Chapter 36: Tycoon Simulation 6
Three days later, having obtained the Land Item Card, Chu Yun returned home and couldn’t wait to click use on her personal interface. She placed this newly added plot of land in the missing corner of the rectangle, and now she had a full 6 mu of land.
The fruit trees had been growing in the farm for nearly forty days, which was equivalent to over four hundred days in reality. They had already matured into sturdy, robust trees.
Aside from the propagated kiwi vines, the other five fruit seeds turned out to be apple, orange, crisp peach, longan, and mango. Uncle Li mentioned that common fruit trees could bear fruit in two years, which meant they would be able to see the fruit trees fully mature by the conclusion of the game.
Chu Yun’s restaurant remained incredibly popular, bustling with people every single day. Currently, the gold coin balance in her personal account stood at 3.2 million. She distributed 100,000 to both Xu Dongdong and Yu Wenhao as payment for their hard labor, leaving her with 3 million. At first, the two adamantly refused to accept it, saying that the average salary here was only 10,000 and they felt embarrassed taking so much just for helping out. But they were no match for Chu Yun’s persistence. In her eyes, they weren’t just employees, but teammates.
On Day 50 in Green City, Chu Yun ran into an unexpected person.
She was currently scooping rice for the final customer in the diner. The grains of rice were plump and left a savory aroma on one’s palate, and the interest of the NPCs remained sky-high even after eating it for many consecutive days.
“Big Shot! Big Shot, it really is you!”
Chu Yun turned her head around, and a familiar young face appeared at the shop entrance.
Wasn’t this the brother who had run from zombies with her in the Highway instance? Named…
“Big Shot, I’m Wang Mao! We fought zombies together.”
Right, his name was Wang Mao—she had actually traded for her bow and arrows from him!
To one side, Xu Dongdong was serving the new guest with a face full of gloom. Sister Chu Yun has so many lackeys, and this one even has the history of fighting zombies together.
Noticing that Wang Mao’s eating speed had slowed down slightly, Chu Yun finally asked, “How did you find your way here?”
Wang Mao explained with excitement, “Through the online platforms! You have no idea, in the city I was in, the electronic screens in every single corner were broadcasting your cooking videos, rolling 24 hours a day. It’s incredibly viral. Others might not be clear, but how could I not know? The moment I saw those hands, that aura, and that voice, I knew it had to be you, Sister Chu!”
He accepted the water handed over by Chu Yun and downed it in one gulp. “I wanted to come find you ages ago, but the permit for Green City is way too hard to draw in the lottery. I sneaked over by hiding inside a cargo truck. I didn’t expect I’d actually get to see you again, Boss! Look, see how solid my muscles are now from working out?”
By now, he had already upgraded his form of address from Big Shot to Boss.
Chu Yun scanned him with a smile. His face hadn’t changed, but his arms and legs had gained a lot of lean muscle. Come to think of it, they hadn’t seen each other in three months.
“Boss, actually, I came because I have a more important matter to tell you,” Wang Mao pulled Chu Yun aside to whisper, clearly not wanting Xu Dongdong standing nearby to overhear.
Chu Yun cut him off, “It’s fine, we’re all on the same side. His name is Xu Dongdong, and the one outside is Yu Wenhao. We are neighbors from the same community, as well as teammates!”
“His name is Wang Mao, the first teammate I encountered in the Highway Survival instance.”
Wang Mao felt a twinge of bitterness in his heart. As expected, if you aren’t by the Boss’s side, your position as a lackey won’t be secure. He wondered if this token of allegiance would restore the Boss’s high regard for him.
“Boss, I came to bring you a Land Item Card!”
Wang Mao’s words were a bombshell. Item cards were definitely the more the merrier; a 6-mu farm wasn’t small, but it truly wasn’t huge either.
“For me? What do you want? I’ll trade with you,” Chu Yun knew Wang Mao had always been grateful for her saving his life back then, but she couldn’t weaponize that kindness to demand rewards.
Wang Mao countered, “No need, no need! I just want to be able to do tasks frequently after your instance opens, hehe!”
Chu Yun promised, “Deal! I’ll notify you of tasks in advance when the time comes.”
“Thank you, Boss! Boss is the greatest!”
Wang Mao wasn’t going back to his own city, so he stayed behind to help. He and Xu Dongdong rubbed each other the wrong way, so he shared a room with Yu Wenhao.
Chu Yun used another Land Item Card, placing it in the top-right corner, and the rectangular farm extended further.
With Wang Mao’s help added to the diner, their staffing grew much more flexible, and they were no longer frantically rushed off their feet.
Having busied themselves continuously for fifty days without a break, they had yet to properly rest. Chu Yun’s personal account balance had already reached 4 million, far exceeding the mission requirement. Thus, Chu Yun decided to close shop tomorrow to go out and browse around. She notified the customers in the diner, asking them to disseminate the news of tomorrow’s closure online so people wouldn’t make a wasted trip.
Hearing that Chu Yun was going to temporarily close for business, the customers instantly paled in fright, crowding around the shop owner to ask all sorts of questions. It wasn’t until Chu Yun guaranteed repeatedly that she would definitely return the day after tomorrow that their anxious minds finally settled down.
Coincidentally, the little boy had sent her a few Neverland tickets a few days ago, saying it was to express their gratitude. His and his mother’s health conditions had grown significantly more robust ever since they started eating their vegetables and fruits.
As expected, it was wonderful to lean against a big tree for shade; tickets that others couldn’t even grab for months, Chu Yun held four sets in her hands alone.
Neverland was best suited for a nighttime visit. The group set out around noon, intending to hit the commercial street first for a shopping spree. They rode the skybus to head over as usual.
