Chapter 95 The Little Rice Ball's Filter Is Too Big

On Monday morning, Liu Yue sat at her desk in her new company, staring at the large cardboard box at her feet, lost in thought:

Ning Jia just specially delivered this, saying it's a blind box of sachets from Ning's Sachet brand, available in mosquito-repellent and energizing versions. She wanted Ning Jia, as a friend and relative, to try it out in advance and offer her valuable feedback.

However, Liu Yue looked suspiciously at the large cardboard box that could hold dozens of sachets.

Is this... definitely a trial pack?

This whole box is huge, and you're telling me it's a trial pack?

How many sachets are in there exactly?

Liu Yue was so curious that she immediately opened the box and took something out...

A pink cushion the size of a soccer ball?

There was also a sticky note on the cushion:

"This is a product related to sachets, for friends and family only, not for sale."

This guy!

Liu Yue smiled, her gloomy mood from Monday's work lessening somewhat. She immediately placed the round strawberry-shaped pillow on her ergonomic chair.

Hmm, it's soft and fluffy, and it's quite comfortable to lean against.

If you smell it more closely, there is also a faint fragrance.

Liu Yue sniffed hard and realized it wasn't a hallucination; the pillow really did smell nice.

She hugged the fragrant strawberry pillow, took a few deep breaths, and felt a sudden surge of energy, then it dawned on her:

This cushion probably contains the same herbs as the energy pack.

She had mentioned to Ning Jia before that the sachet she received as a pick-me-up was very effective, and Ning Jia said she would send her some more.

I never expected that not only would they send sachets, but they would also send such a huge "giant energy pack".

However, the scent of this cushion isn't as refreshing as the invigorating sachet; it probably only contains a small amount of invigorating herbs.

At the same time, the pillow also emits a faint, unfamiliar floral fragrance, fresh and elegant, which smells very pleasant.

Liu Yue hugged the soft, pink strawberry and took several big gulps of it. She felt all the irritability of Monday morning disappear in an instant!

In an instant, even the messy workstations that were full of the smell of cattle and horses became refreshing.

Liu Yue carefully placed the cushion on the chair, then eagerly took it out of the cardboard box...

The rectangular object, wrapped tightly in floral fabric, was incredibly heavy when lifted, like a lunchbox.

Liu Yue untied the floral cloth covering her lunchbox, looked at the three lunchboxes in front of her, paused for a moment, and then suddenly remembered:

Ah, I think I complained to Ning Jia yesterday that there weren't many good takeout options near the company, and Ning Jia said she would bring me some food.

Bring some food = three Lock & Lock lunch boxes filled to the brim?

Does Ning Jia think he's a little pig?

"There's so much food, we couldn't possibly finish it all in a day."

Liu Yue muttered something that sounded both funny and absurd, but the corners of her mouth were already turned up in a wide smile.

Having woken up late and skipped breakfast, Liu Yue, ravenously hungry, glanced at the contents of her lunchbox, happily opened the top compartment, and took out a plump rice ball, taking a huge bite—

Wow, this rice smells so good!

Liu Yue squinted happily, leaned against the strawberry pillow, and sat at her workstation to enjoy her meal.

Sigh, Ning Jia seems stingy most of the time, but when she gets thoughtful, she's absolutely irresistible!

Let's talk about this heartwarming breakfast.

Not only did they anticipate that she hadn't eaten breakfast, but they also specially made black pepper rice balls according to her taste, and added a lot of her favorite sesame seeds!

The rice balls are still a little warm, and they are sweet and soft when you chew them. The filling is also very flavorful. You can taste colorful vegetable pieces in one bite, along with crispy crackers, fragrant egg rolls, and pork floss. When you are hungry, a bite of this is simply a delicacy.

Ah, it's so wonderful to be able to eat such a thoughtfully prepared breakfast so early in the morning!

Liu Yue ate most of the rice ball in one go, feeling that the sadness of going to work on Monday had been cured by this big rice ball.

She couldn't resist taking out a small piece of steamed pumpkin from her lunchbox. It was chewy and soft, with a sweet taste, and she finished it quickly.

After finishing the large rice ball and a few small pieces of mixed grains, Liu Yue let out a satisfied burp. When she looked up, she saw her colleague from the next workstation standing beside her, looking at her with a hesitant expression.

"Is there something you need?"

The tall, slender girl with short hair seemed to take a deep breath before speaking:

"Excuse me, where did you buy that rice ball you just ate? It looked... delicious."

Liu Yue was stunned for a moment, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.

She had been working at the company for almost a week, and this was the first time a colleague had taken the initiative to talk to her.

