Gongsun Qiong Washes Dishes

Money is essential everywhere; you can't survive without it. As the president of the Wantong Chamber of Commerce, Gongsun Qiong knew this well, so she decided to take Zhao Xiaodao to the city to find a job that would provide them with food and shelter.

Soon, they arrived at the entrance of a restaurant.

"Xiaodao, this should be a place to eat, right?" Gongsun Qiong looked through the glass at the groups of locals eating inside and asked uncertainly.

Zhao Xiaodao looked up at the sign on the roof, but couldn't understand it. He frowned slightly and replied, "I guess so?"

There's nothing I can do; this world is too strange. Not only do I not recognize the words, but even the houses are so different from theirs. I can only rely on my own deductions.

"Let's go in and ask." Gongsun Qiong strode into the restaurant, with Zhao Xiaodao following closely behind.

"Welcome! Would you two like to dine here?" As soon as they entered, a maid greeted them with a slight bow and a Gongsun Qiong.

"Uh," Gongsun Qiong was a little embarrassed to answer when the other party asked if she was there for a meal, even though she didn't know what "welcome" meant.

How should she put it? Should she tell them she wasn't there to eat, but to apply for a waiter's job? Gongsun Qiong found it hard to say.

"Excuse me, we're not here to dine. We just wanted to ask if you're hiring any staff?" Zhao Xiaodao replied from the side.

"I see!" The maid's attitude didn't change just because Gongsun Qiong and his companion weren't there for a meal. She still smiled and said, "We're short-staffed in the kitchen. If you two don't mind helping out, how about it? It's five gold coins per person per day, room and board included. Is that alright?"

Gongsun Qiong and Zhao Xiaodao exchanged a glance, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes. They had only wanted to solve their food and lodging problems, but now they unexpectedly received five extra gold coins, which was a pleasant surprise.

The two had some understanding of the gold coins in this world. According to the storyline of Liu Changsheng's arrival in this world and the Jieyin, ten gold coins could buy a Poké Ball, and the cheapest Pokémon seemed to cost thirty gold coins. Assuming they worked at the restaurant for eight days, each of them could earn forty gold coins, enough for them to buy a Pokémon.

"Of course, but..." Gongsun Qiong hesitated, worried that the maid in front of her wouldn't be able to make the decision.

The maid seemed to know what Gongsun Qiong was referring to, and immediately smiled and said, "My Xiao Lan, and I'm the owner of this restaurant."

Upon hearing this, Gongsun Qiong and Zhao Xiaodao smiled, indicating that the boss was alright.

Thus, the two successfully settled in Cerulean City and became proud kitchen workers, commonly known as odd jobs!

I thought the projection would switch images at this point, but it didn't; the image remained fixed on Gongsun Qiong and Zhao Xiaodao.

However, the location has changed; it's now in the kitchen.

At this moment, Gongsun Qiong and Zhao Xiaodao had changed into their work clothes and arrived at the kitchen.

"New here, right? I'm the kitchen supervisor, you can call me Sister Cui. I'll be assigning you tasks from now on." A Jellicent woman in her forties, dressed in what looked to be a more upscale uniform, looked at Gongsun Qiong and Zhao Xiaodao expressionlessly, her words carrying a hint of arrogance.

"Hello, Sister Cui." Gongsun Qiong greeted her respectfully with a smile and a nod.

Zhao Xiaodao was a little unhappy; his brows furrowed slightly, and he remained silent.

Sister Cui was initially pleased to see Gongsun Qiong speak so well, but when she saw Zhao Xiaodao's disapproving attitude, her face immediately darkened.

"Let's wash the dishes first." Sister Cui led the two to the back door, where several large basins of dishes were piled up, their surfaces covered in grime. Judging by the quantity, they had been piling up for at least several days.

"It must be washed clean." Sister Cui left with these words, swaying her plump figure as she went.

