Chapter 4: Activating the Manor Management System
Taoya was so anxious she looked like she wanted to cry.
“No, sister, I can’t take this back, I can’t!”
“Why can’t you take it back?” Jian Xingxia asked in bewilderment. “Then what can you take back?”
Taoya looked up, observing Jian Xingxia’s expression, and pointed cautiously at the pile of wild vegetables outside the back courtyard door, then patted her own pocket. “Wild vegetables, and… the noon-meal.”
“No, didn’t you just say you couldn’t take fifty back?” Jian Xingxia felt like she was losing her mind. Why did she feel like she and the little girl were having an incoherent, frustrating conversation where they completely talked past each other?
The two stared at each other, eyes wide.
After a long while, Jian Xingxia suddenly realized. “Wait, are you saying you can’t take this back?” She held up the banknotes.
In her other hand, she shook the bag of sandwich bread. “And you’re calling this a ‘noon-meal,’ right?”
Taoya nodded, unable to help herself, and muttered quietly, “You said it was leftover noon-meal first…”
Jian Xingxia slapped her forehead. She tentatively asked, “Taoya, you said you live across the mountain—is there a famine across the mountain?”
The little girl nodded.
But Jian Xingxia was certain: a lush mountain forest in the summer, where one could at least eat wild fruits, couldn’t suffer a famine. The “mountain” the girl spoke of was not the same mountain in front of her.
She was truly a temporary worker summoned from somewhere else by that voice in her head just now! And that place was still suffering from a famine!
Jian Xingxia was stunned, standing there in a daze, not knowing what to say. She had heard stories about “spirits and monsters” from her grandmother and the villagers, but with it happening right in front of her, it was hard to accept.
Just then, Taoya seemed to hear something suddenly. She scrambled to stand up in a panic. “Sister, the time is up, I have to go home!” With that, she turned and bolted, looking as anxious as if she wouldn’t be able to return if she didn’t leave this instant.
It was no less frantic than Jian Xingxia rushing to catch a train.
The back courtyard gate wasn’t locked, and Jian Xingxia couldn’t stop her, so she quickly gave chase. Luckily, that pile of “wild vegetables” tripped Taoya up.
Taoya ran a few steps, then looked hesitantly at the pile of wild vegetables and then at Jian Xingxia.
Jian Xingxia watched with her own eyes as Taoya’s body gradually became transparent. She was both shocked and terrified, and in her panic, she only managed to shout one word.
“Take it!”
She also waved her hand and threw the remaining half-bag of sandwich bread to Taoya.
Taoya was overjoyed. Wrapping her arms around the large pile of wild vegetables and clutching the bread, she took off running. Her thin legs moved like wheels of wind and fire, thud-thud-thudding as she ran up the mountain.
Jian Xingxia didn’t dare pursue her, only watching as Taoya disappeared into the depths of the mountain forest in the blink of an eye.
…
The old house seemed rather unusual.
After Taoya disappeared, Jian Xingxia tapped the weeds that were taller than a person with her bamboo pole and followed for a short distance. But the marks of trampled weeds gradually faded, making it impossible to judge by eye.
It seemed that as Taoya’s body became transparent, her weight also gradually decreased. Where the trail ended, the half-bag of sandwich bread lay lonely on the ground. She didn’t know if it had fallen off or if, just as Taoya said, it couldn’t be taken along.
Jian Xingxia picked it up, inspected it, and turned back toward the old house.
Returning inside and locking the back courtyard gate, the voice in her mind echoed once more.
[Congratulations to the Manor Owner for successfully recruiting one temporary worker. The Manor Management System has been activated. Reward: Primary Security Starter Pack.]
“Security System? What is that?” By now, Jian Xingxia had confirmed she wasn’t crazy; the voice in her mind truly had a source.
[Security Starter Pack has been issued. Please wait for it to arrive.]
Jian Xingxia rummaged through the wild vegetables and pheasant eggs Taoya had left behind. Just as she was holding a pheasant egg, she suddenly heard a “cluck-cluck-clack.”
She peeked outside and saw a red-bellied pheasant spreading its wings, “whoosh”—it cleared the back courtyard fence and landed steadily in the yard. Its little eyes darted around, looking right at Jian Xingxia.
Jian Xingxia looked down at the pheasant egg in her hand and instinctively hid it behind her back.
[Security Starter Pack has arrived.]