Actually, the company's management is quite relaxed, and the work atmosphere is okay, but for some reason, my colleagues all seem particularly aloof. Apart from work-related communication, they don't talk much in their daily lives.

She has almost gotten used to this quiet working environment.

Unexpectedly, her seemingly aloof colleague next door took the initiative to talk to her. How could this not surprise her?

"..."

Perhaps Liu Yue's brief silence caused a misunderstanding; the short-haired girl looked somewhat embarrassed and was about to return to her workstation when she saw Liu Yue already flashing a cheerful smile.

"This rice ball wasn't bought; my good friend made it."

"Oh, is that so?"

The short-haired girl looked a little disappointed and was about to go back to her seat to continue eating her bread when she saw Liu Yue take out another rice ball wrapped in plastic wrap from her lunchbox and say generously:

"There are still many rice balls left. It would be a waste if I couldn't finish them all by myself. Would you like to try some?"

The colleague named Cheng Yue hesitated for a moment, but then she saw that what Liu Yue handed her was not the large rice ball she had just eaten, but a mini rice ball slightly larger than an egg.

Coupled with Liu Yue's natural demeanor of "just sharing snacks," as if it were just a trivial matter, I suddenly felt less nervous.

She hesitated for a moment, but couldn't resist the temptation of the food. She whispered "thank you" and reached out to take it.

Then, he took two matcha croissants from his workstation and shyly handed them to Liu Yue:

"Then, I'll treat you to some bread too."

In the quiet office, their conversation was overheard by almost everyone present.

Cheng Wen, her face flushed, had just accepted the delicious little rice ball when all the other colleagues, like wildcats searching for food, turned to look at Liu Yue!

Liu Yue noticed her colleagues' undisguised longing for the rice ball, but soon those food-craving eyes turned into envious ones, directed at Cheng Wen.

If you want rice balls, just come find her, why...?

Liu Yue held her cup, secretly observed for a while, and then carefully considered the movements of her colleagues. Suddenly, she discovered something extraordinary:

Is it possible that her new colleagues aren't actually aloof at all, but just a bit shy?

Her eyes lit up, she picked up the lunchbox and distributed the remaining delicious little rice balls one by one, successfully striking up conversations with several colleagues, and even complaining about several terrible takeout options together!

"Don't give me any more bread, I really can't finish it all!"

Holding the various expensive breads—pistachios, Swiss croissants, dark chocolate rolls, and beef bagels—that her colleagues had given her as a treat, Liu Yue felt a sense of foreboding.

It seems there really aren't any decent breakfast places around here, otherwise why is everyone eating bread like this...?

After Liu Yue finished her social KPIs for the day, she returned to her workstation with an empty lunchbox and a pile of bread in her arms, feeling a great sense of accomplishment.

Thanks to my dear Ning Jia, she finally broke the ice with her delicious rice ball offensive!

...

Looking at the rich and tempting food in the other two lunchboxes, Liu Yue hesitated for a moment, then labeled the lunchboxes with her name and put them in the refrigerator in the break room.

She decided to skip the small rice balls for breakfast and not share the lunch that Chef Ning had so carefully prepared. She would rather enjoy it all by herself.

When Liu Yue came over with a cup of coffee from the break room and was about to sit down to write her weekly report, she suddenly felt something was off:

Huh? What was she trying to do just now?

Ah... it's a sachet blind box trial!

Liu Yue quickly put down her coffee, opened the large cardboard box at her feet, and took out a jar of colorful dried fruits and vegetables.

There was also a sticky note on it: Homemade dried fruits and vegetables, eat some when you're hungry, but don't eat too much.

Liu Yue chuckled again:

No wonder they sent such a big box; it turns out it wasn't just a sample of the sachet blind box, but also a heartwarming gift package!

She put the dried fruits and vegetables into the drawer, then took out a jar of dried lemon slices and a jar of honey. Finally, she got to the point and pulled out a palm-sized, light-colored wooden box from the cardboard box.

The cardboard box wasn't sealed in plastic; it was simply wrapped tightly in a cross shape with light green straw rope, like wrapping a gift, and had a cute bow on top.

Liu Yue glanced at the cardboard box, and for some reason, didn't feel like forcibly opening it. So, without using scissors, she gently pulled on the straw rope bow.

It actually opened.

She set the straw rope aside, gently opened the box, and was wondering if it contained the cute sachets that Ning's Sachet brand had been so popular before, when suddenly her pupils dilated in shock, and her right hand moved with lightning speed to close the box again...

What was it? What did she see?

Liu Yue's eyes were somewhat vacant; she thought she was hallucinating, and stubbornly opened the box again...

Ugh, it's still that ugly thing?!

