Qing Que had not even taken off her blindfold; she simply left it stuck to her forehead.
She still held the salted-fish pillow in her arms without letting go. She had even brought a bottle of soda, drinking as she walked toward the seat where the Supreme Diviner had originally sat—and where Kiana now sat.
But when she saw that Kiana was not playing around at all, but actually working,
Qing Que seemed to understand why her colleague had suddenly started working so hard.
If some old colleagues suddenly began working hard, then eight times out of ten, they had not finished this month's or this year's assessment and were rushing to meet the deadline.
Everyone else would only smile and continue with their own work.
If a newcomer started working hard, that was normal too.
Everyone else would merely sigh, "As expected of someone fresh out of school. She still hasn't adapted to working life."
If someone who had joined at the same time suddenly started working hard, it might be because a superior had arrived and they were putting on an act, or because they had started a family and had to work hard for their loved ones.
But...
No matter which situation it was, it would never make everyone start working hard.
However, what Qing Que saw now was a child who had just come here a few days ago, and who had only been placed at the office as a mascot because there was no one at home to look after her.
Yet this child, who should have been studying at school, was actually working more efficiently than everyone else?
This was no longer the time to think about performance reviews or slacking off.
Slacking off now would be too embarrassing!
Qing Que suddenly remembered that she had not even started her year-end summary, and had not submitted last year's year-end summary to Fu Xuan either.
Her performance score had not reached the required standard, either.
Thus, Qing Que pulled up her blindfold, put down the salted-fish pillow in her arms, and chose to take out her phone first and play the online version of Imperial Jade.
As a result, this strange atmosphere continued until noon. Even when it was time for everyone's lunch break, no one left. They continued staring intently at the work in their hands.
That sight made Qing Que feel rather uncomfortable.
After asking everyone whether they needed her to bring back food, Qing Que did not bother checking whether Kiana was willing.
She went straight behind Kiana, wrapped an arm around her waist, lifted her up, and ran off, leaving the Divination Department's premises in an instant.
A full quarter of an hour later, after Qing Que contacted a restaurant and had them send over the food, everyone in the Divination Department finally came to their senses.
They silently ate their lunch.
Kiana also recovered from her earlier state.
She could not help secretly clicking her tongue.
No wonder so many people say Aha is unreliable. I only wanted Aha to help me process some documents, but instead of helping, he stuffed an endless amount of knowledge into my brain all at once.
Fortunately, I have a special constitution, and I'm different from that bug from back then.
Besides, this knowledge is only temporary. Otherwise, my brain would probably have exploded by now.
Kiana's thoughts returned to the present. She patted Qing Que's exposed waist, signaling her to put her down.
Only then did Qing Que realize that she had carried Kiana such a long distance.
"Durandal, you've worked hard all day. What would you like to eat? It's my treat."
Qing Que did not even notice that her tone had unconsciously become respectful.
But after looking around, Kiana discovered that Fu Xuan's residence was only a few steps away.
Perhaps there was no need to go out after all?
"Come on, let's just make something ourselves. Does Big Sister Qing Que have anything you can't eat?"
"No... No, wait. Don't add sugar to the dishes, thank you."
For a moment, Qing Que forgot that Kiana still looked like a child.
The events of that morning had caused her to unconsciously overlook it.
After all, judging only by appearances, Fu Xuan was also merely a young woman, or even a little girl.
Qing Que sat on the sofa for a while before finally coming back to her senses.
Looking at Kiana cooking while standing on a little stool, Qing Que suddenly felt as though some sharp object had stabbed her in the chest.
Was it guilt?
Was it embarrassment?
Was it a wave of shame?
Looking at the several home-cooked dishes Kiana brought out, Qing Que suddenly felt that, no matter how she looked at it, she was the one who resembled the useless freeloader.
But after taking a bite of the shredded potatoes, she fell silent.
Still, when she saw Kiana's expectant gaze, she forced herself to swallow it.
She consoled herself inwardly, It must be a misunderstanding. There are still two more dishes. It'll be fine.
Then she took a bite of the toast.
"Crack!"
Qing Que fell silent for the second time.
In the end, her gaze landed on the final dish.
"Durandal is still young. It's normal not to be able to distinguish ingredients or control the heat. But there's no way scrambled eggs with tomatoes could go wrong, right? Then why are there so many tomato seeds?"
Qing Que finally reached an answer: this was not a tomato. It was dragon fruit...
Fu Xuan: Qing Que is actually working? Am I dreaming?
"Could this have been ordered by the Supreme Diviner? Is this her revenge against me?"
Looking at Kiana's sweet smile and expectant expression, Qing Que immediately cleared Kiana of all suspicion.
Looking at the dishes on the table, Qing Que suddenly began eating as though swept up by a storm, not intending to let Kiana taste any of her cooking.
She wanted to avoid hurting Kiana's tender heart.
"It's delicious! It's so delicious! I've never eaten food this good."
Although Qing Que wore a smile, the tears that seemed ready to fall from the corners of her eyes proved that her heart was weeping.
"It's really too delicious. Sorry, Durandal, I ate all the dishes. I'll go to a restaurant and bring you a serving."
