Wen Xirou was about to ponder when suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps came from outside the door.
She instinctively jolted, and the human skin book slipped from her hands.
The office door opened, and the butler appeared in the doorway. He stood at the entrance, looking inside.
Wen Xirou was on the floor, her hand steady as she caught a book.
"What are you doing?" the butler asked calmly.
Wen Xirou twisted and crawled on the floor, rubbing her clothes against the ground, and then answered seriously, "Cleaning the floor."
The butler said nothing more and closed the office door.
Only then did Wen Xirou let out a long breath, carefully getting up and placing the book back on the shelf.
Fortunately, she had acted quickly and caught the book; otherwise, if it had fallen and bent the corner, it would have been considered damage to the office's property.
Just as she placed the book back on the shelf, footsteps sounded once more from outside the door. Wen Xirou instinctively dropped to the floor, crawling and rubbing her clothes on the ground.
However, this time, it wasn't the butler who appeared at the door. Along with the sound of barking dogs, the door opened.
The sharp sound of high heels echoed as someone entered the room.
Who was it? The farm owner?
Wen Xirou didn't dare look up or glance around, staying on the floor and earnestly wiping the smooth floor tiles with her uniform.
...
The farm's broadcast sounded again.
"Beep—current time, 3:00 PM. Weather: clear, light breeze."
Wan Qian wiped nonexistent sweat from her forehead and lay on the grass, which gave off a faint scent of fresh grass. The soft sunlight bathed her, making her feel warm all over.
The sky above her was hazy, and she couldn't make out the clouds or the sun. An hour passed, and not a single bird passed overhead. The sky looked dead, stagnant, like a pool of decayed, festering water. There were no signs of life anywhere.
Wan Qian clicked her tongue and muttered to herself, "Environmental pollution is really getting worse these days."
She had expected the air to be fresher when returning to the countryside, but instead, the smog was just as bad as in the city.
It was no surprise though. If it weren't for severe environmental pollution, the farm wouldn't be breeding these genetically mutated creatures.
"Ms. Wan," came the familiar voice of the butler.
Wan Qian quickly turned over, twisted her body on the ground, and then slowly raised her head with an innocent expression.
"Ah, what do you need me for?"
The butler's gaze landed on her, his expression subtly questioning, "What are you doing?"
Wan Qian answered seriously, "Cleaning the floor... uh, no, removing weeds."
"..." The butler paused for a moment, "You and Ms. Wen really get along well."
Wan Qian thought for a moment, then affirmed the butler's words, "You're right."
After all, Wen Xirou was beautiful and had a good temper.
Although Wan Qian had considered taking shortcuts before, under Wen Xirou's persuasion, she quickly turned away from that path.
When she interacted with Wen Xirou, they really hadn't had any major disagreements.
The butler smiled meaningfully, "If you like her, should we consider making her permanent ahead of schedule?"
Wan Qian froze for a moment—ah, so taking shortcuts is now so open and straightforward?
She had just convinced Wen Xirou, and now the butler was asking if she wanted to give Wen Xirou a shortcut.
Could it be that this butler, who appears so refined and dignified is just as shallow and tempted by beauty? He's eyeing Wen Xirou and wants to give her the green light?
That won't do. In her farm, there's absolutely no room for such unspoken rules.
"No, no," Wan Qian shook her head repeatedly, "Let's do things by the book."
Fearing the butler couldn't resist temptation, she raised her head, gazing seriously at him and added, "Don't ever ask me about something like this again. My stance is simple: everything must follow the rules and regulations. I hope you can do the same, and stop thinking about crooked ways."
"Since my great-uncle entrusted the farm to you, it means he believes you can manage it well. You wouldn't want to disappoint him, right?"
She stared intensely into the butler's eyes.
The butler looked at her thoughtfully for a moment before smiling and saying, "Of course."
Wan Qian nodded in satisfaction.
"By the way, Ms. Wan—"
The butler walked up to her and extended his hand, holding a tube of ointment in his palm.
"The matter before was something I didn't handle in time,, and you got hurt because of it," the butler said. "This is the ointment. It will help with the recovery of your injury. I hope you use it as soon as possible."
Wan Qian took the ointment from the butler, squeezed some out, and applied it to the burn on her arm.
The ointment smelled a bit strange, but once applied, it felt cool and soothing.
In the evening, after the afternoon's work had ended, everyone returned to the employee dorms and gathered in the cafeteria on the first floor.
This time, three fewer people showed up than in the morning.
Two of them—the man wearing glasses and the fatty—had been assigned to clear the lawn. The third person was Wen Xirou, whom Wan Qian knew well.
Xiao Lin didn't see Wen Xirou, and she became anxious. She was more worried than when she couldn't see Wan Qian.
After all, Sister Xirou had promised that if they both made it out of this monstrous place alive, she would give her a raise.
Xiao Lin couldn't even bring herself to eat dinner and moved over to Wan Qian's side, lowering her head and nervously speaking.
"Ms. Wan, Sister Xirou hasn't come back yet. She's not in trouble, is she?"
Xiao Lin's anxiety was evident, and her big, watery eyes looked at Wan Qian with an expression full of dependence and hope.
Wan Qian was taken aback and also felt puzzled. "Yeah, why hasn't she returned?"
The office was so clean; logically, it shouldn't have taken much effort to clean.
Wan Qian touched her pocket. She had left in a hurry earlier in the afternoon, and the leave request written by Wen Xirou was still in her pocket, waiting for a stamp.
"Alright, I'll go to the office and see if she's there," Wan Qian said to Xiao Lin.