Zhou the Skinflint's Reckoning

The iron door to the Logistics Department's warehouse was pushed open a crack.

Linnai poked her head in, her face bearing a carefully rehearsed, ingratiating smile.

Zhou Yu sat in her office chair, not even lifting her eyelids, her eyes fixed on the goji berries bobbing up and down in her thermos.

Linnai:(๑•̌.•̑๑)

"Good morning, Brother Zhou."

Behind her, Aimis, Chisaki, Sigelica squeezed in one after another, standing in a row in front of the desk, their heads bowed lower and lower than the last.

Zhou Yu took a sip of goji berry water and slowly screwed the lid on the cup.

There were probably a lot of mosquitoes on the back hill last night.

Linnai's smile froze instantly.

Aimis nudged her in the lower back with her elbow, and she staggered half a step, pulling out a thick stack of letters from her bosom.

"Brother Zhou, this is an apology letter I wrote overnight."

Zhou Yu took the letter, rubbed the pages open with her thumb, and saw the delicate handwriting.

He only read the beginning.

"Dear Teacher Zhou Yu, in the long history of the Flamebearers' Academy, I, Linnai, have made a mistake..."

He didn't read any further and slammed the letter on the table.

"The school newspaper's front page couldn't even manage three lines, and the apology letter was thicker than my expense report."

Linnai swallowed back the tears she had just begun to shed.

Chisaki stepped forward, the light from the tablet screen illuminating her expressionless face.

Chisaki:(ㅍ_ㅍ)

"This is my analysis report."

The screen was filled with dense curves and data graphs, with a huge title: "Psychological Analysis Report on Voyeuristic Behavior".

Zhou Yu swiped his finger across the screen.

Chisaki skipped straight to the conclusion.

"Linnai's heart rate is 147, Aimis's adrenaline is three times the normal level, Sigelica bit my left shoulder causing a bruise, and my data stream was interrupted for 0.3 seconds as a result."

Chisaki:(￣ω￣;)

"This concludes the complete record."

Sigelica covered her face.

Aimis opened her mouth as if to say something, but in the end only let out a mournful cry.

Aimis:(థˇ౪ˇథ)

Zhou Yu pushed the tablet back to Chisaki.

"I have received the report and the letter of apology."

He stood up, pulled four sheets of paper from the drawer, and slapped them lightly on the table.

Linnai's eyes lit up.

"Brother Zhou, you've forgiven us?"

Zhou Yu tapped the paper with his fingertips.

"Cockroach extermination fees, robot repair fees, compensation for emotional distress, and damage to the camouflage netting."

He flipped the paper over.

"To round it up, fifty star coins each. Settle the debt by working today and clean all the warehouses."

Sigelica's pupils contracted.

Sigelica:(╬☉д⊙)

"Fifty star coins?! You might as well rob me! It's my own debt..."

"Oh?"

Zhou Yu raised an eyebrow.

I haven't even started calculating the interest on your six-figure debt yet.

Sigelica's lips moved, but no sound came out.

Linnai cautiously raised her hand.

"And our free breakfast..."

"Breakfast?"

Zhou Yu twitched the corners of her mouth, her smile indifferent.

"Free breakfast and lunch sponsorship for the following week are cancelled."

He paused, his gaze falling on Aimis.

"And Aimis's VVVIP seats for next month's performance have also been cancelled."

Aimis swayed.

Aimis:(;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`)

"You can't do this! Next month is Flying Snow Velvet's third anniversary concert! I've already bought myself the glow sticks to support myself!"

Zhou Yu looked up at her.

"You're hosting your own concert, and you're sitting in VVVIP?"

"Can't I be a special guest fan for myself?! The atmosphere team is very important!"

"When you're singing on stage, who gets to sit in your seat?"

"Put my support banner and glow sticks out!"

Zhou Yu remained silent for two seconds.

"... So when you're performing on stage next month, will you still need to reserve a ticket for yourself?"

Aimis's eyes began to dart around guiltily.

"Theoretically... Flying Snow Velvet's agency will issue work passes... but those passes don't allow entry to the front rows of the audience, so you can't get the best angles for photos..."

Linnai whispered angrily, "So she always buys the front row tickets, then ties her glow stick to the railing, rushes down to hold it up for a bit during intermission while changing clothes, and then runs back backstage."

Sigelica said expressionlessly, "I saw it with my own eyes. She was in her performance costume, holding up a glow stick in the audience, and she cried, saying, 'Flying Snow Velvet are so great.'"

Zhou Yu: "..."

"Alright, I'll reserve a ticket for her next month as a form of compensation for her work injury."

Aimis: (✪ω✪)!!!

"But the ticket price will be deducted from your wages."

Aimis:(´;ω;`)

Zhou Yu strolled back to his office chair and sat down.

Half a head peeked out from inside the warehouse, with a few strands of pink hair sticking up on Dania's head.

She was about to say something, but Zhou Yu stopped her with a look.

As Zhou Yu looked away, she blinked her left eye quickly at an angle only she could perceive.

Dania immediately pulled her head back.

