Chapter 26
Chapter 26
“Hm? There’s more to it?” Lin Yinxi sat on the edge of her bed.
Song Qianli nodded. “My younger sister studies at Jincheng University. I come to the aquarium for part-time work every year to earn some tuition money for her.
I’ve done it for three years running, and every time they give me low-paid day work…”
Mentioning her sister brought a sweet, happy smile to Song Qianli’s face.
The words “Jincheng University” immediately put Lin Yinxi on alert. “I heard a lot of monsters appeared at Jincheng University.”
“Huh?” Song Qianli looked confused, then smiled again. “You’re joking, aren’t you? Ha ha. Everyone’s attending classes as usual. Let me show you a photo of my sister. She was in a university debate competition just a couple of days ago.”
Song Qianli showed her a photo, looking proud.
Lin Yinxi studied it. Song Qianli’s sister did indeed look human.
But the teachers judging onstage and the students listening below… Didn’t some of them look a little too inhuman?
Wasn’t the skin on some of their bodies, along with their facial features, slightly misaligned?
Song Qianli’s expression remained perfectly normal. “See? The university’s still holding debate competitions as usual. You’re so young. Don’t believe all those ghost stories. They sound quite frightening.”
In Song Qianli’s understanding, there was nothing at all wrong with these teachers and students.
Lin Yinxi’s mouth twitched. “Uh… Just take it as a joke.”
Diagnosis complete. Her roommate wasn’t normal either.
“Oh, time for work,” Song Qianli said. “I’m on the day shift, so I have to pick up my uniform now. Bye for now. If you’re eating in the cafeteria tonight, let’s go together.”
Lin Yinxi nodded. “All right.”
Song Qianli gathered her things, grabbed her phone, and hurried out.
Following the group message, Lin Yinxi went to collect her equipment for tonight’s work.
She arrived at the fish-headed entity’s office.
“I’ll upgrade your wristband first. Come back tonight for your uniform and other equipment.” With a sticky hand, the fish-headed entity gripped Lin Yinxi’s wrist and removed her blue wristband.
A little later, the upgrade was complete.
“The identity registered on your wristband is Night-Shift Feed Quality Inspector. You can use it to eat in the staff cafeteria on Zone B’s third floor.”
The fish-headed entity was fierce with other employees, but very courteous to Lin Yinxi.
“Thank you.”
Lin Yinxi wanted to take her wristband back herself.
The fish-headed entity tilted his mouth upward, smacking his lips.
Opening his mouth, he reached out to put the wristband on her for her. He even took the chance to stroke her small hand, murmuring, “Do a good job. The higher-ups have high hopes for you. They specifically put in a word to get you a key position.”
Lin Yinxi grabbed his dripping hand and pulled hers free. She used so much force that she scraped off two of his scales.
Ugh, filthy. Throw those away at once.
“What do you mean, put in a word?” she asked.
The fish-headed entity gave nothing away. “I understand. Young people want to keep a low profile, start at the bottom, and build up a record of achievements. I understand, I understand.”
He left Lin Yinxi utterly bewildered.
This world was mad. Even entities were getting in on that game.
Lin Yinxi went to the free charging outlet beside Zone A’s information desk.
She was an employee now. Helping herself to a little of the company’s water and electricity was perfectly normal.
She charged both her phone and her power bank to full.
Make that entity boss’s electricity meter spin!
Once they were charged, Lin Yinxi went to meet Xu Haitang and the others.
They were not at the meeting point.
Yang Shu had not come either.
Lin Yinxi waited a while.
Looking into a tank, she saw a fish with its tail tightly constricted, as though it were wearing tight trousers. It swam clumsily back and forth.
The longer she watched, the more familiar it seemed. She felt a chill of unease.
Better stop waiting here.
Lin Yinxi decided to look for Xu Haitang herself.
She followed the blue underwater passage toward Whale Shark Hall.
A performance sign hung at its entrance.
The panoramic, immersive habitat tank normally hosted two merfolk shows a day. But the sign said the performer was ill and performances were temporarily suspended.
Lin Yinxi entered. During the day, the tents were put away so visitors could enjoy the exhibits unobstructed.
Before an enormous curved glass wall stood a scattering of visitors with dull, wooden gazes. Several massive whale sharks swam slowly through the deep blue seawater.
“If the tents are packed away, where did the people go?”
Lin Yinxi searched around.
Beside the tent-rental shop, she found Chu Yanran kneeling on the floor, crying.
“What happened?”
Chen Fei lay beneath Chu Yanran’s and Xu Haitang’s coats. His face was pale, a layer of frost had formed on his skin, and his hands kept trembling. He looked terribly cold.
Chu Yanran rubbed her eyes and tried to compose herself, her voice still choked with tears. “Haitang knew you’d come looking. She told me to wait here. She… she couldn’t look after us. She had to find a way to earn Rabbit Coins first…”
Lin Yinxi looked at Chen Fei on the floor. “What’s wrong with him?”
Chu Yanran lifted the clothes covering him.
Chen Fei was a tall, sturdy sports student with dark skin. Beneath the coats, his two legs, still in shorts, had actually fused together. Scales were growing on the surface.
The sight immediately brought something to Lin Yinxi’s mind. “A merman…”
Chu Yanran’s eyes reddened further. “A tent here costs three hundred Rabbit Coins a night. We wanted to share another visitor’s tent, but they all refused us… Sob…”
She recalled last night’s distressing events.
“So we could rent a tent overnight, Chen Fei agreed to perform as a dark-skinned merman. When he came out of the water this morning, he kept saying he could hear waves in his ears. Then he turned into this…”
The merfolk show had physique requirements.
Chen Fei was a sports student with an eight-pack. Of the three of them, he best met those standards.
His dark skin made him more distinctive too.
Who wouldn’t be desperate to watch a dark-skinned merman perform a sizzling dance in the water?
“Before this happened, did he sign some kind of employment contract or register any information?” Lin Yinxi asked calmly.
Chu Yanran nodded frantically, tears pouring down. “Before closing last night, someone brought a form and said that if he signed up to perform, they’d cover food and accommodation for the night… Closing time was almost here. To protect me, Feifei signed before he had time to read the contract…”
Signing a contract without reading it was practically volunteering to get killed.
Just then, two employees in deep blue uniforms emerged, pushing a cart.
Gills grew on their necks, and their eyes, covered in white films, looked their way. They pushed the same metal cart covered with a black cloth.
“We have received notice from our superiors that a merman in Whale Shark Hall is ill, seriously affecting the visitor experience. He must be taken back for treatment.”