After Waking Up I Inherited the Earth [Interstellar] – CH96

Chapter 96

Ivy handed over her portfolio.

After Xie Xingchen carefully flipped through it, a flash of admiration occasionally passed through his eyes.

Just as Zhang Yu had said, Ivy’s strengths were completely different from hers. Ivy’s style was more delicate and romantic, and some of her designs even carried a strong oil-painting feel. With just one glance, Xie Xingchen could tell this style would be especially loved by a certain segment of customers.

It had real market potential.

That was his evaluation.

Even though Xie Xingchen wanted to hire her on the spot, the interview still had to continue.

He sent a photo—one he had taken—of a ginkgo tree near his residence, towering into the clouds, directly to Ivy’s light-brain.

“This is the practical test. You have five hours. Based on this photo, either draw it, or extract its defining features and design a first draft of a piece of merchandise.”

Two options. Whether someone specialized in design or illustration, they could find their footing.

Of course, if someone excelled at both, that was practically a promotion-and-raise machine.

Xie Xingchen never shortchanged talented people who could make him money.

After receiving the practical test, Ivy wasn’t shocked at all. If anything, she looked eager to take it on. The light in her eyes made it clear she was determined to win this job.

And why wouldn’t she be?

Ever since yesterday—when she’d asked Zhang Yu to help schedule an interview for that same night and got rejected—and after learning Xie Xingchen needed a relatively long interview time, she’d made a decisive call: she immediately took leave and scheduled the interview for the next morning instead.

If Ivy weren’t set on getting it, she never would’ve taken leave. After all… in all her years of working, she had only ever volunteered for overtime; she had never taken even a single day off.

Once the practical test was assigned, Xie Xingchen had Ivy leave the interview room.

Five full hours was a long time. With an average person’s mental energy, it was hard to work seriously while logged into the holographic mall.

So Xie Xingchen had Ivy log off, start a video call instead, and arranged for a robot to supervise.

Just then, the system notification chimed.

[Ding-dong. Congratulations, player: “Coconut Tree” entry successfully lit. Reward: 500 EXP. For details, please check the system compendium.]

The coconut tree entry was lit?

Xie Xingchen’s eyes brightened.

He hadn’t increased coconut tree sales at all lately. He’d assumed he’d need to wait a few more days before it lit up.

But today’s surprises weren’t over.

Before he even had time to check the compendium, another system chime sounded.

[Ding-dong. Congratulations, player: “Citrus Tree” entry successfully lit. Reward: 500 EXP. For details, please check the system compendium.]

No way—citrus too?

That notification genuinely startled him.

During the Lunar New Year carnival event, people drew purchase qualifications for the citrus mega bundles every day, but in reality, the number of bundles he prepared only exceeded the “compendium unlock” threshold by a tiny margin.

And the people who drew those purchase qualifications were scattered.

If you calculated from the final day of the event, more than two thousand citrus mega bundles were sold that day alone—yet only a few days had passed, and all those customers had already confirmed delivery?

That was rare.

Ever since his volume grew, it had become nearly impossible to collect payments within just a few days. This time, Xie Xingchen actually laughed out loud.

He opened the system and pulled up the info panel.

[Player Information Panel]

Name: Xie Xingchen
Species: Human

Territory: Earth

Level: LV6
Partner: Chubby Bunny (Feifei) [+]
Experience: 1001/60000
Plant Affinity: ? +1
Mental Power Rank: A (?)

Game Progress: 0.5%
Compendium Progress: 0.5%
Infrastructure Progress: 0.5%
Completed Tasks: Infrastructure Task (1) A Small Test of Skill

He saw his EXP had increased by 1000 points, but since leveling to LV7 required far too much EXP, that 1000 felt like a drop in the bucket.

After a single glance, he shifted his gaze. Finally, his eyes landed on “Completed Tasks.”

