Chapter 32
Chapter 32
Lin Yinxi immediately pried the display nameplate off the workbench and slipped it into Chu Yanran’s collar. Then she grabbed the black stamp beside her and brought it down hard.
With a nameplate, Chu Yanran was no longer feed for this workshop to process.
The Seahorse Team Leader hopped over. “What are you doing? Were you talking to the feed on the conveyor just now?” he demanded fiercely.
“No.” Lin Yinxi denied it outright.
How could she admit to doing something bad?
The Seahorse Team Leader’s eyes searched her face.
His long snout suddenly came so close it nearly poked her nose. “Where’s the nameplate I put beneath these operating procedures?”
He was far from blind. His eyes were very sharp.
“I don’t know. I’m just a newcomer starting work. Maybe it slid off when the conveyor vibrated a long time ago?”
Lin Yinxi immediately looked beneath the machine, sounding even more anxious than he did.
“Oh no. Don’t tell me it actually fell into the reprocessing area?”
“Fell in?”
His voice rose several decibels.
“That’s the sample nameplate! If it’s lost and other inspectors make mistakes later, who’s going to take responsibility?!”
You, of course, dear team leader, Lin Yinxi thought.
She couldn’t say that. It would send him into a rage.
The ice bucket containing Chu Yanran had already slipped into the black conveyor belt’s shadows.
A nameplate marked a visitor who was not yet fully contaminated and still needed to be returned to Zone A. Chu Yanran was safe for now.
“Don’t be angry, sir. I didn’t see a nameplate posted there when I arrived.
Work inevitably uses up some office supplies. At worst, you can apply to the higher-ups for a new one.
If they really investigate, I’ll back up your story. We’ll say the wriggling feed knocked it into the reprocessing machinery. Then they won’t blame you for neglecting your duties.”
With that speech, Lin Yinxi respectfully placed every last bit of responsibility squarely on the Seahorse Team Leader’s head.
Then, most generously, she helped him think of an excuse.
His eyes widened, and his belly swelled. She seemed to have made him angry.
Lin Yinxi took out the carry bag containing the blood feast to soothe him.
“Don’t be angry, sir. I brought you a late-night snack.”
He had still wanted to hold her accountable, but the aroma drew him in. Greed mingled with puzzlement. “What is that? This is…”
It was the premium fare Rabbit Keeper had personally provided for Lin Yinxi.
“A late-night snack,” she said.
She opened the packaging. A smell of blood, thousands of times stronger and purer than that of any meat in the processing room, spread through the air.
A blood feast of this caliber was an irresistible delicacy to a low-level manager like the Seahorse Team Leader.
“This is…” His eyes instantly fixed on it. Drool dripped from his long snout. “This is from that great one’s personal chef…”
“Shh…” Lin Yinxi hastily signaled for silence.
She tucked the blood feast against his chest. “Go enjoy your snack, sir. Could I take a little rest too?”
The missing sample nameplate was the last thing on his mind now.
The tip of his slender tail curled with excitement.
Hastily, he caught the bag in his mouth.
“So well-off, yet working on an assembly line… glug, glug… Thoughtful. Very thoughtful. Resting in the communal workshop would look bad. Use my office.”
Without waiting for Lin Yinxi to speak again, he eagerly hopped into a dark corner to enjoy this exquisite meal alone.
“Thank you, sir.” Watching him leave, Lin Yinxi reflected that Rabbit Keeper’s takeaway was even more expensive than she had imagined.
She went to the Seahorse Team Leader’s office.
She searched through it.
First, she found a document titled Quality Inspector Work Reflections.
Zhang Mazi. Employee number 044.
March 5: A frozen fish appeared on the line today. It looked a lot like Li Si, who left yesterday. It told me the aquarium sells products outside. I wouldn’t believe anything a frozen fish says…
March 6: My superior asked if I could drive. I said yes. He said he would promote me.
March 10: I’ve driven the vehicle empty so many times already. So Deep Blue Aquarium has a place like this? I’d never seen it before.
I joked with my superior that I could drive this route with my eyes closed. He very seriously said he’d taken note.
The log ended there.
On the last page was a photo of a driver whose eyes had been gouged out and whose hands had fused with the steering wheel.
Lin Yinxi continued searching and found a shipping document.
It read: Waste Dispatch Area.
Zone B was the logistics area. Lin Yinxi had investigated every door she could, and none led to a place called the Waste Dispatch Area.
She couldn’t take these things away.
That would arouse suspicion.
She photographed them all with her phone.
Hearing the Seahorse Team Leader hopping up and down, she immediately put her phone away.
Lin Yinxi returned to the inspection station. Very little meat remained on the belt.
The wall clock was approaching midnight.
Tonight’s work was nearly over.
Feeding did not take place until two a.m.
Her assignment tonight was only Feed Quality Inspector. She was not responsible for the feeding afterward.
She watched the time and clocked out precisely on schedule.
[Wages paid: 500 Rabbit Coins.]
Lin Yinxi checked her balance.
One day as a part-time cleaner had earned her one hundred Rabbit Coins, driving away Red Raincoat had earned another hundred, and white bread had cost thirty…
Yes, she had found opportunities along the way to buy the basic set twice more at Jellyfish Café. The employee selling coffee seemed unwilling to see her again.
Adding tonight’s earnings, she now had 673 Rabbit Coins.
She was getting well-off too.
Dragging her exhausted body back to the dormitory, Lin Yinxi found that Song Qianli had not returned. She fell into bed and slept.
Some time later, she stirred.
Half-asleep, she suddenly heard a bubbling sound from the balcony, like bubbles being blown underwater.
A light sleeper, Lin Yinxi opened her eyes at once.
The dormitory was pitch-black.
She checked her phone. It was 1:43 a.m.
She lay still in bed.
Glug, glug… The bubbling grew clearer.
She remembered rule three of the Deep Blue Aquarium General Employee Regulations. Hearing this sound at night meant she must close her eyes and pretend to sleep.
She immediately shut them.
Knock, knock, knock…
Then she heard clear knocking.
Song Qianli’s somewhat weak voice sounded.
“Lin Yinxi, open the door. I forgot my key… It’s so cold outside. Hurry and let me in…”
She prowled outside the dormitory, unable to enter.
Lin Yinxi did not answer. The knocking was not coming from outside the door, but from beyond the balcony glass.
Whatever she said, Lin Yinxi kept the rules firmly in mind and did not respond.
Bang!
Something suddenly struck the balcony glass hard.
The formerly weak voice turned shrill and venomous.
“Lin Yinxi, I know you’re in there!”