Handover Duties

"Come with me."

Cow-Horse flicked its tail and led Liu Zheng deeper into the Restaurant.

They walked down the employee passage and soon reached a three-way intersection.

The passage on the left was lit by red emergency lights, the one ahead was carpeted, and the one on the right was blocked by two blue curtains.

He pricked up his ears. There seemed to be the sound of bones being chopped behind the curtains.

"Straight ahead is the waiters' break room. The right side is Kitchen territory. The left side is where we belong. Remember that. Don't take the wrong path."

Cow-Horse warned him.

What would happen if I did?

Cow-Horse did not say, and Liu Zheng did not ask.

After taking a few steps to the left, he suddenly turned around.

Just then, he had heard a woman's piercing scream.

Liu Zheng stopped to listen. The screaming continued, but it was growing weaker and weaker.

"She should still be alive. Do you want to save her?"

At some point, the huge Oxhead had drawn close to his face.

Liu Zheng turned around. That furry face seemed to be smiling without smiling.

"Do you want me to go?"

He stared into its large eyes as he spoke.

"Work is so boring. A little entertainment wouldn't be bad. But..."

Cow-Horse raised its nimble forehoof, hooked it around Liu Zheng's shoulder, and turned him in another direction.

"Your luck is pretty good. I happen to need a helper right now."

Liu Zheng was pushed forward by it, unable to resist its immense strength.

"Here, everyone needs a job."

Amid Cow-Horse's meaningful words, the two left the intersection.

The woman's screams gradually faded into the distance, left deep behind the curtained doorway.

"We're here."

A few minutes later, Cow-Horse released Liu Zheng's shoulder.

Ahead of them lay a pitch-black passage, while to the right stood a somewhat old wooden door.

"That's the delivery exit, and this is our break room."

After saying that, Cow-Horse opened its mouth. Its broad tongue curled upward, revealing a key hidden beneath it.

It gripped the key in its teeth and tried to line it up with the keyhole.

Clearly, this was rather difficult.

"Want me to help?"

Liu Zheng could not stand watching any longer.

"Oh, then you do it."

Cow-Horse opened its mouth, and foul-smelling saliva dripped down the key.

Without changing expression, he took the key and inserted it into the lock.

With a creak, the door opened.

"Oh, nicely done. You really are somewhat useful after all."

Cow-Horse praised him.

Then it turned its head toward its own back, where a slender hand was stroking through its fur.

"What are you doing?"

Cow-Horse struggled to make a frowning expression.

"Wiping my hand."

Liu Zheng replied calmly.

"I know that. What I mean is, why are you wiping your hand on me?"

Cow-Horse's breathing gradually grew heavier.

"I never take advantage of others. If it isn't my saliva, I don't want it."

He said it with a completely straight face.

Cow-Horse's nostrils suddenly flared, and fierce light gleamed in its bell-sized eyes.

Liu Zheng merely looked at it calmly, with neither fear nor provocation in his gaze.

After a long while, Cow-Horse snorted.

"Human, you have far too many little tricks."

It spoke in a muffled voice.

It knew this human was testing its limits.

"A little cleverness means dying a little slower, doesn't it? You wouldn't want to find a new partner so soon either, would you?"

He replied.

"That's true. If they were all idiots like the previous ones, sooner or later I'd get myself killed. But being too clever can get you killed too."

Cow-Horse snorted.

"Then I'll have to rely on you for guidance, Boss Cow-Horse."

Liu Zheng flashed a brilliant smile.

"Why should I guide you?"

Cow-Horse looked at him sideways.

"Because..."

Liu Zheng had wanted to say that it needed his help, but saying that too often would definitely provoke Cow-Horse's rebellious streak.

He looked at Cow-Horse's knotted muscles and its raised spinal ridge, and an idea suddenly came to him.

"Boss, want a massage?"

"Huh?"

A huge question mark seemed to pop up over Cow-Horse's head.

Ten minutes later, in the deliveryman break room.

"Yes, yes, right there. Put more strength into it. That's the spot."

Cow-Horse lay sprawled on the floor, a blissful smile on its face.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure to loosen you right up."

As Liu Zheng spoke, his hands moved over Cow-Horse's back.

"Boss, your spinal deformation is pretty serious."

He said.

"I carry so many deliveries every day. How could it not get compressed out of shape? I'm not like you humans, who can carry things with your hands."

Cow-Horse complained.

"Then why don't you hang them from your horns?"

Liu Zheng asked curiously.

"Absolutely not. What if they get damaged? A Cow-Horse's horns are more important than you humans' faces."

Cow-Horse shook its huge head vigorously.

"Fine."

He did not intend to dig too deeply into such nonhuman matters.

This world looked very similar to the real world, but the sign outside and that woman's screams kept reminding him that it was different.

If he kept asking, he would probably lose more sanity again.

"Alright, get up and move around. See how it feels."

Twenty minutes later, Liu Zheng patted Cow-Horse on the rump.

"That's it? Massage me a little longer."

Cow-Horse reluctantly pushed itself up with all four hooves and stood.

It trotted around the break room twice, excitement appearing on its large face.

"You've really got skills, kid."

Cow-Horse lifted a hoof in praise.

"Just a little trick, nothing worth mentioning."

Liu Zheng said modestly.

Back then, he had trained for a while under a martial artist who practiced Bajiquan.

That martial artist was not much of a fighter, but his family's bone-setting and massage techniques were exceptional.

Later, when Liu Zheng realized he could not learn any martial arts from him, he simply paid extra and learned his massage skills instead.

"Alright, I won't let you massage me for nothing. Sit down. I'll explain the job to you."

Cow-Horse said.

Liu Zheng looked around and did not find anywhere to sit.

"Humans are such a hassle. Wait."

Cow-Horse spat out another key, then opened a storage locker and rummaged out a small folding stool.

"Sit. This was used by my third-to-last partner."

"Where is he now?"

Liu Zheng fiddled with the stool and casually asked.

"He went to the Kitchen."

Cow-Horse replied.

"As a chef?"

"As an ingredient."

"Uh, alright."

He shrugged. It was unexpected, yet somehow perfectly reasonable.

"Have you ever worked as a deliveryman before?"

Cow-Horse asked.

"No."

Liu Zheng thought for a moment before answering.

"Then I'll explain the process to you."

Cow-Horse did not ask further and continued.

"See that hole?"

It raised its head in indication.

Liu Zheng followed its gaze and found a rectangular hole beneath the wooden door, covered by a movable wooden flap.

"I see it."

He nodded.

"When there's an order, someone will shove the ticket through that hole. Wait half a minute before going out, take the delivery from the food cart, then deliver it according to the information on the ticket. Understand?"

"Understood."

"Mm. That locker is yours now. All the equipment is inside."

Liu Zheng checked the opened locker and found a uniform, a phone, and a map inside.

The phone was an old-fashioned flip phone, with no contacts saved in it.

"Write down my number."

Cow-Horse recited a string of digits.

Liu Zheng wrote it down while saving it to the contacts list.

"Don't save it."

Cow-Horse stopped him.

"Why?"

"This is the first rule I'm going to tell you."

Cow-Horse's deep voice echoed through the break room.

"Do not save any numbers in the phone."