Chapter 4 Egg Pancakes: Going to Work is Terrifying
"Ah, it's the clan leader!"
Guoguo ignored the strawberries in front of her and ran quickly toward a tall little person with hair in a bun.
He Meng and Bai Su, however, were not as excited as Guo Guo. Their expressions were stiff, and they quickly hid the banana pieces in the grass before somewhat guiltily approaching.
"Chief, you're back."
Ning Jia looked at the other person from afar and was immediately surprised: This little woman who looked about the same age as Bai Su was actually the chieftain of the little people.
Upon closer inspection, the clan leader appeared young, but his hair was already somewhat gray, and he was much more mature and composed than He Meng and the others.
Seeing that the clan chief had come along and noticed her, Ning Jia quickly gave her a friendly smile, "Hello, I am Ning Jia."
"How could you associate with giants?! I'm afraid you've come with ill intentions!"
The clan chief frowned, and a small wooden bow appeared in his hand at some point. Holding a wooden arrow, he was about to shoot it at Ning Jia.
The familiar scene unfolded once again. This time, before Ning Jia could even utter the words "I am a good person," He Meng stepped forward and blocked the clan leader's attack.
Fifteen minutes later.
Ning Jia swore to the villains that she would never reveal their whereabouts, while simultaneously feeling as if the same scenario was repeating itself.
Who would have thought that these scoundrels had secretly come to trade with him without the knowledge of their tribe?
As the clan leader, Cang Lan was experienced and knew a great deal about the world of giants, making communication much smoother. Although she was certain that Ning Jia meant no harm, Cang Lan remained wary and did not reveal much about her clan's situation.
With the misunderstanding cleared up, He Meng immediately asked Cang Lan, "Clan Chief Cang Lan, did you gain anything from this trip?"
Canglan pointed to the large straw bags on everyone's backs, "The harvest wasn't much, barely enough for the tribe to eat for two days."
Hearing that Ning Jia was exchanging food with He Meng and the others, Cang Lan's eyes lit up. "Giant, do you really like our vanilla?"
Ning Jia nodded, "I like it. It's not just these things; we can exchange them for other good things as well."
After seeing the fruit Ning Jia brought, Cang Lan decisively made an agreement with Ning Jia to exchange them.
However, Canglan hoped that the exchange wouldn't take place too late, because they rested at sunset and needed to rest soon after dark.
"Our warriors will patrol the area and will notify us immediately if you appear."
Ning Jia hesitated for a moment, "If I don't have to work overtime, I should be able to come earlier. But if I have to work overtime, it's hard to say."
Guoguo tilted her little head and asked, "Giant Sister, what is overtime?"
Ning Jia simply explained the concepts of working and working overtime, which made Guo Guo shrink back in fright. "You must have it so hard. Working is so scary."
He Meng, standing to the side, said in bewilderment, "Having to work that lousy job for so long every day means you have absolutely no time for yourself. Isn't that just being a slave? If it were me, I'd rather starve to death than go to work."
Upon hearing this, the scene fell silent. Bai Su glared at He Meng, and Cang Lan also showed an apologetic expression, "This child isn't very good at speaking, please don't mind her."
Ning Jia, who has been a corporate slave for many years, scratched her head and chuckled, "It's okay, she wasn't wrong."
However, after hearing He Meng's words, and thinking about having to go to the company to be a slave again tomorrow, she couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness on her face.
Whether it was because of the agreement with the little people or because they looked down on her, the next morning, Ning Jia, sitting at her workstation, felt inexplicably filled with aversion to working overtime.
From the moment she walked into the company, she began silently chanting in her mind, "Please, please, please don't work overtime today... Please, please, please don't work overtime..."
In order to avoid working overtime, she deliberately increased her work efficiency during the day and reduced her time slacking off. By the end of the day, her phone battery still had more than 90% left. She finally completed the task and got her supervisor's confirmation that it was OK before leaving get off work at six o'clock.
Wow! Looks like I can leave work on time today.
Ning Jia stretched out a big yawn, feeling very satisfied with her condition today. After her sleep quality gradually improved, she felt more energetic and could work without needing coffee to keep going.
It's quite a bargain to get such a great sleep aid with just some fruit. Looks like I'll have to trade more herbs with the little people in the future.
By the way, didn't Chief Canglan already agree to exchange his people with me? I wonder how many people the Little People actually have? Maybe I should buy more fruit today?
As the workday was drawing to a close, Ning Jia was engrossed in deciding which supermarket to go to that evening when she suddenly received a notification to work overtime.
It turned out that a colleague on the team had misread the client's requirements, and many forms had to be redone. The supervisor asked Ning Jia to stay and help.
Just what she feared most had happened. Ning Jia looked like she'd been struck by lightning, her whole body practically cracking open: What the hell? This job had absolutely nothing to do with her? Why was she made the firefighter?!
Ning Jia, her face grim, mentally ranted, her good mood from moments before vanishing completely.
The boss, feigning a good-natured attitude, said, "It'll be tough for you today. I'll treat you to milk tea later."
Drinking milk tea? Ning Jia almost rolled her eyes on the spot. Last time when we worked overtime, he made a big promise to treat everyone to McDonald's, but then he disappeared in the blink of an eye and never mentioned McDonald's again.
With a boss this stingy, you expect to work overtime for free? Dream on!
He Meng's words, "Isn't this just slavery?" kept echoing in Ning Jia's mind, causing her anger to build up until it burst forth in a powerful and resolute refusal:
"I'm sorry, I have something to do today and can't work overtime."
