Receptionist

Zhou You first knocked on the door.

But there was no response.

However, unlike all the other units he had encountered previously, this door was not locked; it was merely left slightly ajar. He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately chose to push the door open and enter.

The room inside was not large, looking nothing like what one would expect from a company contracted for the city's entire sanitation department. It seemed that space had been deliberately skimmed when the building was constructed. At a glance, the entire room appeared extremely cramped, and the items within were equally sparse: there was only a reception desk, a few chairs, and a staircase leading to the second floor.

And that was all.

At this moment, there was no one behind the reception desk; it seemed the person was taking a nap upstairs. Zhou You, however, was in no rush to call out. Instead, he looked around, and seeing no surveillance equipment or the like, he walked a few steps with his hands behind his back to the inner side, casting a casual glance.

Regrettably, the inside was as simple as the outside, containing only a few bottles of what appeared to be very expensive perfume and a roster.

Zhou You first picked up one of the perfume bottles, opened it, and sniffed, but immediately frowned.

The scent was wrong.

Although he had never been exposed to those high-priced cosmetics, he at least knew that no perfume would contain such a pungent, cheap synthetic fragrance. Furthermore, this bottle...

Zhou You rubbed it with his thumb, and tiny purple shards immediately scattered like snowflakes.

"The bottle is also of inferior quality. Even Yiwu wouldn't bother producing this kind of junk anymore. Where on earth did this counterfeit garbage come from?"

Zhou You shook his head and set the perfume back down, aligning it. After thinking for a moment, he shifted the bottle slightly, ensuring it looked exactly as it had before, and then opened the roster.

Compared to the cheap perfume, this item was quite normal. It merely recorded the names of the sanitation workers and their assigned areas, but Zhou You's brows did not relax; instead, they furrowed even deeper.

"--There are too few people."

Normally, a single block would require at least ten sanitation workers to manage, along with various auxiliary tools, but this roster only listed two people per block—which meant these two had to do the work of ten.

Five times the workload, and judging by the payroll, there was no extra pay for the extra labor.

"...I thought my original self, the security guard, had it bad enough, but I didn't expect there to be someone even worse. To think there's someone even more like Huang Shiren in this script."

But before he could finish his sarcastic lament, some movement suddenly came from the second floor.

--It seemed someone was coming.

Zhou You swiftly returned the roster to its original place, walked to the front of the reception desk, and straightened his clothes. After confirming everything was in order, he put on a professional, business-like smile.

But the next second, that smile froze abruptly.

After all.

No one would have expected that what walked out from behind the door... was not human.

The wooden door on the second floor was slammed open. First to squeeze through was a mass of yellow clothing—which had been stretched to the point of deformation—followed immediately by a mass of white, flabby fat. At first glance, it looked like a human belly, but before Zhou You could identify it clearly, more fat surged out from the room, collectively forming a giant, worm-like body.

Then, dozens of thin, withered arms extended from beneath the monster, acting like the jointed limbs of an insect to support its heavy and massive frame. It moved with extreme difficulty, hauling itself toward the reception desk.

Unfortunately, the cramped space could not accommodate such a massive body. The monster spent a great deal of effort, squeezing out even more fat, before it finally managed to wedge itself in. Then, its greasy body surged, and it forcibly squeezed out a woman's face.

The woman appeared to be in her thirties and was passably pretty, but she had applied so much makeup that any trace of beauty was completely buried. Amidst the garish reds and greens, only a face as ridiculous as a clown's remained.

The woman did not acknowledge Zhou You. Instead, she squeezed out two more arms—unlike the withered limbs supporting her, these two arms were plump, with cheap, brightly colored paint smeared on the fingernails—picked up the perfume bottles, sprayed herself a few times, and only then cast her gaze toward someone.

"Who are you, and what exactly are you here for?"

The voice sounded like the buzzing of flies; just hearing it made one feel a desire to vomit.

Zhou You said with a brilliant smile, "Um, excuse me, I'm here to find a..."

But who would have thought that before he could finish, an even sharper shriek would ring out.

"I'm asking you, who are you, and what exactly are you here for!"

Zhou You took a step back and frowned, but still replied in a friendly tone.

"Uh, my name is Zhou You, and I'm here to find a..."

"No, who are you, who exactly are you, I'm asking you who you are!"

However, the monster didn't listen to a word Zhou You said. It just kept screaming that one question, the paint on its face becoming increasingly grotesque, while the white, flabby fat surged along with it, looking as if it were about to pounce on Zhou You!

"You've got to be kidding me. At least the boss back there listened to a few words, but here, it won't even listen to human speech? And this is what you call 'relatively safe during the day'??!"

Zhou You's expression changed, and he was about to activate Wuwo Ruding to run for it, but before he could move his legs, he suddenly remembered something.

--Wait, this situation... didn't the newspaper mention it?

There was no time to hesitate. He forced himself to stand his ground and, facing the monster that was practically ready to devour him, suddenly spat out a few words.

"Actually, I am a reporter."

And with that, the surging waves of fat suddenly went still.

As if struck by some magic spell, the madness vanished from the white-painted face amidst the greasy flab. All that could be seen now was a cautious, timid fear.

--And this sentence was exactly a line from that newspaper.

"Corruption... investigative reporter... about to..."

At this moment, Zhou You was finally able to piece it all together.

--The sanitation company contracted for government projects is suspected of corruption, and an investigative reporter is about to arrive to conduct an interview.

Thinking of this, he suddenly rubbed his chin slightly.

Originally, he had felt the newspapers in the room were too scattered to find anything useful, but looking at them now... could these things actually be the key clues to this world?

However, just as he was pondering this, the woman's head seemed to have spotted a flaw and suddenly questioned him in a loud voice.

"Wait a second, what makes you say you're a reporter? What kind of reporter wears a security guard uniform?"

...Oh right, I forgot about that.

Zhou You glanced casually at his own attire, but remained unhurried as he spoke.

"Listen, Miss, have you ever seen an investigative reporter who writes 'reporter' on their forehead? I just came back from gathering evidence at a company and didn't even have time to change my clothes. If you have any doubts, feel free to ask my superiors; I'll be waiting right here. But if you get reprimanded for it later, that's none of my business."

Zhou You was remarkably calm.

--Blustering and weak, wearing cheap perfume while pretending it was expensive, hysterical on the surface but timid and anxious underneath. According to the character models constructed in psychology, this was a classic case of someone who bullies the weak and fears the strong, so he could be one hundred percent certain that this monster would never dare to go to his superiors.

Sure enough.

Just as he had anticipated, the woman's head immediately fell silent upon hearing this. Zhou You maintained his aggressive stance and continued.

"Since you don't have any more issues, it's my turn now--as I told you before, I need you to do me a small favor. Help me find a sanitation worker here."

The woman's face froze for a moment, then she suddenly gave a sheepish laugh.

"Um... according to the regulations, we aren't allowed to disclose any employee information."

"Is that so? Then I won't force you."

Zhou You smiled, but before the woman could breathe a sigh of relief, he continued slowly. "I noticed just now that your staffing shortages seem quite severe. Only two sanitation workers for an entire block? Just where is the government funding going..."

"Whatever you need, just say it! I'll find them for you right away!"

--The words were as clean and decisive as a sworn oath.

With that, Zhou You revealed a brilliant smile.

"The sanitation worker I'm looking for is simple. You should know about that street vendor who made the news a while back for dying from overwork, right? I'm looking for his wife."

--Yes, this was the most crucial piece of information from the vendor earlier.

He had a wife, and... she worked here.