Chapter 11: New Energy Packets Available!

"Jiajia, is that sachet still out of stock?"

As soon as I got to work on Monday, colleagues kept asking me about Ning Jia. This is the fifth time they've asked me today.

Ning Jia shook her head apologetically, "I'm sorry, my friend has been extremely busy lately and hasn't had time to make sachets, so we may not be able to supply them for the time being."

Recently, Ning Jia's sleep-aid sachets have been out of stock, more people in the company are yawning, and there are more coffee delivery bags at the front desk. Many people look at Ning Jia with a hint of resentment in their eyes.

What's more painful than not being able to sleep well is having had a good night's sleep in the past.

Normally, everyone would have just drifted through life aimlessly, but thanks to Ning Jia's sleep-aid sachet, they slept well for a few days and enjoyed a few good days.

It's hard to go from extravagance to frugality. This is it, we're completely finished. Everyone can't stand the suffering of insomnia and nightmares anymore.

When asked by her colleague at the next workstation, who was obsessed with recommending products, Ning Jia still sincerely replied, "I really don't have any left. I don't even have any sachets left to use myself."

My colleague clicked his tongue. "Do you think I'd believe that? You still look so energetic."

"Okay, I'll tell you, but don't tell anyone else."

Ning Jia hesitated for a moment, looked around, and then the dog furtively pulled a small sachet out of its bag.

"Goodness, I knew you were hiding something!"

Her colleague was overjoyed and was about to ask her to part with the sachet when Ning Jia said:

"This sachet was made by my friend, but it has a different function than the previous one; it doesn't help with sleep."

"What? Are you kidding me? What's the point if it can't help me sleep? Then I don't want it." My colleague shook his head repeatedly, looking disappointed.

"Don't rush, okay?" Ning Jia leaned closer and held the sachet under her colleague's nose. "Here, smell it."

What on earth is Ning Jia up to? Why is he being so mysterious?

The colleague glanced at the small sachet with a puzzled look, and seeing Ning Jia looking at him expectantly, he did as she asked and took a few deep breaths into the sachet.

"Huh, this sachet..." My colleague's sleepy eyes suddenly widened, and he was completely stunned.

001002003004… Ning Jia silently counted to 10 in her mind. Sure enough, she saw her colleague come back to her senses, her eyes shining, her previous dejected look gone, and even her voice became stronger:

"Oh my god, Ning Jia, oh my god, it's like my brain has suddenly opened up, it's clearer than ever before! The world around me is clear too..."

"Keep your voice down—" Ning Jia quickly tugged at her sleeve, "You're still at work."

The colleague realized what was happening and quickly lowered his voice, but his eyes still showed excitement:

"Jiajia, is this something your friend just invented? It's so refreshing! I feel like my brain just came back to life, like all the junk in my brain was cleared out with a single click. It's amazing!"

"Yes, she made it too," Ning Jia said in a low voice. "It contains a kind of refreshing herb, which I just got."

"Sell me a few, how about 50 each?" my colleague asked immediately.

Ning Jia shook her head, "Let's stick to the previous price, 40 each is fine."

“But I only have a few,” Ning Jia said, remembering that this person had previously given her free publicity. “How about this, I’ll just give you two as a trial. Remember to give me feedback on how they work.”

"no problem."

The two women's furtive behavior caught the attention of another colleague, who also noticed the sachets they were carrying.

"Damn it, Ning Jia, you heartless bastard! You had sachets, didn't you? You lied to me and said they were out of stock!!"

"No," Ning Jia realized something was wrong and quickly explained, "You've mistaken me for someone else. This isn't a sleep aid sachet."

...

After a brief commotion, almost the entire company knew that Ning Jia's friend had developed a new type of sachet—an invigorating sachet. The few sachets Ning Jia had left were quickly snapped up.

Ning Jia's colleagues looked at her with fervent eyes, "Do you accept reservations?" "Remember to reserve a few for me this time!" "Jia Jia, I've already paid!"...

Only Ning Jia's boss, General Manager Zhao, with a gloomy face, couldn't help but call Ning Jia into the conference room and give her a severe scolding:

"Disrupting order during work hours! And openly selling goods! Do you think the company is a vegetable market? Employees like you have absolutely no sense of serving the company!"

Ning Jia kept her head down and didn't say anything. She admitted that she had indeed caused a little commotion today, but it only lasted for about ten minutes. It shouldn't be enough to make her scold herself like this, right?

Moreover, she couldn't help but point to the clock on the wall, "Mr. Zhao, it's lunch break time now."

Mr. Zhao was speechless at her retort and glared at her fiercely. "Don't think that just because you've been with the company for a few years you can become a seasoned veteran! Let me tell you, there's no room for people with ulterior motives here!"

What do you mean by having ulterior motives? They really treat their employees like slaves. Ning Jia couldn't help but mutter to herself.

She discovered that people are like that; once they rebel, their tolerance drops drastically. At this moment, she even had the thought, "So what if you fire me?"

