12. Monsters who love to join in the fun—Huangfu Jun raised an eyebrow and quickly found an explanation.
It was cool at night. Flying through the clouds like Sun Wukong—the higher you go, the colder it gets. If you fly too long, you might catch a headache or a fever, or even end up with a frozen face. But the airtight racing suit could block the bone-chilling wind. Reasonable, very reasonable. The kid was thoughtful.
Just as Huangfu Jun was lost in her fantasies, a middle-aged woman's voice came from ahead, "Xiao Jun, come quick, everyone's waiting for you."
Huangfu Jun turned and saw Ying Wu waving at her from the corridor.
She paused, then tucked her small bag into the laptop backpack and walked over quickly.
Entering the office, she was greeted by warm, smiling faces full of kindness.
Huangfu Jun was momentarily dazed.
The atmosphere had shifted too fast, hadn't it?
Not only Ying Wu, Guiche Jun, and Shan Yang were smiling at her, but even the most cold-faced and hard-mouthed colleagues were exceedingly warm. Ying Wu stood up, her eyes full of smiles, with none of the awkwardness or stiffness from the Supervision Bureau office.
She praised with a smile, "Being able to handle the Supervision Bureau perfectly on your first day—that's really impressive."
Huangfu Jun took out her phone and played a voice message, "Thank you, Sister Ying. Captain Bai just came to see me. He said there's an urgent mission at the construction site and needs my help. I won't be able to work with everyone for the next couple of days."
Hearing Bai Lin, Ying Wu's expression flickered briefly before returning to normal. She said warmly, "The office is fine with us. Since Captain Bai has something, go ahead and help."
Shan Yang nodded as well. "Captain Bai's mission is the priority. We can handle office matters. Oh, Xiao Huangfu, Deputy Director Ha just sent word that your family has been moved into the dormitory. When you get off work, just go straight to the dorm."
Huangfu Jun responded with a polite smile.
Jin Ji also stood up, walked over to Huangfu Jun, and handed her a document. "This is the layout of the Seventh Sub-bureau's buildings. It'll make work much easier in the future."
Huangfu Jun opened the document. It contained not only the overall layout of buildings like the office building, archive room, and employee dormitory, but also a functional introduction to each room in the office building. For a newcomer like her, this was timely and practical.
Guiche Jun brought over a key and a meal card, handing them to Huangfu Jun. "It's a meal card, but you don't actually need to go get food. Director Zhang delivers meals to the dorm every day. Xiao Junjun, just give the meal card to Grandma and swipe it when Director Zhang delivers the food."
Huangfu Jun recalled Zhang Yu, who was always on the verge of exploding from work pressure. She couldn't help but worry. She took out a pen and paper and wrote to Guiche Jun, "Director Zhang is so busy. Would it be too much trouble for him to deliver meals to the door? The dorm isn't far from the office; I could just go get food after work."
Guiche Jun's smiling eyes curved slightly. He gently patted her shoulder. "Director Zhang is a super monster with eight legs; this little thing is nothing to him. Besides, Captain Bai's missions are always urgent and very 'inhumane.' Even if you're fine, you still need to take care of your elderly family member, right?"
Huangfu Jun deeply agreed with that. For a newcomer on her first day, Bai Lin demanding she work overtime at midnight was super, super inhumane. Oh wait, he wasn't human—he had no humanity to begin with. She took the key and meal card, smiled at Guiche Jun by way of thanks.
Guiche Jun smiled and nodded. He glanced at his watch, then looked at Huangfu Jun. "It's quitting time. I'm heading back to the dorm too. Mind if I tag along and see your new dorm?"
Huangfu Jun frowned slightly. Were male and female dorms together?
Maybe the dorms were apartment-style, each one a fully functional unit, so there was no gender distinction.
Hearing the words "new dormitory," the others couldn't help turning around with curious, expectant looks at Huangfu Jun.
Afraid their eager gazes would frighten her, Guiche Jun quickly explained, "Xiao Junjun, don't be scared. Our Monster Bureau dorms are different from human ones. Each room's layout is completely up to Director Zhang's whim—it's even more thrilling than opening a blind box. Plus, our employees are fixed; new dorms are only set up once every many years, so everyone's really curious."
After hearing this explanation, Huangfu Jun's expression relaxed slightly.
Ying Wu quickly approached Huangfu Jun, linked her arm, and said with great intimacy, "We're getting off early today thanks to A Jun. With those files, the Supervision Bureau will be working all night, but we can leave on time. I have to see A Jun's new dorm."
Jin Ji couldn't help rolling her eyes.
Though she was temporarily on the same side as Ying Wu, she still couldn't stand her hypocrisy.
She couldn't help but retort, "Those Supervision Bureau people are even less human than monsters. There's no way they'll let us rest. They're just making plans now. You'll see, they're definitely up to no good."
Shan Yang, who was tidying his desk at the back, smiled and tried to smooth things over. "It's fine. Being able to have a comfortable dinner is already good. Spend today's money today, worry about tomorrow's troubles tomorrow. Come on, let's head to the dorm!"
Ying Wu shot Jin Ji a look, then hooked her arm around Huangfu Jun's and turned toward the door. "Old Shan's right. We'll worry about OT later. First, let's go see A Jun's new dorm!"
Huangfu Jun instinctively resisted Ying Wu's sudden closeness. She adjusted her backpack as an excuse to break free of Ying Wu's grip.
But it wasn't time to burn bridges yet. She gave Ying Wu a smile, pretended nothing was wrong, and gestured toward the corridor. But Guiche Jun grabbed her arm.
Huangfu Jun looked back in confusion. Guiche Jun had a furtive expression. He leaned in and whispered, "The Supervision Bureau's temporary office is right by the back door. If we go that way, they'll definitely grab us for overtime, and we'll end up eating dinner at our desks."
Huangfu Jun nodded blankly.
Guiche Jun peeked out the door, then pulled Huangfu Jun in the opposite direction. The others followed cautiously.
Just as they were crowding into the corridor, a dark shadow suddenly appeared ahead, blocking their path.
The monster colleagues' expressions all changed.
Huangfu Jun followed their gaze and looked ahead in confusion. Aside from a mass of black mist suspended in midair, she saw no one.
A voice came from the black mist. "Inspector Zheng needs more detailed documents. None of you are human, so you don't have urgent needs for rest or food. Put up with it for today and work overtime so we can finish this audit sooner. I promise everyone that once this audit is done, as long as there are no other emergencies, you can leave on time and rest normally."
All of Huangfu Jun's colleagues' faces darkened. The earlier joy vanished. They didn't even have the mood to say goodbye to Huangfu Jun. They turned resentfully and headed back toward the office.
Watching their bitter backs, Huangfu Jun blinked slowly.
What kind of hellish company was this?
Relying on the fact that monsters had stronger bodies than humans and could go without sleep or food, they were worked to the bone?
And on top of that, after finishing this phase, there wasn't even compensatory leave? The only reward was returning to a normal work rhythm?
Was this truly non-human, utterly devoid of humanity?
Maybe for those monsters, this little physical and mental exertion was nothing, but she was 100% human (maybe she had half-demon blood, but her cognition, physical fitness, and desire for good food and rest were absolutely human).
Even though she could endure hardship, this kind of inhumane work system that treated employees like cattle was a no-go. She couldn't accept it.
Huangfu Jun bit her lip hard. Others were going to the dorm to check out the excitement; she was going to see her grandmother. Without further hesitation, she shouldered her backpack, took out the unit map Jin Ji had given her, and ran quickly toward the back door.