Has Ning Jia gone mad?!

The previous apple and pear sachets were so cute and sold so well, how come the style suddenly changed so drastically and they were replaced with such ugly cat head sachets!

Ahhh, her eyes...

This cat head is absolutely hideous!

Liu Yue thought with a look of disgust, hugged the soft and cute strawberry pillow in her arms tightly, took a few deep breaths, and then came to her senses.

But in order to provide more rigorous "product trial feedback", Liu Yue hesitated for a moment, but still stretched out two fingers and pinched the hideously ugly cat's head.

Tsk, that cat's head is really ugly... but upon closer inspection, it's actually quite realistic?

At first glance, it's a bit ugly, but if you look at it more closely, it's not so bad.

...Indeed, once I calmed down, I didn't think it was so ugly (?)

But his expression still looks incredibly smug!

Placing it on my workstation feels like a mockery of myself, another day of grueling work...

Liu Yue was so engrossed in looking at the ugly cat head in her hand that she didn't even notice Cheng Wen approaching.

"...Sister Yue?"

"Um?"

Liu Yue snapped out of her daze and, seeing the little girl staring intently at the sachet in her hand, quickly threw the cat head into the drawer and waved her hand, saying:

"Um, I didn't buy this ugly cat myself; it was a gift from a friend. She usually likes to buy ugly things..."

Unexpectedly, Cheng Wen blushed and shook her head:

"Actually, it's not that ugly, I think..."

Her voice trailed off, "She's quite cute..."

Liu Yue stared at her, completely bewildered. "What did you just say?"

Another colleague, who had appeared out of nowhere, came over and asked somewhat shyly:

"Can I see that cat from earlier?"

...

"Ning Jia, have you heard back yet?"

Yunzhu has walked back and forth in the living room almost a hundred times, asking the same question every time she finishes a lap.

"Don't worry," Ning Jia, sitting on the sofa eating sunflower seeds, calmly comforted him.

"Some people may have just received it and haven't remembered to open it yet, please wait a little longer."

But Yunzhu's anxiety made her own heart flutter with unease.

What's going on with Liu Yue?

She made a point of handing her the sachet blind box first thing in the morning before she went to work, so she should have had plenty of time to "appreciate" the new sachet. Why didn't she even send her a WeChat message?

Is it a morning meeting?

Ning Jia was pondering when her phone suddenly vibrated, startling her so much that she almost dropped the sunflower seeds in her hand.

She picked up her phone and looked at it—

Huh?

As if on cue, a WeChat message that had just been sent by Liu Yue was prominently displayed on the chat page:

[Liu Yue: Help, help me...]

Ning Jia was so startled she almost jumped off the sofa. Just as she was about to ask what was going on, Liu Yue sent another long string of messages:

[Liu Yue: Do you know how terrifying it is when a cold and aloof colleague suddenly becomes incredibly enthusiastic?]

[Liu Yue: Not just one colleague, but colleagues from the entire company!!]

[Liu Yue: I really didn't expect that an ugly cat could cause such a tragedy!]

Ning Jia interrupted her rant and seized the opportunity to ask:

[Ning Jia: Okay, okay, sweetie, you've suffered! Let's get down to business first. How's the sachet blind box? Do you like it?]

Liu Yue paused for a few seconds, said nothing, and then replied with a large emoji.

Ning Jia looked closely and thought, "Wait, why does this emoji look so familiar...?"

Good heavens!

Isn't this the cat-head sachet they made?

The cat's head was swaying mischievously from side to side, with a thumbs-up and two speech bubbles next to it: Amazing!

[Liu Yue: These cat and dog head designs are so mesmerizing! I didn't even have time to admire them all before they were all bought up!]

[Liu Yue: Speechless cat emoji.jpg, This is insane! They wouldn't even take it for free, they insisted on paying for it!]

Liu Yue rattled off a whole bunch of things, and then sent a compressed file:

[Liu Yue: Cat and Dog Emoji Pack.zip]

[I casually made a batch of emojis while I was at it. Feel free to use them for personal or commercial purposes. You're welcome.]

[Ning Jia: Wow, thank you, darling!]

At this moment, she no longer needs to ask the question "How is the sachet blind box?" It seems that the cat and dog sachets have successfully won over the heart of the first user!

Ning Jia smiled slightly and quickly shared the good news with Yun Zhu, who was still pacing around in circles, while Liu Yue continued sending WeChat messages:

[Liu Yue: That cosmic sachet was stolen too! I really liked it. Could you save one for me next time? And save me a jianbing guozi too!]

[Liu Yue: Fine, just keep one of each style for me!]