Even so, Ning Jia's heart sank as she recalled the previous rumor.

But then she remembered the little people making sachets and couldn't help but smile: Anyway, no one knows what the future holds, so making money is the priority now.

Ning Jia's boss's reprimand did not affect her ability to make money. The refreshing sachets quickly became a new "hot item," with everyone in the company having one. Even Ning Jia's boss secretly placed one in his office.

That day, Ning Jia calculated her recent income and was shocked: Good heavens, the total sales of sachets over the past few days have exceeded ten thousand.

The herbs were collected by the little people themselves from the park, and the sachets were woven by the little people themselves from the grass. There was no need for advertising, and there were no shipping costs. Apart from the manpower spent on making the sachets, the cost was basically zero.

When did making money become so easy? Ning Jia's heart fluttered, and she couldn't help but have the illusion that she was picking up money from the ground.

"Wake up, it's the little people who can make money, not me," she reminded herself silently. She quickly calmed down and saved the money again.

Thanks to the little people, Ning Jia has been saving money faster and faster lately. She looked at her account with a happy smile, feeling that she was one step closer to saving enough for a down payment.

In the evening, Ning Jia brought fresh fruit to the small garden. As she handed the food to Bai Su, she added:

"We've sold quite a few sachets lately and made a lot of money, enough for you to eat for two months. You can take a break now."

Bai Su nodded, "The tribespeople really haven't had the energy to make sachets lately."

"Could it be that he's sick from exhaustion?" Ning Jia asked anxiously.

“It’s not because of the sachet,” Bai Su shook her head, “it’s because of the stray cat.”

Stray cats? Ning Jia suddenly realized that a lot of stray cats seemed to have come to the neighborhood recently. Could Bai Su be referring to them?

Just then, a gray cat suddenly appeared out of nowhere, meowed, snatched the apple from the little man's arms, and ran off to the grass not far away to enjoy its stolen prize.

This blatant provocation left the little man whose apple had been stolen speechless, and the other little men also looked terrified, suddenly all hiding in the bushes.

Ning Jia opened her mouth, wanting to help chase away the stray cat, but she touched the scars on her hands from the cat's scratches and didn't dare to go forward.

Help! Someone please take care of this cat! She doesn't want to get scratched again. Last time, she accidentally got scratched on the hand by a stray cat and had to go to the hospital for a rabies vaccine. Each shot cost 300 yuan, and she had to get five shots, all out of pocket. That wiped out her entire month's food allowance, and it broke her heart!

After that, she never dared to pet stray cats again. Given her circumstances, she couldn't afford to lose another 1500 yuan!

Ning Jia was recalling her painful experience from last time. Bai Su had already calmed everyone down and told them to continue carrying food. She then took out her weapon and assumed a fighting stance.

Looking at the wooden spear in Bai Su's hand, Ning Jia asked curiously, "Oh, Bai Su, so you have your own weapon too."

Bai Su brandished his spear a few times and said calmly, "Everyone in my clan has a weapon, but most of them are not as strong as He Meng."

"So that's how it is," Ning Jia suddenly realized. "The little people are indeed not weak, being able to live peacefully in the forest for hundreds of years."

Seeing that Bai Su, whose size was far smaller than the gray cat, still had the courage to drive the other party away, she couldn't help but feel a little ashamed.

She thought for a moment, then wrapped her hands in her sleeve, found a tree branch, and followed Bai Su, preparing for battle...

The atmosphere became extremely tense. Ning Jia stared wide-eyed and followed closely behind, barely daring to breathe.

Just then, a small figure suddenly leaped out of the bushes, brandishing a spear and charging unhesitatingly toward the gray cat.

Ning Jia couldn't even see who the little person was when Bai Su suddenly stopped and said, "It's He Meng."

Her expression relaxed a bit. "We don't need to go anymore."

"but--"

“If we go there now, we will only disrupt their formation.”

Sure enough, in just a few seconds, several more little figures carrying spears followed behind He Meng and rushed towards the gray cat.

"Watch out, He Meng!" Ning Jia couldn't help but tense up.

Whether He Meng heard her voice or not, she accelerated and landed behind the gray cat in an instant.

That gray cat was no ordinary creature either. Although it was munching on a delicious apple, it remained very alert. With a slight twitch of its triangular little ears, it jumped up with the apple in its mouth, successfully avoiding He Meng's attack.

Seeing that it was just a tiny person, no bigger than a finger, the gray cat didn't take her seriously. It meowed softly and refused to put down the apple in its mouth. With a sudden paw pounce, it started fighting with He Meng.

During the struggle, the apple that the gray cat was carrying in its mouth fell off and rolled onto the grass. It meowed angrily and leaped forward, reaching out its paw to pounce on He Meng.

The fighting prowess of a battle-hardened stray cat is no joke.

Seeing this, the other little people also raised their spears and joined the battle. For a time, it was one cat versus four or five little people, and neither side could gain the upper hand, so the situation became deadlocked.