Chapter Sixty-Four
At the end of March, the temperature warmed up and the sun shone brightly.
As people recover from the flu, there are more pedestrians on the streets than before, and the atmosphere is better than ever.
Once, Yunxin accidentally saw a passerby on the street clutching his heart and collapsing, suspected of having a myocardial infarction.
Before she could even call for help, more than a dozen people rushed out from all directions and surrounded the passersby, each vying to perform CPR on the unconscious person...
On the other hand, Xiao Wei said she wanted to be a civil servant, and she actually got the job!
Furthermore, there is no overtime work, no unnecessary contact outside of work hours, location tracking twice a day, and only one spot left to alert the designated target.
Yunxin didn't know how they communicated, nor did she understand why the interviewer agreed.
Xiao Wei said, "The government is currently in dire need of manpower, and even more so of high-end combat capabilities. My request is not excessive, but some people are making outrageous demands and taking the opportunity to ask for a large sum of resettlement money."
Yunxin was highly suspicious; she felt the interviewer was more interested in talking about money than about not having to work overtime.
Unfortunately, Xiao Wei's attitude was firm, and she seemed unwilling to compromise.
The interviewer couldn't persuade him otherwise, so he had to settle for second best and keep the talent first... Anyway, when something happens, he can insist that it's a rare and critical moment and call someone over to save the day.
In any case, Xiao Wei has found a job, and she still needs to keep working hard!
Yunxin was full of energy and continued to send out resumes.
A week later, I successfully got a job at a small garment factory.
"This time we're hiring a clerk. The job is very simple: record the types and quantities of goods we receive each time, compile statistics on the goods sold, and create weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports that are easy for people to see," the boss explained her requirements.
"The workload isn't heavy, so it shouldn't be too busy. I usually just hang around when the fabric arrives and I'm free, so I lend a hand and help carry it."
"I'll occasionally take some time to clean up, but that's about it."
Yunxin: ? ?
She sounds like a clerk, but why does she seem to be doing purchasing work?
Moreover, the boss seemed to think the job was too easy, so she made her move goods and also do cleaning. She was being used by three people at once, and the boss couldn't stand her being idle for even a moment.
To be honest, Yunxin wanted to leave as soon as she heard that.
She couldn't even be bothered to argue.
The way this request was made made it seem like the two sides were completely unable to communicate.
This is probably the downside of small workshops.
The work is not clearly divided, and a bunch of messy tasks are piled up, leaving you exhausted and penniless in the end.
"I've been thinking about it, this job..."
Before I could even say "It's not really suitable for me," a young woman rushed over in a panic, "Boss! My heart is suddenly racing! I feel really flustered."
The proprietress's expression changed drastically. "Don't panic, explain yourself clearly."
"I...I don't know how to say it, but I'm suddenly very worried about a fire." The young woman was terrified.
The proprietress immediately said, "Tell everyone to retreat to the open space. Security guards will be in charge of checking. Everyone get moving!"
He then signaled to Yunxin to evacuate as well.
The order was given.
The workers ran downstairs in an orderly fashion, looking... quite skilled?
Curious, Yunxin randomly grabbed someone and asked, "Why is everyone so well-trained?"
The woman who had stopped Yunxin looked her up and down and said kindly, "Little girl, are you new here?"
"Yes," Yun Xin honestly admitted, "It's my first day on the job."
"You'll get used to it," the aunt said, praising her as she spoke. "The boss is very cautious. As soon as she hears something is wrong, she quickly arranges for everyone to evacuate before even starting to check for safety hazards. You can rest assured working here!"
Yun Xin had never seen anyone who would listen to advice before, but she had never seen someone who was so cautious as soon as there was a sign of trouble. She was even more curious, "What if it's a false report or a misreport?"
"So what if we made a mistake? It's better than ignoring it and playing with everyone's lives." The aunt argued vehemently. "Who would dare work for a boss who doesn't care about the safety of their workers?"
Hearing this, the workers nearby chimed in, "That's right! You should work for a conscientious boss! Run away from the heartless ones!"
"The world is so dangerous these days! If you're not careful, you might make money but not live to enjoy it!"