He’d finished Infrastructure Task (1) a few days ago, but because it happened to coincide with the completion of Chang’an City, he’d forgotten that he still had a task reward waiting.

Now that he remembered, naturally…

Xie Xingchen said excitedly, “Little Mo, hurry! I want to do the draw!”

The reward for A Small Test of Skill was one random draw chance.

[System: Ding-dong. Draw page opened. Confirmed: player has one rare-tier item draw chance. Prize wheel activated.]

A rare-tier item draw chance?

Before Xie Xingchen could even react, a huge prize wheel appeared in front of him.

The wheel was gold. It glowed. And different sections glowed differently.

One section was especially dazzling—staring at it felt like it could blind both humans and dogs.

It was basically the “you can’t look directly at the sun” kind of brightness.

Xie Xingchen understood immediately. “Little Mo, is the brightest section the best reward this time?”

[System: All rewards on this wheel are rare-tier items. Based on item category and value, the wheel’s glow varies. The strongest glow indicates the most valuable item.]

Xie Xingchen: suddenly excited.jpg

Now that got him fired up!

No matter what, he was the Star Alliance’s “number-one bless-you-to-win guy” now!

That “bless-you-to-win” buff couldn’t possibly fail the moment it came to him personally, right?

Xie Xingchen refused to believe that.

He rubbed his hands, stared hard at the wheel, muttered a few lines under his breath, then spun it with force.

Every time the pointer passed that blindingly bright region, he couldn’t help holding his breath. But maybe he’d used too much strength, because the wheel spun two full rounds without stopping.

Third round, fourth round—only by the fifth round did the speed finally slow.

When the last rotation’s pointer slid past the brightest region, Xie Xingchen let out an annoyed, “Ah!” and could only watch as it landed in a white section that glowed slightly less.

[Ding-dong. Congratulations, player: you have obtained large-scale offensive weapon “Planet Disintegration Bomb.” Equip now?]

[Planet Disintegration Bomb: One of the Star Alliance’s strongest offensive weapons. Highly deterrent. Can instantly disintegrate a planet that lacks large-scale defensive weaponry.]

Xie Xingchen: bunny shock.jpg

Holy crap!

Was he being dragged from a farming expansion pack straight into a space-warfare expansion pack?

After reading the “Planet Disintegration Bomb” description, Xie Xingchen’s brain went blank.

When he snapped back, he was ecstatic.

With this, nobody would dare covet Earth anymore, right?

With a weapon that deadly, even if someone wanted Earth, they’d have to weigh whether they could afford the consequences.

Now he had both planetary defense weapons (provided by the system) and a large-scale offensive weapon (just drawn). So long as he didn’t go out of his way to do something suicidal, nobody could mess with him easily.

Once he realized that, he smiled in deep satisfaction.

“Little Mo, nice. This weapon is really nice. Next time there’s another draw, get me some more weapons, yeah?”

The system didn’t bother responding to that borderline brainless request.

It put away the draw page and slapped him awake with the vast sea of still-locked compendium entries.

Xie Xingchen: Ugh. What a buzzkill.

But it worked.

At the very least, seeing all those chains of locked content instantly cooled his heart, extinguishing the earlier heat. He calmed down from the euphoria.

Composed, he equipped the Planet Disintegration Bomb to Earth. Then, looking at the system’s red emergency button, he tried to hold back—but couldn’t stop the corner of his mouth from lifting.

This wasn’t about daydreaming of conquering the galaxy.

This was reality: he felt genuinely pleased, because his future life would be safer and more comfortable.

From now on, he could relax his guard a bit. He wouldn’t have to second-guess everything, worried about this and that.

Five hours, to Ivy, was merely the practical portion of an interview—the time she needed to secure the job she wanted.

But to Xie Xingchen, it was a qualitative transformation for Earth.

After completing that shift, his mood was clearly elevated.

And his obvious happiness even gave Ivy a premonition—so long as her work wasn’t terrible, Boss Xie would pass her.

