Everyone was in a good mood, except for Wan Qian.
No matter which boss it was, waking up to find that almost all the interns have run away would probably make anyone collapse.
Wan Qian sat dazed on the sofa, her eyes vacant and her lips trembling uncontrollably. She mumbled to herself, repeating the same question over and over.
"Why? Why did this happen?"
The butler thoughtfully poured her a cup of hot tea.
"Perhaps it's because they received better offers," the butler gently comforted her. "Although many employees left this time, I believe the farm will improve under your leadership."
His gaze fell on the coffee table, where an booklet lay — the one that Wen Xirou had given to Wan Qian last night.
The smile on the butler's lips deepened, becoming more genuine than usual.
Wan Qian sighed and asked, "What about Wen Xirou?"
The butler lowered his eyes and softly replied, "Miss Wen also left. She said that the farm work was too strenuous and not suitable for her."
Wan Qian was utterly disappointed— even you, with your thick eyebrows and bright eyes, betrayed me!
But thankfully, some people stayed. Wan Qian felt a little relieved as she watched the butler bring over Jiang You and the others.
After Sun Jiawang disappeared, these people who had been severely contaminated did not return to normal. They were left on the farm and were unable to leave.
The butler brought the people before Wan Qian, asking for her opinion.
"These are the employees who are willing to stay. Which of them do you think should be made permanent?"
These people, who had been severely contaminated, were no longer able to maintain their human consciousness. Their thoughts and behaviors were gradually shifting towards becoming ghosts and monsters, though they had not yet been fully assimilated into one.
Jiang You looked at Wan Qian. In her memory, there was the presence of Wan Qian. Now, she knew that Wan Qian was the true owner of the farm.
If she were still holding onto her human thoughts at this moment, she would likely feel an overwhelming sense of fear, despair, and resentment, deeply feeling deceived by Wan Qian.
But now, Jiang You's heart was filled only with loyalty and admiration for Wan Qian.
The farm owner truly was brilliant! She had thought of infiltrating the enemy's ranks, pretending to be human, and deceiving those humans.
It wasn't just Jiang You; every employee shared the same thoughts. Wan Qian could feel the worshipful gazes directed at her, making her restless.
"Uh... I didn't mean to hide my identity before." In her first half of life, Wan Qian believed she hadn't done anything shameful, and at this moment, she couldn't help but feel her face burning.
"You must have your reasons," Jiang You said first. "We understand!"
Everyone nodded in agreement: "Exactly! You were even willing to humble yourself and eat the same meals as us!"
"Having a leader like you, who is willing to get down to the grassroots level and work with us, is truly a blessing!"
Wan Qian was flattered by these words. Ah, really, how is it that all the farm employees are so eloquent?
She waved her hand grandly and made all of them permanent employees.
"I've seen your work ethic over these past few days," she said, "With hardworking and diligent employees like you, I believe the farm will keep improving! Let's work hard together!"
After arranging for the new permanent employees, Wan Qian turned to look at the butler.
"Sigh, although these employees are willing to stay, our farm is still short on workers."
"Recruiting interns is good, but if they can't stick around and run off after a few days, it reflects badly. I plan to personally go out and find talent."
"After all, at this stage, our farm lacks technical workers at the grassroots level. If we only pursue highly educated people, who all want to work in offices instead of laboring on the ground, that's not going to work either."
This was a solution that Wan Qian had thought of after a long time. If the interns couldn't endure the hard work and ran away, she might as well find some people who were willing to work hard.
She looked at the butler, her gaze full of expectation. "What do you think?"
The butler nodded, of course. "Your idea makes a lot of sense."
Wan Qian immediately asked, "Then where do you think we should recruit from?"
The butler replied, "There should be quite a few unemployed young people in Mushroom Village near the farm. We could ask if they are willing to come work at the farm."
Mushroom Village? Wan Qian remembered. The last time she took the bus to the farm, the bus announcement had mentioned that the next stop was Mushroom Village.
So, three days later, Wan Qian appeared at the farm entrance and stopped the familiar bus.
The bus door reluctantly opened in front of Wan Qian. She walked up and saw the familiar female driver.
The driver was surprisingly warm-hearted— upon recognizing Wan Qian, she even turned her head to greet her.
Wan Qian waved cheerfully at the driver, "Hi!"
At the same time, she noticed the driver's messy hair, adorned with two very familiar pink butterfly-shaped hairpins.
It seemed that her gift had been well-liked, as the driver had been wearing it all this time. Wan Qian was in a great mood.
She walked over to the window seat and sat down. The last time she came to the farm, she had sat in this same seat.
Wan Qian gazed out the window, and memories involuntarily flooded her mind.
Not long ago, she was a laid-off young person struggling to find a job, but now she's the boss.
The bus began to rattle, making creaking sounds.
"Your bus still hasn't been repaired?" Wan Qian couldn't help but remark.
She looked around the bus, and it was even worse than the last time she had ridden it. There were more yellow grease stains on the floor and walls.
The seats were covered with purplish-black, unidentified solidified substances, making it impossible to distinguish the original color of the seats.
The bus jolted violently, the gears grinding, emitting a sharp "screech—" sound. Wan Qian was thrown off balance, almost falling from her seat. The road was still quite bumpy, she thought to herself.
However, thinking about how Mushroom Village, like her own farm, it only had one bus to and from the area, she could tell that it was probably a very remote village.
The poor road conditions were understandable.