“Look at these forty or fifty people in this open space, that seems like a lot, right? Actually, a few months ago, the factory had sixty or seventy workers. Some of them just didn’t pay attention and were careless, which is why they lost their lives.”
Yunxin listened with a sense of existential unease.
One person doing the work of three, and they call that a conscientious boss? Are they talking about the boss's wife?
The workers looked serious, not like they were faking it. Their superpowers also failed to detect any lying, showing that every word they spoke came from the heart and was entirely genuine.
Not long after.
The boss told everyone to return to their posts, "The investigation has been completed. Someone was smoking near the warehouse, and the cigarette butt wasn't completely extinguished, almost causing a fire! When it was discovered, some scraps of fabric were already on fire!"
At this point, she sternly rebuked, "Did I say that smoking is prohibited in the factory? Who did it? Step forward."
The workers stirred.
After waiting for a long time, no one stepped forward to admit their mistake.
The proprietress was even angrier. "If you come forward now, you might get a lighter sentence. But if you're found out, there won't be any leniency!"
Everyone looked at each other, but no one stepped forward.
The proprietress was furious. "Investigate! You must find out!"
After the safety hazards were eliminated, the workers returned to their posts.
The proprietress noticed Yun Xin and suddenly remembered, "Did you have something to say just now?"
Yun Xin said seriously, "It's nothing, I just think this job is great and suits me very well."
She found everyone at this garment factory, from the owner to the workers, interesting.
Yunxin suddenly didn't want to leave.
What's there to be afraid of when the work is tedious?
Just consider it an opportunity to experience life.
It only took Yunxin three days from taking over the job to getting familiar with it and then figuring out how to deal with it.
She discovered that the boss's wife was good in every way, except that she couldn't stand seeing her employees idle.
Whenever she has free time, I will definitely arrange other work for her, making sure she is busy and has no free time at all.
Over time, Yunxin figured out the boss's logic and learned to find things to do for herself.
For example, data entry would normally take forty minutes. Yunxin would record data while taking breaks, sneaking in a quick slack.
Three hours passed, the work was finished, and it was just in time for lunch.
In the afternoon, Yunxin was making reports using the data.
The proprietress recruited men to move the fabric.
Yunxin was busy making reports, not even looking up, and kept saying, "I'll go help when the reports are finished!"
The fabric was moved, the work was finished, but the report wasn't done yet...
With her skillful ability to slack off, Yunxin lived a good life.
Even the boss's wife felt that the new employee was always busy, really hardworking and diligent, completely different from those seasoned veterans in the workplace!
Yunxin doesn't actually have the habit of slacking off.
Although she doesn't stay at any company for long, she loves what she does and is always diligent and conscientious.
But no matter how dedicated you are, you can't withstand the boss's relentless exploitation.
Earning minimum wage, practically below market limits, working three jobs, and even being looked down upon for drinking water. If you silently accept everything and do whatever you're told, that's not dedication; that's just foolishness…
Therefore, Yunxin decided to arrange her own work.
If the boss wants to assign her a job, he has to ask for a raise first.
In short, let's start by rejecting involution.
Compensation must be commensurate with workload. We must especially resist the practice of offering abnormally low wages that disrupt fair competition in the job market.
Two more days passed.
At noon, Yunxin was having lunch in the staff canteen.
Although the wages at the garment factory were low, they provided lunch. The cook was quite skilled; the beef stew with potatoes was incredibly flavorful.
Yunxin poured the meat broth over her rice and ate it in big mouthfuls, feeling her mouth filled with the aroma of meat.
Just then, a female worker at the next table whispered mysteriously, "Have you heard? They caught the guy who littered cigarette butts! It's Xiao Hu from the design department!"
The workers at the same table were all surprised, "How could it be him?"
"Xiao Hu usually seems like a nice person, so why would he litter cigarette butts and then deny it?"
“Hey! We’re a garment factory, and most of the stylists are women. Look around, which female worker is smoking? We have to check the male workers!” The first female worker to speak analyzed the situation logically and with evidence.
"There aren't many male employees in total, so the investigation eventually led to Xiao Hu, didn't it?"