But… how could her work possibly be terrible?

Even though she’d reached a management role, hers had always been a management-and-technical role. If her ability was lacking, how could she command respect?

Besides, the photo Xie Xingchen gave her was stunning—so perfectly aligned with her aesthetics that the moment she saw it, inspiration exploded.

By the end, within the time limit, she didn’t just draw the ginkgo tree—she personified it. Like dressing up a daughter, she piled on every beautiful and dreamy outfit and accessory she could imagine.

When Xie Xingchen saw the draft, he suddenly thought of a certain dress-up game interface he’d seen among girls waiting in line at a milk tea shop. He blurted out on reflex:

“Miracle Lengleng?”

Ivy paused, confused. “Lengleng?”

Only then did Xie Xingchen realize he’d accidentally dragged a character name from his previous life into the conversation. He explained awkwardly, “Oh, it’s nothing. It just reminded me of a little girl who loves traveling, loves changing outfits like crazy, and has truly terrible taste.”

Ivy: ?

Uh…

Which girl doesn’t like traveling and changing outfits?

What was even the point of saying that?

Was the key part the “terrible taste”?

Ivy didn’t understand, but she knew how to smile politely and say nothing.

So the conversation returned to business.

Xie Xingchen looked at Ivy’s work and couldn’t help giving her a thumbs-up.

Whether it was Ivy or Zhang Yu—both were incredible.

They were product appearance designers, yet both had somehow unlocked illustration skills.

And their works weren’t inferior at all to the famous artists Xie Xingchen had seen before.

He’d struck gold.

With Ivy joining, Xie Xingchen felt his merchandise shop could expand rapidly.

Because… even if he only had two designer-artists, they were basically multitasking monsters.

Look at Ivy: five hours and she produced something that someone else might not manage in fifty hours.

Look at Zhang Yu: happily drawing all kinds of cute, whimsical designs every day—high output, and insanely self-motivated.

With these two, the merch shop would definitely shine.

Xie Xingchen smiled warmly. “Congratulations, you’ve been accepted by Earth Commerce. For now, your benefits will match Zhang Yu’s. Our base salary is lower than what you had at your previous company, but trust me—this job’s bonuses are generous. If you want to make money, you can design more merchandise. As long as a design is used, you’ll be able to earn a large bonus quickly. Also, the current work setup is remote. As long as you deliver on time, the company doesn’t restrict your hours—you’re free.”

Hearing she’d been hired, Ivy was thrilled.

But she still forced herself to stay calm and listen carefully as the boss explained.

Xie Xingchen didn’t waste words. In a few sentences, he laid out the job arrangement and compensation package.

Then, as she was about to leave, he added, “By the way, I think this draft is excellent. It could even become another postcard series. So later, register the copyright first, then find Zhang Yu—have her send you the supplier info—and you can communicate the production details yourself. Is that okay?”

Remembering Zhang Yu’s evaluation of Ivy—and knowing Ivy had previously worked in management—Xie Xingchen decided to delegate appropriately.

Of course, this wasn’t a designer-artist’s core responsibility. So if Ivy handled it perfectly, Xie Xingchen wouldn’t mind giving her a raise.

For workers, money mattered most.

Xie Xingchen didn’t want to “sell dreams” or draw empty promises.

He said directly, “This is extra work. If you do it well, you’ll get more bonus money. If you do it badly, you won’t get this bonus. Do you want to try?”

Ivy answered instantly, “Yes. I want to try.”

She loved drawing and design, but she wasn’t the type to bury her head in art and ignore everything else.

She liked communicating with people too. And now a job with similar duties to her old one—but benefits that were practically heaven—was right in front of her. How could she not treasure it?

Ivy’s execution power was maxed out. Once she confirmed she’d been hired, she immediately went back and resigned from her current company.