Gongsun Qiong and Zhao Xiaodao were stunned when they saw the several large basins of plates!

"Look, take a look! The president of the Great Chu's No. 1 Chamber of Commerce is about to wash the dishes!"

The cultivators outside couldn't help but laugh at this scene, and some of the bolder ones even started teasing Gongsun Qiong.

"I'd like to ask, has President Gongsun ever washed dishes in his entire life?"

"Isn't this something ordinary people do? Let alone washing dishes, I doubt President Gongsun even knows how to use a rag."

"Interesting, very interesting."

Everyone was clearly more interested in Gongsun Qiong washing dishes, and the interest in it soared, even surpassing their interest in catching Pokémon. Everyone continued to stare at the projection with expectant eyes.

"President, you take a rest first, I'll take care of these." Zhao Xiaodao rolled up his sleeves, moved a small stool, picked up a rag, sat down next to a basin, and prepared to start dealing with the plates.

Gongsun Qiong shook her head, then imitated Zhao Xiaodao in a similar manner, finding a small stool and a rag, sitting down next to another basin, and said with a smile, "I've never done these things before in my life, but it's nice to experience it once in a while."

"Well, I'm different from the president. When I was little, my family was poor, and my parents were often away from home to earn money. I was the eldest in the family, so I did all the cooking and laundry," Zhao Xiaodao said while wiping the plates with a rag.

"Where's the soapberry?" Zhao Xiaodao wiped the plate and found it too greasy and stained. He looked around for the soapberry they usually used to remove stains, but couldn't find it.

Gongsun Qiong looked around and said, "This world is different from ours; perhaps the things used to remove stains are different too."

At this point, Gongsun Qiong noticed a strange object in the corner. He walked over, picked it up, and said, "Since this thing is placed here, it must be related to washing dishes. Maybe it's something used to remove stains."

On the cloud, Ma Feifei looked at the dish soap that Gongsun Qiong had picked up and couldn't help but praise, "She's incredibly clever."

"Really? Let me try." Zhao Xiaodao took the dish soap from Gongsun Qiong and then vigorously scrubbed the stains on the plate.

"Pfft!" Ma Feifei, who was on the cloud, burst out laughing and almost fell off the sky.

"It doesn't seem to work!" Zhao Xiaodao said, puzzled, looking at the stains on the plate that had been wiped into vertical strips.

"Really?" Gongsun Qiong came over, and the two of them huddled together, looking at the dish soap with blank expressions.

"What are you doing?" Suddenly, Sister Cui appeared at the door, looked at Gongsun Qiong and the other woman huddled together, and scolded, "How can you Slack Off during work hours? If you continue like this, I'll tell the boss."

"You!" Zhao Xiaodao glared and tried to stand up to resist, but was pulled back by Gongsun Qiong.

"Sorry, sorry, we just didn't know how to use this, so..." Gongsun Qiong said apologetically, holding up the dish soap in her hand.

Before he could finish speaking, Sister Cui interrupted him.

"You don't even know how to use this?" Sister Cui strode towards Gongsun Qiong, snatched the dish soap from her hand, held the handle in one hand, and pressed down on the tip with the other.

With a "plop," a stream of liquid Spit Up out and fell into the basin.

"Do you understand now? How stupid." Sister Cui threw the dish soap on the ground, turned around and walked into the house, saying, "You're being punished by not having lunch today. If you don't finish washing these dishes before dark, you'll skip dinner too."

"That damned brat, I'm going to teach her a lesson!" Zhao Xiaodao was furious and grabbed a small stool, ready to rush in.

"Xiaodao," Gongsun Qiong stopped her, saying, "We're from different worlds. What's the point of arguing with her? Hurry up and wash the dishes. I just saw a pet shop selling Pokémon on the street. Let's save up some gold coins and see if we can buy a Pokémon there."

"Understood, President." Zhao Xiaodao put down the small stool with a displeased look and began washing the dishes through gritted teeth.