Dimensional Store: Welcome to the Apocalypse Apartment - chapter 76

Chapter 76

Lin She’s recent routine had become extremely irregular. He was almost always in a state of sleeping for several days straight, then occasionally waking up for a day or two to barely manage some work, before returning to his room to continue his deep slumber.

Seeing this, Gu Huaiwei simply suggested that he keep sleeping until he was completely rested.

But Lin She stubbornly insisted on getting up to work.

Such a spirit of hard struggle was truly a model for the modern-day workhorse.

To help himself wake up more easily, his library was much warmer than the outside world, filled with thick blankets and cotton of unknown origin, as well as an electric heater Gu Huaiwei had brought back from the Real World.

He said that a warm environment could dispel some of his drowsiness and help him get up smoothly.

However, no matter how high the indoor temperature was, Lin She’s skin remained as cold as a corpse. The external warmth could not reach him; the gloom he carried was like thick ink that could not be dispersed, much like the ashes falling from the sky during a Wasteland winter.

When awake, Lin She would leave the hotel at night holding a red umbrella, then return at dawn, shaking the ashes from his umbrella before coming back inside.

The new employee arrived later than expected.

During Lin She’s third round of sleep, a pure white youth, out of place with the world, walked into the Oasis Hotel.

The youth was like an angel exiled to the mortal world.

His skin was extremely pale, almost translucent, his hair as fine and smooth as snow atop the northernmost peaks, his features delicate and cold, his eyes a golden-tinged glassy color, shimmering with light. Long lashes cast faint shadows beneath his eyes, as if angel wings drooped low, carrying an innate sense of nobility and solitude.

If one didn’t pay close attention, they might not notice-he cast no shadow.

“This is my recommendation form.”

He handed over the form.

Gu Huaiwei glanced at its contents.

“He Xueyi.” Another strange name.

Anyway, as long as he only asked for room and board, Skinflint Zhou would never be willing to pay him a salary from the hotel’s account.

As long as someone was cheap and useful, it didn’t matter who came.

Gu Huaiwei warmly shook his hand. “Comrade He, welcome to the Oasis Hotel. I’ll show you around so you can get familiar with the hotel layout and your colleagues.”

He Xueyi nodded.

Gu Huaiwei walked ahead, introducing the upgraded environment and facilities of the hotel.

When they reached the Employee Break Room, He Xueyi tilted his head to look toward the library.

“There’s another employee in there who was also recommended by the boss. His name is Lin She. He’s still resting now. I’ll introduce you when he wakes up.”

“No need.” The moment He Xueyi’s thin lips curved, it was like the first light of a winter morning. “We know each other. Let him rest well in this season.”

“You know each other? Are you from the same place?”

One was gloomy, the other holy-two extremes. They hardly seemed like people from the same place.

He paused for a moment. “You could say that.”

After leaving the Employee Break Room, Gu Huaiwei introduced Li Niang, Bai Niao, and Qian Xia to He Xueyi.

He Xueyi was even more approachable than Lin She. He did not put on a distant air, but instead greeted everyone in a friendly manner.

[The number of registered employees at Oasis Hotel has reached two, meeting the unlocking condition.]

[Congratulations, Advanced Employee Dormitory unlocked]

[Prosperity Level +50]

Thanks to He Xueyi’s arrival, the Advanced Employee Dormitory was successfully unlocked.

The dormitory was a suite, with a shared living room furnished in a postmodern style with a sofa and coffee table. Behind the sofa hung an oil painting of the Paradise Ferris wheel.

The employees’ bedrooms were two separate rooms, each connected to a private bathroom area. The high-end decor featured a dry-wet separation design, equipped with a shower, bathtub, toilet, and sink.

Lin She had previously said he wanted to live alone.

Now that he had accepted a new employee, such a small request was, of course, something Gu Huaiwei would grant.
Gu Huaiwei let He Xueyi make do in the tea room of the Employee Break Room for now. Once Lin She woke up, she would clear out the library and let He Xueyi move in.

These past few days, He Xueyi had gotten along exceptionally well with Li Niang and the others. Gu Huaiwei had seen him several times, sitting on the sofa with Qian Xia in his arms, patiently reading her fairy tales.

If one ignored the fact that He Xueyi had no shadow, the scene was truly warm and harmonious.

Gu Huaiwei discovered on the second day after He Xueyi arrived that he had no shadow.

Lin She had many snake-like habits.

And He Xueyi simply didn’t have a shadow-it didn’t affect his work at all.

Gu Huaiwei pretended not to notice, unwilling to meddle in other people’s business.

“Shopkeeper Sister.” Bai Niao had been avoiding He Xueyi these past few days. He finally found a moment when Gu Huaiwei was free and secretly called out to her.

“What is it?” Gu Huaiwei put down the account book in her hand and looked at Bai Niao.

Bai Niao’s throat bobbed as he hesitated to speak.

Gu Huaiwei had already noticed his hesitation these past two days and smiled, “Just say what’s on your mind.”

“Um, can I ask, who exactly is Mr. He? He gives me a very strange feeling.”

“What’s wrong?” Gu Huaiwei felt that He Xueyi was more human than Lin She, and both Li Niang and Qian Xia liked him very much.

These days, He Xueyi had been helping Gu Huaiwei organize the account books. He worked meticulously, marking unclear or incorrect entries with caution, then patiently checking each one.

He wasn’t as much of a workaholic as Lin She, but he was careful and thorough, able to proactively communicate with the guests and maintain good relationships.

Bai Niao couldn’t quite describe the feeling in his heart; he just felt that He Xueyi wasn’t as gentle as he appeared on the surface.

“He doesn’t sleep, and he has no shadow under the light. One night, I got up to use the bathroom and saw him standing at the hotel entrance, looking up at the sky the whole time. It was… very strange.”

“You’re quite observant.” Gu Huaiwei glanced at the Sun Cross Mark on Bai Niao’s face, thinking to herself that kids from the research institute really weren’t so easy to fool.

“Don’t overthink it. Just focus on your own work. He Xueyi is an employee arranged by the hotel’s Shareholder, and he’ll be working here from now on.”

Bai Niao hung his head and muttered, “You let anyone stay in the shop without checking their background. What if they’re bad people…”

He’d seen He Xueyi’s unusual eyes and worried that He Xueyi, like himself, was also an experiment from the Black Spiral Research Institute.

Gu Huaiwei raised her eyebrows. She’d heard every word of Bai Niao’s quiet muttering.

Li Niang and Qian Xia’s backgrounds were very clear.

Lin She and He Xueyi were both recommended by the hotel’s Shareholder-their backgrounds weren’t her concern.

Clearly, the one who most needed a background check was the boy in front of her, who acted mature but liked to pretend to be a child every day. Yet he had the nerve to complain that she didn’t check others’ backgrounds.

She needed to give this little guy a hint.

Seeing Bai Niao’s worried expression, Gu Huaiwei offered a not-so-sincere comfort: “Don’t worry, I’ll give you a gift.”

“What is it?”

“Wait here for me, I’ll go get it.”

Gu Huaiwei returned to the Employee Break Room and fetched a half-used bottle of foundation from her bedroom.

“This is for you-high coverage.” Gu Huaiwei used this very foundation to cover the red mole at the corner of her own eye. She poked her cheek with her finger, “You can use this to cover the mark on your face. In our line of work, remember to lift your head and smile at the customers.”

Bai Niao’s hand froze as he took the foundation.

He looked up at Gu Huaiwei’s smiling face.

Had she… already figured out his identity?!