Her boss keenly sensed she was being poached and tried to tempt her with a higher salary, but Ivy’s resolve was firm. In the end, the conversation didn’t end pleasantly.

Outside the office, coworkers pretended to work, but their ears were basically standing straight up.

“Ivy is resigning—and even a raise couldn’t keep her!”

“Finally. The king of internal competition got poached by another company?”

At their desks, people whispered gossip in disbelief.

Their company’s benefits were average, but commissions were decent.

Ivy worked like a demon; her monthly income wasn’t low at all. If she got poached, how much would the other side have to offer?

“By the way, what’s going on lately? Why are more and more people quitting our company?” someone asked.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but I do know they’re living way better after leaving,” someone answered enviously.

Just as people were about to say more, a loud desk slap instantly made everyone quiet as quail. They went back to “serious work,” and only after the manager left did they dare resume discussing Ivy being poached.

Because the manager refused to release her quickly, Ivy could only submit written paperwork first. After that, she still had to stay at the original company for a month before officially leaving.

Xie Xingchen had expected this, so he didn’t react much. He only asked, “Can you start working now, or do you have to wait until a month later?”

Ivy replied without hesitation, “I can start working right now.”

Xie Xingchen didn’t ask why. He simply said, “If you can fully complete the work here this month while doing it part-time, we’ll pay you full salary.”

Ivy’s eyes lit up.

This boss was way too good, wasn’t he? No wonder Zhang Yu always smiled when she talked about him.

After taking on Earth Commerce’s tasks, Ivy became a different person.

She still handled her old company’s work dutifully, but the moment it was time to clock out, she became the first one to leave.

Because she was already a soon-to-be ex-employee, nobody could do anything about it.

And Ivy truly lived up to her reputation as a workhorse. With an eight-hour workday at her “about-to-be ex-company,” she could still spend ten hours afterward drawing, designing, and following up on the factory’s production progress.

Her efficiency shocked Xie Xingchen so much he kept staring in disbelief—genuinely afraid this not-yet-official employee would drop dead from overwork.

He hinted delicately a few times, but Ivy brushed it off with: “I’m B-rank mental power,” and “It’s only for one month—next month it’ll be fine.”

Just as Ivy said, she only “endured” for one month.

And that so-called “enduring” involved roughly the same number of hours she normally spent working—maybe even slightly fewer—yet she made far more money this month than before.

Not to mention: the commission she earned in just three or four days was enough to match what she used to make in two full months of grinding.

The personified ginkgo “beauty” postcard had been successfully produced. Because communication and oversight were timely, the sample quality was excellent.

Plus, Ivy and Xie Xingchen discussed it for a long time. Xie Xingchen even used his simple drawing skills to sketch Han-style outfits for reference. In the end, Ivy finally understood what he wanted to express, and she changed the ginkgo beauty’s outfit into an airy, ethereal Han-style robe ensemble.

The final result made even Ivy, the original artist, adore it and refuse to let it go.

It was like a bright sun rising into rosy dawn—radiant—like a lotus blossoming from rolling waves, dazzling beyond words. (1)

February 24 was destined to be the day the entire galaxy went crazy for the Chang’an City postcard series.

On that day, the postcards everyone had been longing for were finally going on sale.

This set was named “Chang’an: Impressions.” There were only two designs, and each design had only three million copies—a total of six million postcards—going on sale at 12:00 noon today.

Xie Xingchen had already posted the large images of both designs on his StarBlog. These were the original drafts, clearer and even more breathtakingly beautiful.

One was the grand, majestic Chang’an City.

The other was an incomparable beauty wearing a kind of flowing, ethereal outfit no one had ever seen before.

Compared to the Chang’an City postcard—which people had already seen—everyone’s eyes were drawn even more to the ginkgo element and the beauty wearing a ginkgo-themed Han-style outfit: a high-waisted, chest-high ruqun ensemble.