The room fell silent after she said that. Everyone else looked at Ning Jia in disbelief, as if they were meeting her for the first time.
In the past, in order to keep her job and not affect her money-saving plan, Ning Jia always swallowed her anger and generally did not provoke the company leaders to avoid being fired.
But the dwarf's words bothered her greatly, and even if it was for the money, she simply couldn't tolerate it today! This kind of humiliating overtime pay was a separate price!
Ning Jia, still seething with anger, glanced at her colleagues who were watching the drama unfold, and continued:
"Moreover, this mistake wasn't my fault in the first place. Whoever makes the mistake should take responsibility. I've already exceeded my work quota for today, so there's no need for me to stay and work overtime with inefficient people."
Once something is said, it becomes easier and easier to say it again. Ning Jia resisted the urge to continue and gave her superior a half-smile:
"Mr. Zhao, is that right?"
General Manager Zhao was also surprised that Ning Jia, who was always hardworking and conscientious, would suddenly refuse to work overtime. He looked at her in disbelief, opened his mouth, and didn't know what to say for a moment.
Seeing this, Ning Jia quickly said before her superior could react:
"If you have no objections, I'll head off work now. You can continue with your work."
She pretended not to see her boss's glare and her male colleague's eye roll, picked up her bag, and walked out of the company unhurriedly, feeling a secret sense of satisfaction.
As soon as she reached the bottom of the company building, she received a message from a colleague she was on good terms with:
[Jiajia, you were so cool just now! President Zhao's face turned green with anger, hahaha!]
However, I heard the company might be laying off staff soon, so it's safer to keep a low profile [doge emoji]
Ning Jia was stunned. Could it be? She was doing the work of three people. The company laid her off. Where could they find such a high-quality, cost-effective employee again?
She stopped hesitating, hopped on her electric scooter, and hurried to the Haoduoduo supermarket, ready to go on a shopping spree.
That evening, Ning Jia divided the ingredients, cooked, ate, and cleaned up the kitchen. When she looked at the time, it was only a little before eight o'clock, and she suddenly felt like she had plenty of time.
When her roommate came home from get off work and saw the kitchen was neat and tidy, she assumed Ning Jia hadn't cooked yet and exclaimed, "Ah, I'm so hungry! Ning Jia, what are you having for dinner?"
Ning Jia shook her head and said, "I've already eaten. I had a vegetable, ham, and egg pancake with multigrain porridge."
My roommate paused for a moment, then forced a smile. "This pancake sounds delicious."
"You said the same thing last time, and then you ate all the food I made without any hesitation," Ning Jia thought to herself. She thought, "I save money all the time, not so that my unfamiliar roommate can 'freeload' my dinner."
"Sorry, I've finished all the egg pancakes," she said directly, then brought out a bowl of multigrain porridge. "There's still some porridge left, would you like some?"
My roommate clearly wasn't interested in the plain and tasteless multigrain porridge, and shook his head. "No need, I'll order takeout later."
Ning Jia smiled slightly, said nothing, and put the porridge back in the refrigerator, intending to eat it again tomorrow morning.
Thanks to the little people, she has been going to bed early and waking up early recently, and can make her own lunchbox in the morning, which has significantly improved the quality of her diet.
Thinking of this, she quickly went to her room to get the fruit she had just bought and went to deliver food to the little people.
When Ning Jia carried the fruit to the small garden, He Meng, who was on patrol, quickly spotted her. He Meng happily ran over to greet her and then disappeared in an instant.
Ning Jia was amazed: This guy runs really fast... No wonder Cang Lan made him a guard in the clan, he is indeed very suitable.
Ning Jia and Cang Lan agreed to meet at a grassy area under a large tree deep in the garden. Knowing that the dwarfs lived there, Ning Jia was less afraid and walked straight into the garden.
She had just put down her heavy canvas bag when she looked up and, lo and behold, many tiny figures had suddenly appeared on the grass beneath her feet, numbering more than a dozen at first glance.
The tiny figures with their small arms and legs stood scattered on the grass, which, in Ning Jia's eyes, evoked a sense of playing house with toy figures as a child—it was full of fairytale charm. Coupled with the red flowers and green grass under the moonlight, it was truly an adorable and heartwarming scene.
She smiled slightly, spread the silicone mat she used for making noodles at home on the grass as a picnic mat, and took out the fruit from the bag one by one, arranging them neatly in a row on the grass.
Bright green melons, creamy white bananas, golden mangoes, bright red cherry tomatoes, glistening pears, crisp apples… all lined up in a row, like a mini fruit stand, quickly attracting the children's attention:
Those fruits look so delicious!
However, in the eyes of the little people, Ning Jia, who was not tall in the world of giants, was already a behemoth. This sense of oppression made them hesitate and dare not step forward.
Ning Jia noticed this as well, and looked around helplessly, searching for the figure of the Canglan clan chief. She had wanted Canglan to come over and "set an example," but the other woman didn't show up at all, so she had to give up. Not only Canglan, but the other familiar little figures also didn't appear.
It seems I'll have to promote it myself.
Ning Jia sat cross-legged behind the cushion, trying to make herself appear less "tall," then gave a friendly smile to the tiny figures "secretly observing" two meters away, and said loudly:
"Fresh and delicious fruit, you can trade it for vanilla and floral syrup, or other good things!"
As a result, her shouts were so loud that they were like a thunderclap in the quiet garden, startling the little people. One of the little ones was so frightened that he burst into tears on the spot.
Ning Jia: ...Oh no, are we going to be unable to open for business today?
A note from the author:
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