"No need, Big Sister Qing Que. Everyone at the Divination Department gave me lots of snacks. I'm not hungry."
Qing Que wiped the sweat from her forehead.
It was not until afternoon work hours arrived.
Although Aha's assistance had already vanished, more than half of the documents on Fu Xuan's desk had already been processed.
Every document contained a proposal put forward by Kiana.
As for the rest, they basically only needed Fu Xuan's signature and confirmation.
Thus, during the afternoon, Kiana started playing with her phone again.
Qing Que, who had slacked off that morning, was instead unable to sleep at all in the afternoon. She wanted to play cards, but she did not have the energy.
In the end, amid everyone's astonished gazes, Qing Que actually began processing her work!
During the afternoon, the Divination Department's vigorous enthusiasm for work seemed to make even time flow faster.
Fu Xuan was worried that everyone in the Divination Department was slacking off too much, especially a certain expert slacker.
So, an hour before the end of the workday, Fu Xuan temporarily stopped investigating the Stellaron Hunters' movements and went to buy several cups of Star Taro Bobo.
After finishing one cup, she carried the remaining cups of Star Taro Bobo and the other drinks, planning to return to the Divination Department and check on things.
Yet when she saw everyone in the Divination Department working conscientiously, and no one even noticing her return,
with every one of them buried in their work,
"Who am I? Where am I? Am I still asleep? Am I still dreaming?"
After this three-part interrogation, Fu Xuan still resisted the urge to pinch herself hard twice.
Her gaze swept over everyone one by one before finally landing on Qing Que.
When she saw that Qing Que was actually working too,
Fu Xuan could finally be certain.
"Mm, I really am still dreaming. In reality, I'm still holding Durandal and sleeping, right? Otherwise, how could Qing Que possibly be working—especially voluntarily, without anyone supervising her?"
"How terrifying. But this dream is far too fake."
However, Fu Xuan pinched herself hard. Her tender, fair skin instantly turned red.
She had used so much force in her attempt to escape the dream that, caught off guard, Fu Xuan let out a faint moan.
"Mm~!"
Yet the people around her still did not look up. Only Kiana noticed the sound coming from the direction of the doorway, but when she raised her head, she found that the pile of snacks was too high for her to see who had made the noise.
As for Fu Xuan, her first thought was not that she was in reality, but that she had fallen into an illusion.
"Could it be a heliobus? No, I haven't heard of any heliobi escaping recently. The Stellaron Hunters? No, that woman's skill isn't an illusion. Then who is it?"
Fortunately, Fu Xuan did not read miscellaneous books. Otherwise, she might have used the spinning-top method of judging dreams or the jumping-off-a-building method of escaping dreams, and jumped straight off the Xianzhou in fright because of the behavior of everyone in the Divination Department and Qing Que.
It was not until Kiana came to Fu Xuan's side and poked her exposed back—smooth as jade despite being held in place only by a tied cord—
that Fu Xuan was awakened by the sensation shooting straight to the top of her head.
Seeing Little Kiana beside her, Fu Xuan suddenly had a bold idea.
Since this was an illusion, or perhaps an even deeper dream, why should she remain bound by reality? Why should she be restrained by matters in the real world?
Even so, because of her cautious personality, Fu Xuan still did not jump to a conclusion.
Instead, she picked up Kiana, who was standing beside her, and walked toward her desk.
"If this is a dream, then my documents must already be finished, right?"
Afterward, Fu Xuan became even more certain that she was in a dream or an illusion.
After all, it was possible that the documents had already been processed. Yet the countermeasures written on this blank paper coincided perfectly with her own thoughts.
Furthermore, after hearing from the others that Kiana had completed all of this,
Fu Xuan treated everyone to ice cream.jpg
In full view of everyone, Fu Xuan sat directly in her own seat as Supreme Diviner, pulled Little Kiana into her arms, and began enthusiastically rubbing her like a cat.
"Ah! Durandal is so adorable! Wonderful, wonderful!"
"Yaaah!!!"
Regardless of Kiana's frightened, "tragic" cry that sounded half like rejection and half like acceptance, Fu Xuan continued enthusiastically rubbing her like a cat.
Even more incredibly, amid everyone's disbelieving gazes, Fu Xuan took a white cat-ear headband out of her drawer and placed it on Kiana's head.
No one knew what kind of technology it used, but as Kiana's emotions fluctuated, the cat ears moved along with them.
"Ah! So adorable! As expected of a product that the master of Herta Space Station spent a fortune making. The movements, the texture—they're so realistic!"
Seeing their Supreme Diviner suddenly change personality, quite a few diviners stopped working and looked at Fu Xuan with pity and concern.
"Has the Supreme Diviner been under too much pressure and finally gone mad?"
Someone wanted to step forward and say something.
But Fu Xuan simply lifted the little cat-eared Kiana in her arms.
Just like Simba in The Lion King,
she announced the birth of a "king."
"From today onward, the position of Supreme Diviner of the Divination Department will be handed over to my adorable Durandal. From now on, don't call me Supreme Diviner anymore. You are to call me General."
Suddenly, when Fu Xuan said this, she thought of her pursuit in the real world.
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