Pretty as peach blossoms in early spring; pure as chrysanthemums in late autumn. (2)

They couldn’t describe that fairy-like grace with words, but they had eyes and taste—so of course they could tell she possessed extraordinary beauty and… culture.

Beautiful. It was simply too beautiful.

How could there be such a beautiful place, such a beautiful person, such a beautiful style of clothing?

The artist was incredible—truly incredible.

It was just money, right? Take it!

No matter what, they had to buy these two postcards!

Such gorgeous and unique postcards—if you didn’t buy them, it was like betraying yourself!

Don’t tell them “what’s the use of buying it.” How could it be useless? Just looking at it made them feel refreshed!

Oh—and the original images Boss Xie posted? They wanted them! They were going to use them as wallpapers!

While slower people were still admiring the ancient city and the beauty, faster people had already saved the images and set them as their light-brain desktops.

Of course, everyone was civilized—so they “politely” took the images by doing the three-hit combo: follow, repost, comment. And then they discovered that Earth Commerce had once again surged onto the main trending list.

#PeerlessBeauty
#GoldenAgeChang’anCity
#EarthCommercePostcards

Three trends again, neatly lined up.

And all anyone could say was—deserved.

Truly deserved!

Whether it was the antique elegance of Chang’an City or that peerless beauty with her unique charm—everything was worth it.

The beauty, the beauty’s clothing, and the stunning ancient city—those three together were the perfect match!

[StunnedByBeauty: Ah! Nobody is allowed to snatch my postcards! Both of them are mine!]

[MoneyPleaseLeaveMe: Waaah, I never knew time could pass so slowly—hurry up and let noon arrive! My wallet is starving and thirsty!]

Netizens were howling from being amazed—and also howling from being terrified.

Especially when they saw the number of people who had set reminders for the sale had already hit eight digits, and there were still two hours left, they completely lost it.

[AlwaysAngry: I’m furious! Why is Boss Xie always so stingy? This is obviously a perfect money-making opportunity! And you’re only doing three million of each? Who are you looking down on with such a tiny amount?]

[SplashYouWithWaterDroplets: Stop—just based on the friends around me, each person wants at least ten copies. So here’s the problem… can we even get one?]

Too many people wanted them, and that made even more people doubt whether they could actually buy any.

If they couldn’t, that would be tragic.

At the same time, people from every social class felt their vision go dark.

[BeingRichIsJustThat: Sigh… never thought I’d live to see the day I fight eight-digit netizens for a ten-credit postcard. Heh. Am I not rich enough? No—Boss Xie just doesn’t want to take my money.]

Earth Commerce truly was the nemesis of the rich.

You thought being rich meant you could do whatever you wanted.

The shop used real action to tell you: no, even rich people can’t do whatever they want!

You still have to fight like everyone else—snatch it.

Don’t want to?

Then find scalpers.

Scalpers always exist.

But in reality, there weren’t many, either!

Compared to flipping goods for extra money, most people preferred to keep the postcards for themselves.

And professional scalpers couldn’t guarantee they’d successfully grab items every day, so finding scalpers was too much trouble.

You had to post on StarBlog and rely on luck, and you still had to be polite and respectful when buying from them. Otherwise, if they felt you had a bad attitude, they just wouldn’t sell to you—turn around and sell to someone else. Plenty of buyers existed.

Unless you found a scalper you really clicked with for long-term cooperation—or you were so rich you didn’t care about paying absurd markups—most “normal rich” folks still ended up fighting the crowd like everyone else.

With alarms set, everyone stared at the two postcards with blazing eyes, a fire igniting inside them.

The two styles were very different, yet both were undeniably gorgeous.

And Boss Xie had said it clearly: this was a two-postcard series—meaning there would be countless more later. So how could they miss this?

At this moment, the people who had Priority Purchase Cards couldn’t help laughing.

Hahahaha—whether other people could buy them or not, they didn’t know.

But they definitely could!

That Priority Purchase Card was truly a practical treasure.

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