from the community convenience store, so many people specifically chose to buy staples—especially the perfectly clean rice.
There were also people who were capable and possessed their own channels for obtaining supplies; they bought some fruit, pulled up a stool, and sat beside the television to watch while eating. Stools were few, so the later arrivals could only sit cross-legged on the ground, still watching with immense relish.
“Lychees actually cost 5 Gold Coins a pound? That’s way too expensive, can’t you make it a bit cheaper?” Over by the stall, Zhang Xiaomei frowned as she haggled with the stallkeeper.
“No, that’s impossible. This is the price established by our boss and cannot be altered, and ours is already considered very cheap.”
Zhang Xiaomei lowered her voice and said stealthily, “How about this: you sell it to me at half price, and I’ll give you a little kickback.”
The girl selling lychees looked as though she had heard something completely out of line, frantically waving her hands in refusal. “No, absolutely not! If you keep acting like this, I’m telling the boss!”
Zhang Xiaomei also panicked, spitting as she turned and cursed, “Fucking stubborn brick, no wonder you look so dirt-poor!”
The person selling lychees was a slender young girl named Shengnan.
True to her name—which meant “surpassing boys”—her family favored boys over girls to an extreme degree. Furthermore, because she was born in a rural area, many feudal ideologies were deeply entrenched; since childhood, she had never eaten her fill or slept in the warmth, and she had to handle every kind of dirty, grueling hard labor. Her family didn’t like her at all, marrying her off early to a bachelor in the neighboring village, where she was frequently beaten black and blue.
She actually liked this game very much; at least here she was entirely free, and no man beat or cursed her without cause—as long as she worked a bit hard, she could eat her fill. Now that she had a stable job, she cherished this opportunity immensely.
Zhang Xiaomei didn’t give up after suffering a setback. Glimpsing the few lychee trees behind her that were still laden with fruit, her mind spun. Everyone was busy picking vegetables or watching the movie, so no one noticed the shifty-looking Zhang Xiaomei.
Keeping her back turned to the crowd, she stuffed a massive stash of lychees into her backpack. Only when the backpack’s zipper absolutely couldn’t close did she pull up her personal interface, intending to exit the farm.
“Hehe, what a bunch of fools—they truly think they have too many gold coins!”