“Huh? That’s it?” Jian Xingxia looked at the beautiful big hen, feeling a bit unsure.
But soon, the pheasant displayed the “security capability” it ought to have.
The wild land that had been cleared by Taoya had its weeds pulled, causing many insects to scurry about in panic. Some clueless ones headed straight for the courtyard.
The big hen stood guard by the fence, pecking at every one that came near. A centipede the length of a pinky finger was pecked until it twisted frantically. The big hen gave it a shake, then another peck, and only a tiny piece of the centipede’s tail remained outside the beak.
The next bite, and the centipede was completely swallowed.
The pheasant turned its head to peck at other insects. Bite after bite, eating with great satisfaction.
Jian Xingxia couldn’t help but offer a word of praise. She had seen plenty of insects while pulling weeds earlier. Now, with this “Security System,” she felt much more at ease.
For the rest of the afternoon, the big hen wandered around the house and courtyard. It didn’t bother with what was outside, but as long as any insect dared to set a single foot into the yard, it pecked mercilessly.
When Jian Xingxia moved some bricks, a few pill bugs frantically tried to burrow into the soil. The big hen came over, “peck-peck-peck”—not a single one escaped.
Jian Xingxia was deeply satisfied.
In this one afternoon, she had gained a helping hand for chores, harvested pheasant eggs and wild vegetables, and acquired an efficient “Security System.” She no longer resisted the voice in her mind and proactively asked.
“What is the Manor Management System? What do I need to do?”
[All management affairs of the manor are determined by the Manor Owner. Specific work contents are:
- Responsible for the scale construction and reputation building of the manor, reasonable utilization of manor resources, and improving the desolate appearance;
- Obtain economic benefits, provide job positions, and improve the living conditions of employees;
- Complete other management tasks issued by the system.]
It didn’t sound difficult. “Are there any rewards?”
[Upon upgrading the manor or completing tasks issued by the system, you will receive certain rewards.]
“How do I upgrade the manor?”
[The current manor is a desolate and dilapidated farm. Level: 0. Meet the following three conditions to upgrade to Level 1:
- Manor has hired temporary workers for 10 person-times;
- Cultivated land area of the manor reaches 1,000 square meters;
- Manor income reaches 10,000 yuan.
Upgrade reward: Temporary worker hiring quota +1, unlock Manor Mall.]
Manor Mall? Jian Xingxia looked at the big hen, which couldn’t eat any more insects and was now pecking at them to flick them out of the courtyard. She felt the Manor Mall must be a good thing.
She was instantly filled with anticipation for this farm life deep in the mountains.
The system issued the first management task.
[Management Task 1: Successfully recruit two temporary workers. Reward: One Solar Power System. Current progress: 0/2.]
It was exactly what she wanted! Jian Xingxia had just been thinking about it—she was bold, but the old house had no electricity at night, which was scary enough on its own. She hadn’t expected the task and reward to arrive so soon.
Jian Xingxia immediately said: “I want to recruit another temporary worker! Cleaning, weeding, farming, anything is fine!”
However, the system’s monotonous, mechanical voice gave Jian Xingxia a rejection.
[Sorry! The current manor level is too low. The daily hiring quota is: 1 person-time.]
Jian Xingxia’s eyes went dark. “So, before I upgrade, I can only hire one person a day?”
Looking at it this way, the upgrade conditions were tough! The first two conditions were okay; hiring one temporary worker a day meant she would fulfill condition one in ten days. Condition two wasn’t too hard either; her grandmother used to farm, so the land wasn’t entirely barren and could be cleaned up slowly.
But condition three was outrageous. “Ten thousand yuan? Do you know how hard it is to earn ten thousand yuan from farming?”
Without people to help, it would be hard for her to earn ten thousand yuan while guarding the farm alone. She had worked part-time for over two years and had only saved 6,371 yuan. For her, ten thousand yuan was a significantly difficult number.
Fortunately, the system spoke up quickly.
[Good employment reputation contributes to manor management.] [If temporary worker satisfaction reaches 95 points (out of 100) or higher for the first time, temporary worker hiring quota +1 the next day, valid for one day only.]
Jian Xingxia immediately asked: “Then what is today’s temporary worker satisfaction score?”
[Anonymous evaluation scores for the previous day are refreshed at 00:00 daily, and the daily recruitment quota is reset at the same time.]
Jian Xingxia: “…What a wonderful ‘anonymous evaluation’.”
