Director Moning, Could You Settle Our Overtime Pay?
Scarlet warning lights flashed in the corridor of the hazardous materials storage area.
Zhou Yu led Dania by the hand, walking at a leisurely pace, as if they were strolling through a farmers' market.
Dania held up the starch sausage she'd snatched from the cafeteria in her other hand, took a big bite, and puffed out her cheeks.
"The pipeline pressure in Warehouse No. 3 has exceeded the safety threshold of 97%."
Chisaki adjusted her glasses; the data curves on her tablet were shaking violently. "The toxicology diffusion model predicts it will cover the entire logistics building."
Zhou Yu unscrewed the thermos and took a sip of goji berry tea.
"Knew."
Linnai muttered under her breath, "The capitalists are getting relaxed again."
Aimis's sarcastic tone hadn't completely worn off yet, "He was so nervous he was almost crying, no, I mean..."
She slapped herself and shut up.
In the monitoring room, Moning stood in front of the screen wall, her fingers interlaced behind her back.
Lupa sat in a swivel chair, holding a cup of red tea, her gaze fixed on the logistics and consumables report.
"Are you sure he'll take this seriously?" Moning asked.
Lupa didn't even look up. "You've been observing him for so long, have you ever seen him serious?"
Moning remained silent.
On the screen, Zhou Yu stopped at the entrance of Warehouse No. 3, didn't take out his key or swipe his card, and directly pulled a folded A4 sheet of paper from his canvas bag.
Chisaki tiptoed to take a look. "That's an extra 'Equipment Annual Inspection and Maintenance Shutdown Notice' template from last month's centrifuge purchase. When did he fill it out?"
Sigelica's heart skipped a beat; she was all too familiar with this format.
This is the thing I used to kick the statue last time.
Zhou Yu squatted down, slapped the paper against the crack of the warehouse's iron door, and smoothed it out with his palm.
The official seal, bearing the red header, gleamed eerily under the siren lights.
The moment the paper was pressed tightly against the door panel, the alarms throughout the building stopped.
On the screen wall, the scarlet pressure curve dropped straight down to zero.
A faint clicking sound came from the knuckles behind Moning's back.
Lupa finally looked up at the screen.
"Oh, it uses a service interruption notification."
She took a sip of black tea, her lips hidden behind the rim of the cup.
Moning turned to stare at her, her words quickening, "He used the Procurement Department's template, which is completely different from the fire safety codes for a hazardous materials warehouse..."
"Moning."
Lupa set down her teacup, the porcelain clinking softly against the tray.
"Didn't your report last week say that his abilities were based on some kind of cognitive layer that overshadowed the laws of reality?"
"Then what are you surprised about now?"
Lupa stood up, picked up her coat, and said, "His logical loop is more self-consistent than your clinical hypnosis system."
On the monitor screen, Zhou Yu pulled out a portable grill, Chisaki pulled out a bag of frozen starch sausages, and Dania skillfully unpacked them.
The lollipop in Aimis's mouth fell to the ground with a thud.
Zhou Yu:(￣▽￣)~*
"The pipeline pressure alarm indicates that the equipment needs to be shut down for maintenance, and shutting down means..." He struck a match, and the charcoal flames leaped up.
"From now on, this is the Logistics Department's temporary barbecue stall."
The only sound in the monitoring room was the hum of the electricity.
Moning stared at the orange-red glowing embers on the screen, her delicate brows furrowed tightly.
Moning:(≖`‿´≖)
He started a fire at the entrance of the hazardous chemicals warehouse.
Lupa had already reached the door, but glanced back.
"Should you give him a ticket?"
Outside Warehouse No. 3, starch sausages sizzled and dripped oil on the grill.
Dania squatted down beside her, her eyes fixed on the bulging, yellowish-brown bubbles on the sausage casing.
"Zhou Yu," Sigelica stood two meters away, her expression suggesting she was contemplating jumping off the cliff, "Who triggered the alarm just now?"
Zhou Yu flipped the sausage over and handed it to Dania.
"Monitoring room."
"The overtime trap."
Chisaki retrieved the remote control records of the pipeline valves, her sweet voice ringing out clearly in the night, "The encrypted channel belongs to the Academic Affairs Section."
Linnai's terminal clicked.
[Linnai: Evidence. jpg. Received by the Logistics Department Director. Slacking Squad Group. Ms. Moning, please prepare your wallet.]
Sigelica:(ꐦಠ̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ಠ̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥)
"So you knew it was a false alarm all along, and you still deliberately set up your grilled sausages here."
Zhou Yu pulled another piece of paper out of the canvas bag; the back was covered with terms and conditions.
"Even knowing it's fake, the overtime pay should still be calculated as real."
He took a bite of the burnt sausage in his hand.
"This is a matter of principle."
Aimis stared at Sigelica's face, which was turning pale and then purple, and her mouth opened uncontrollably.
Aimis:(ฅ`ω´ฅ)
"Sigelica, your expression is even more interesting than when you received the compensation bill for the locked room incident last time, no, no..." She slapped her face with both hands, the sound crisp and clear.
Sigelica decided not to ask any more questions.
After Dania finished eating two sausages, she habitually rubbed her greasy fingers on Zhou Yu's sleeve.
Zhou Yu handed over a tissue.
"Are you full?" Dania nodded.
"Then go work overtime."
He stood up, brushed the dust off his trousers, and stuffed the piece of paper covered in terms into his pocket.
"Find Director Moning to settle tonight's payment."
When the door to the Academic Affairs Section was knocked on, Moning was organizing the observation log. The label on the brainwave spectrum graph on the desktop read "37th Attempt: Contact Clinical Hypnotic Probe," with the note "NA, Ineffective" written in red below.