Chu Yun had tested it—items in this world could be packed into her storage ring, meaning they could be carried out of the instance. Now that none of their personal account balances were low, they could purchase the items they needed before leaving the game.
First was the clothing store. This place could probably be called a clothing metropolis, possessing an exceptionally massive layout that combined multiple brands. It was split across an upper and lower tier—women’s apparel on the upper tier and men’s apparel on the lower tier—so they split up to shop.
Ten sets of undergarments, five sets of clothes for each of the four seasons, two sets of silk pajamas, five pairs of combat boots, five pairs of sneakers, plus various miscellaneous little items.
The service robot was a female. Although configured into the appearance of a machine, she had likely inherited the genetic trait common among counter ladies to judge people by their covers. At first, seeing Chu Yun dressed simply, she didn’t grant her a single extra glance. It wasn’t until Chu Yun emerged from the fitting room clad in a crisp, sharp set of black tactical gear made of a unique material that the service robot’s eyes flashed with brilliance. Chu Yun was already strikingly beautiful and sharp-featured, and shifting into this new outfit made her all the more dazzling.
Chu Yun stated coldly, “Help me pack up everything I just selected, plus the set I’m wearing. Bill it.”
“Right away, right away!” The service robot grinned mechanistically with her lips. The commission from this single batch of merchandise alone was enough to charge her energy cells for a full month.
The male teammates downstairs had also finished making their selections. They didn’t possess financial assets as grand as Chu Yun’s, but they each bought several sets regardless. Xu Dongdong chose T-shirts and jeans, brimming with youthful vibrance. Yu Wenhao chose T-shirts and cargo pants, while Wang Mao chose pullovers and casual trousers.
Finally free of the uniform system tracksuits, everyone’s mood visibly took a turn for the better.
The entire mall belonged to the exact same corporation, and if the purchase amount exceeded a specific threshold, they provided home delivery services. After filling out their delivery info, the group continued shopping with a lightened stride.
Next was the smart digital electronics store. The game community lacked entertainment services, so Chu Yun wanted to see if she could pick out a suitable item to take back.
VR gaming pods and optical computers—the unique products of this era—were mysterious and full of tech, but required a network connection. It was impossible for a network to exist in her community, so she retracted her lingering gaze with disappointment.
Chu Yun inquired, “Hello, do you have the type that doesn’t require a network connection? Anything for watching videos or playing games works.”
The clerk was baffled internally, encountering a customer with such an odd request for the first time. However, the clerk was dedicated to his profession. After contemplating for two seconds, he immediately replied with a smile, “Customer, please wait a moment. I need to run a query in the system.”
“Alright.”
Before long, the clerk returned with the answer Chu Yun wanted: “Hello, customer. We have two super televisions in our stock that feature built-in storage functions. They’re products phased out a few years ago, but our quality is exceptional—using them for several decades won’t pose a single problem. It’s just… just that caching the videos requires a small fee.”
“Mm, that’s fine. I’ll take both.”
Chu Yun reserved them without a second thought; she had plenty of money now.
The super televisions were quickly delivered from the warehouse. They featured the ultra-thin LCD displays common before the game—massive, measuring 100 inches. Chu Yun was highly satisfied once she got them on hand.
Subsequently, they began downloading TV series and movies. Each super television possessed a storage capacity of 18TB, making it 36TB combined across the two units. Chu Yun loved watching movies, downloading 2,000 films of various genres which took up 3TB. Xu Dongdong loved watching dramatic TV series, a genre with a wide audience that many people loved, loading up 2,000 series which took up 17TB. Yu Wenhao liked variety shows, downloading 600 shows which took up 6TB. Wang Mao was an anime fan, downloading 600 anime series as well.
For the remaining capacity, Chu Yun selected a vast array of educational videos, including first-aid, survival, science, physics, and chemistry. No matter the circumstances, education could never be neglected. She intended to broadcast some educational videos in the community every day, allowing her neighbors to learn more survival skills.
With a volume of videos this massive, they could watch until the end of time. Chu Yun temporarily didn’t have to worry about the problem of being unable to watch series due to a lack of network.
The money spent downloading the videos was far greater than the cost of purchasing the televisions, leaving the clerk grinning from ear to ear.
Passing by the store that sold the space-folding backpacks last time, a commotion erupted inside.
“Where did these country bumpkins come from? This mall possesses the world’s leading security system, yet they actually dared to commit theft. Hard to tell if they’re brave or just ignorant.” Passersby at the entrance were discussing.
Chu Yun cast a glance inside, spotting three individuals tightly pinned down by mechanical arms extending from the ceiling. They were clad in familiar clothing. Chu Yun exchanged a few glances with the teammates behind her, understanding it perfectly in her heart.
They were game players like them, but they had coveted the resources of this world and attempted to steal them back. Since this was a tycoon simulation survival game, one should honestly and dutifully handle their proper scope of tasks; resorting to opportunistic tricks would inevitably trigger a backlash.
This disturbance failed to affect the group’s mood. As evening approached, the group rode a flying vehicle to head toward Neverland.
The island truly lived up to its name; its architecture and decorations were exceptionally dreamlike, floating in mid-air by relying on an unknown force. Exactly as the two female passengers on the bus had said, the entrance was a sea of people—many hadn’t managed to buy tickets but had run to the entrance just to check in.
Once they entered the amusement park, the crowded conditions eased up slightly.
Neverland, the Dwarf World, Interstellar Transit, Spacewalking, Anime Character Parades, and so on—the 3D projection technology was used flawlessly here, every single frame of the background making you feel as though you were in reality. Especially those anime characters; you could even see their delicate pores and hear their breathing.
It wasn’t until 12:00 AM that the group sluggishly returned.