Suppressed laughter came from the corner.

Linnai was still struggling in her death throes.

"Brother Zhou, I'll write three feature articles for the school newspaper about your exemplary deeds..."

"School newspaper?"

Zhou Yu pulled out another stack of papers from the drawer.

"Editor-in-Chief Linnai, in your fourth issue, three of them featured headlines praising the war, and the last one was 'Flamebearers' Academy's Midterm Exam Failure Rate Hits a New High.'"

He threw the stack of papers on the table.

"This report, featuring your best friend Sigelica, has the highest readership in the entire school."

Sigelica's face turned pale.

Linnai shrank her neck.

Linnai: (꒪⌓꒪)

"I did it to expose the flaws in the system..."

Zhou Yu pulled out four rags, four pairs of gloves, and four brooms from the deepest part of the drawer.

"Start."

The four men sheepishly accepted the tools.

Chisaki, holding the broom, asked in a soft, childlike voice, "What are the physical parameters of this cleaning tool?"

Carbon fiber handle, nylon bristles, maximum load capacity 120 kg.

Zhou Yu leaned back in her chair, the water in her thermos sloshing gently.

"You can submit a 'Logistics Department Cleaning Tool Fluid Dynamics Analysis Report' after your work, and I'll consider giving you a five-star coin discount."

Chisaki:(⊙ˍ⊙)

She paused for two seconds, nodded solemnly, picked up the broom, and walked towards the farthest warehouse.

Sigelica gripped her gloves, her lips twitching.

"Zhou Yu, you wait."

"What are you waiting for?"

Zhou Yu stroked his chin.

"Wait until you pay off your debts? You'll have to wait until I retire."

Sigelica's military boots stomped on the paving stones, almost creating cracks.

The warehouse's iron gate closed.

Dania came out from the inner room carrying a plate of roasted sweet potatoes, their skins golden brown and cracked, oozing syrup.

She looked at the tightly closed iron gate, then at Zhou Yu.

Zhou Yu took the plate and opened the door.

The four of them were standing in the corridor. Linnai was staring blankly at the broom, Aimis's shoulders were still twitching.

Chisaki squatted on the ground and measured the diameter of the broom handle with her fingers.

Sigelica stood there, arms crossed, staring at the door.

The door opened.

Zhou Yu handed the plate over.

"One roasted sweet potato per person from the Logistics Department."

A sweet aroma filled my nostrils.

Linnai's stomach growled.

The four people looked at the plate, but no one touched it.

Sigelica stared at the sweet potato, as if checking for hidden nails inside.

"Hey, this isn't a bribe."

Zhou Yu pushed the plate towards her.

"Just a reminder, you'll get food if you finish your work, otherwise you'll go hungry."

Aimis grabbed one, burning her hands as she fumbled for it, then peeled off the skin and took a big bite.

Aimis:(๑´ڡ`๑)

Hmm.

Her eyes lit up.

Linnai took one second, and Chisaki also took one, even taking out her tablet to take a picture of the sweet potato, labeled "Logistics Department Labor Reform Supply: Carbon-based Sugar Unit".

Sigelica reached out last, her fingertips touching the warm skin of the sweet potato.

She saw Dania behind Zhou Yu.

Dania had her hair combed and her cheeks were rosy. She had just taken a sip from Zhou Yu's thermos when she wrinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue.

Sigelica took her first bite of sweet potato, and her throat tightened.

It's very sweet.

The syrup smeared on my gums, and a warm sensation flowed down my chest.

"Let's get to work after we finish eating."

Zhou Yu put his arm around Dania's shoulder and turned to go back to the warehouse.

"I finished cleaning up the cockroaches in warehouse number three this morning, and I'll come to claim reimbursement at noon."

Before the iron gate closed, Sigelica heard Dania's hushed voice.

"The sweet potatoes are all gone; all the ones you roasted this morning are gone."

"Fine."

Zhou Yu's voice leaked out from under the door.

"The cafeteria has sweet and sour pork ribs today, I'll get you a double portion."

The door closed.

The only sound in the corridor was chewing.

Linnai stuffed the last bite of sweet potato into her mouth, wiped the sugar crumbs from the corner of her mouth, and picked up a broom.

"Sisters."

She looked at the dusty window frame at the end of the corridor, and her fighting spirit rekindled.

"For the sake of having sweet and sour pork ribs, I'm going to fight cockroaches today!"

Sigelica, with a sweet potato peel in her mouth, resignedly put on her gloves.

Aimis pushed the bucket toward Warehouse Number Three, the wheels creaking.

Chisaki followed at the back, clutching her tablet, muttering to herself.

"Based on the warehouse area and cockroach density, our theoretical peak labor efficiency is 0.73 rooms per hour. This penalty is mathematically reasonable..."

Sigelica turned around abruptly and glared at her, her voice trembling.

"Shut up! Every word you utter feels like my six-figure debt is accruing interest!"

Chisaki:(´-ω-`)

Sunlight streamed slanting into the corridor from the window, illuminating the dust kicked up by the broom.