[Liu Yue: Also, some of my colleagues want to ask if the sachet blind boxes are still available for pre-order, and if they can jump the queue if they pay extra?]

[Ning Jia: How many colleagues are you referring to?]

[Liu Yue: ...Only forty or fifty people, maybe? Not including those from other departments...]

Ning Jia: !!!

...

The sudden influx of large orders made the little guys ecstatic.

Wow, some people actually like the ugly cats and dogs we made!

"Haha, I never thought I could actually make money from these ugly sachets, this is amazing!"

"Hehe, hehe, I can make money now..."

As for other styles of sachets, no one was worried at all, taking it for granted that there would definitely be no problem.

After all, those sachets are all very pretty and cute.

As soon as the news of the cat and dog sachets receiving positive reviews spread, the little characters who were originally resting and watching "Tom and Jerry" couldn't sit still anymore and rushed back to the work area to continue making them.

Ning Jia advised, "There's no need to rush, there's still plenty of time."

But the little people all shook their heads, "We need to hurry, otherwise it won't be so annoying!"

Ning Jia looked confused: What do you mean? What do you mean by "not so annoying anymore"?

Osmanthus, standing to the side, gestured with her little hand:

"It's to the extent that people generally dislike smelly cats, to the point that..."

She stretched out her little hands wide, gesturing from her head to her feet, "There are so many."

"But now that we're using these annoying things to make ugly sachets, after a while, they don't seem so annoying anymore."

oh!

Ning Jia immediately understood, "Making sachets has an emotional transference effect, right?"

However, she wasn't too worried.

The original intention of having the little people make cat and dog sachets was also to help them relieve stress. Now that the stress has been released, it's even better.

As for sachets, there are always other designs that can be made, even if you can't make ugly cats or ugly dogs.

Ning Jia smiled slightly, noticing a hint of worry on Mu Xi's face, and gently patted the top of her orange hair:

"If you're worried, why don't you and Yunzhu and Baisu plan a few new themes and come up with some new designs? Even if we can't make cat and dog sachets, we can make other kinds."

Oh right!

Muxi's eyes lit up immediately. She waved her little hand hurriedly to Ning Jia and then couldn't wait to find her colleagues in the planning team.

...

The children were busily making sachets, while Ning Jia had just noted down the new order and marked the shipping date in Excel.

As she filled out the spreadsheet, she pondered in her mind:

Judging from the time, shouldn't other people's feedback be coming in by now?

Sure enough, less than a second later, the phone on the table started vibrating.

She opened WeChat and saw that it was a message from Zhou Chi.

The content is concise and to the point, consisting of only four simple words:

[Zhou Chi: A masterpiece!]

Ning Jia asked him to elaborate and then asked if there was anything that needed improvement, but Zhou Chi insisted that it was already perfect and needed no further changes, and decided to order a large batch to give to relatives and friends.

Ning Jia: ...

Forget it, this person's bias towards dwarves is incredibly strong, so we'll disregard his opinion.

Following this was feedback from pharmacy owner Sun Jie:

Food-themed sachets are cute, and finely crafted sachets are beautiful. As for cat and dog sachets...

Ms. Sun subtly suggested that the store's customers might not be the target audience for such... bold designs.

Ning Jia thanked her and tactfully didn't mention the matter of "selling sachet blind boxes in pharmacies" again.

Next, here is feedback from medicinal herb farmer Liu Min:

She personally liked all the sachet designs this time, but her favorite was the Ugly Dog Sachet, saying it looked exactly like her own dog, Big Yellow, as if they were blood brothers. She even asked if she could order another batch of blind boxes of sachets...

Ning Jia, of course, accepted all offers without hesitation. After thanking Liu Min, he smiled and noted down another new order.

Sweetie, the owner of Qingjian Study Room, replied rather late, but she also brought a lot of orders, giving Ning Jia a big surprise!

According to Tian Tian, ​​she only casually recommended these cat and dog sachets to her customers, and they became very popular among young people!

Especially for those under immense pressure preparing for exams, placing a cat or dog head with a sly expression on their desk can not only refresh their mind but also relieve stress!

Ning Jia quickly shared the WeChat stickers she had just uploaded, and Tian Tian immediately forwarded them to the study room's customer group.

Soon, many people downloaded the entire set of emoticons and started sending them on various chat pages...

The last one...

Ning Jia glanced at Ms. Ning's chat page and guessed that she and Aunt Lin hadn't received the package yet. When they saw the new sachets, they would probably be quite surprised.

Ning Jia chuckled, looking at the densely packed orders in the spreadsheet, feeling that the feedback from this trial had exceeded her expectations.

It seems this sachet blind box business is going to be a hit.

It's safe now.