She looked up.
The man outside was wearing a faded yellow vest, a plumber's vest, with charcoal ash smeared on his left shoulder. He held a thermos in his hand, with a new cartoon sticker of sweet and sour pork ribs on it.
Zhou Yu walked into the office as if she were in her own home.
He stopped in front of Moning's desk and pulled out the overtime slip with chili oil smeared on the back.
"Director Mo, the pipeline pressure at the hazardous chemicals warehouse exceeded the standard tonight. The Logistics Department responded to the emergency, and we've worked overtime for a total of one hour and thirty-six minutes."
He spread the paper on the table and pointed to the number in the lower right corner with his fingertip.
"Two people, Dania and I, double overtime pay, plus three grilled sausages, calculated at the cafeteria's purchase price."
I will not review it.
"According to regulations, overtime work approvals for non-teaching positions are handled by the Academic Affairs Section."
Zhou Yu unscrewed the thermos, and the sweet, slightly fishy smell of goji berries filled the office.
"This alarm was triggered by the Academic Affairs Section itself, so of course you need to sign off on the overtime approval."
Moning's pen stopped on the paper, leaving a single ink dot.
She lifted her eyelids.
The man leaned back in his chair, legs crossed, extremely relaxed, and offered no explanation.
Moning picked up the pen and signed his name sharply.
Before the sound of the pen nib slicing through the paper had even faded, Zhou Yu spoke again.
"There's something else."
He pulled another piece of paper from his canvas bag, the official red seal at the bottom of which was even more conspicuous.
"Regarding the clinical hypnosis probe test you conducted on me, an internal audit of the Logistics Department found that there was no approval record from the Academic Affairs Section in the administrative filings for mental health assessment procedures."
Moning's fingers, which were holding the pen, stopped.
She looked into Zhou Yu's eyes and swallowed back the words, "Clinical assessment belongs to the medical field, not the administration."
This person never argues within any set rules; he simply uses the next form to plug the loopholes in the previous one.
What do you want?
"Pay the fee for an assessment of emotional distress."
Zhou Yu then pulled out a third piece of paper, with clear terms and conditions, but the amount column was blank.
You can fill in the numbers yourself.
Moning tore off the check, stacked the three pieces of paper together, and pressed them under the paperweight.
Zhou Yu folded the check and then took out a warm stainless steel insulated lunchbox from the canvas bag.
He opened the lid.
The sweet and sour pork ribs glistened under the light, their dark brown sauce wafting through Moning's nostrils, and their sweet and sour aroma filled the air.
"What rule is this?"
"There are no rules."
Zhou Yu pushed the lunchbox next to the check. "The Logistics Department director ordered that the Academic Affairs Section director experience the soul food of working people."
Moning stared at the box of pork ribs, but didn't touch it.
Zhou Yu stood up and walked towards the door, but stopped at the door.
"Starting tomorrow, there will be a line at the cafeteria window to buy pork ribs."
He didn't turn around.
"If you have lab data to compare, eat it tonight."
The door closed.
Moning sat alone at the table, looking at the box of sweet and sour pork ribs.
She picked up her chopsticks, took a bite of the darkest-colored rib, and the juices burst on her tongue; it was incredibly tender and juicy.
A thin layer of red welled up in Moning's eyes.
She finished eating all the ribs, closed the lid, and pulled a blank exam schedule sheet from the drawer.
The pen struck the paper, leaving deeper and heavier marks than when signing overtime pay.
[Preparatory Course Midterm Exam - Early Implementation Plan]
[Exam Time: This Friday, all day.]
[Subjects: Empathy Theory, History, Practice]
The next morning, when the announcement was posted on the college's intranet, a long queue had just formed in front of the sweet and sour pork ribs window at the No. 3 canteen.
Linnai's terminal popped up a notification, and her howl drowned out the noise in the cafeteria.
Linnai:(;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`)
"Midterm! Exams!" She slid off the chair and hugged Dania's leg.
"Yaya, help! My empathy theory is still stuck on Chapter 3. I haven't even opened the table of contents in my history textbook."
Dania, with half an egg tart stuffed in her mouth, blinked her eyes innocently.
I haven't reviewed either.
Linnai looked up with tears in her eyes, "But you're different, you're a born monster."
Chisaki swiped open the tablet, her sweet voice not yet fully recovered.
"Based on historical data, the midterm dropout rate for the preparatory course is 32.7%. Our pass rates are as follows: Aimis's theory course pass rate is 9%, Sigelica's practical course pass rate is 85%, and Linnai's overall failure risk is 73%."
The fried dough stick in Aimis's mouth fell into the bowl of soy milk.
Sigelica's hand, which was holding the plate, paused.
She put down the plate and looked at Zhou Yu.
The man was leisurely peeling a tea egg for Dania, as if the announcement didn't exist.
He put the peeled egg into Dania's bowl and unscrewed the thermos.
How many exams are there on Friday?
"Three gates."
Dania took a bite of the egg.
"I'll take you out for hot pot after the exam. There's a new tripe restaurant that just opened near the college."
Linnai hugged Dania's leg, slowly turned her head to stare at Zhou Yu, tears still on her face.
Linnai:(｡•́•̀｡)
"You slacker from the Logistics Department, are you even listening to us talk about the exam?"
Zhou Yu took a sip of tea.
"I heard you."
"So you're not going to do anything about it?"
"Exams aren't bombs; they won't kill you."
He put down his cup, stood up, took two steps, then turned back to look at Linnai was still clinging to Dania's leg.
"If you really fail, you can retake the course; the cost will be covered directly from Sigelica's scholarship."
Sigelica: (╯°□°)╯┻━┻
"Why me again!"