"I don't know what he's thinking. He doesn't confess when he does something wrong, but instead tries to hide it. But how can you hide something like that? He's always been seen smoking in the corner. As soon as something happens, it gets exposed."
"He's still being stubborn, insisting that he didn't smoke on the day of the incident, let alone litter cigarette butts. He said it's wrong of him to smoke in violation of the rules, but that was only because he was under too much pressure and couldn't bear it, so he smoked a cigarette to relieve the pressure."
The worker at the same table was skeptical. "That's possible. Could there be a mistake?"
Another person asked, "Someone usually saw Xiao Hu secretly smoking, but didn't see him on the day of the fire. Lacking crucial evidence, he can only be a suspect. Are there any other suspects?"
“It happened so suddenly, the boss didn’t even install security cameras, so we can’t find out who did it.” The first female worker muttered, “On the other hand, apart from Xiao Hu, no one else smokes secretly.”
Just then, a man rushed over and shouted, "On the day of the fire, a cigarette butt was found near the warehouse. It's said that there was saliva on the cigarette butt, and after testing, it matched Xiao Hu's DNA. That means it really was him!"
The workers were in an uproar.
"I thought it wasn't him because he was being stubborn and wouldn't admit it."
“We are a garment factory, and our warehouse is full of fabric, which is extremely prone to causing a fire. How dare he throw away a cigarette butt like that? Doesn't he have any sense of public morality?”
“A person with a sense of public morality wouldn’t break the rules and sneak a smoke! Smoking is strictly prohibited inside the company. He knowingly violated the rules; what kind of good person could he be?”
"It almost caused a huge fire that burned everyone to death. It was really despicable. I even thought Xiao Hu was a nice guy and was thinking of introducing him to a girlfriend."
Amid the commotion, Xiao Hu stepped forward, visibly agitated, and loudly protested, "You've got it wrong, I didn't do it!!"
The workers were even angrier, their emotions running high, shouting, "If it wasn't you, then who is it?"
"Your DNA was found on cigarette butts. How do you explain that?"
"If you didn't smoke near the warehouse, then why would cigarette butts found around there contain your DNA?"
"This is a frame-up!" Xiao Hu said angrily. "I didn't do it, so I won't admit it."
The workers were shocked and bewildered. "The evidence is right in front of them, how can they still deny it?"
"It's not like you can deny it and then avoid being held accountable..."
"What did the landlady say?"
"Should we settle this privately? Or should we just take it to the police station?"
"I'll say it again, I didn't do it! That cigarette butt... someone probably picked up the one I smoked before and threw it at the accident scene to frame me." Xiao Hu's expression was full of grievance and indignation.
The workers exclaimed that Xiao Hu acted so well, it was a pity he didn't become an actor.
He couldn't reason with him, and he couldn't explain himself clearly. Xiao Hu was going crazy.
At this moment, the proprietress appeared.
She looked at Xiao Hu with icy eyes, "You blatantly violated factory rules and almost caused a major disaster. You can't be tolerated here. Go find another job."
Xiao Hu had no way to express his grievances and left in anger.
"It's alright, everyone, let's eat."
The proprietress waved away the onlookers and quietly left.
Yunxin watched it from beginning to end and was surprised to find that Xiao Hu had not lied.
This means that either he did it, he was unaware of it, and he firmly believes he is innocent.
Or... he really did nothing wrong, but was falsely accused and unjustly blamed.
"Things are getting increasingly bizarre."
Yunxin ate her stewed beef with potatoes while lost in thought.
"Run! Run, everyone! Hurry up!"
"What's wrong now..." the workers complained, reluctant to move. But after protesting for a while, they were still herded to the open space like sheep.
"Xiao Chen said she had a bad feeling that an earthquake might happen soon." The director tried to persuade her, "No matter what, run first."
Hearing about the earthquake, everyone was scared and couldn't help but quicken their pace.
Upon arriving at the open space, we waited for a long time, but nothing seemed amiss.
The female worker couldn't help but pull the foreman aside and ask, "Didn't they say there was an earthquake? Where is it?"
The director gave an awkward laugh and stammered, "Perhaps... my premonition was wrong?"
One sentence ignited the workers' anger: "Three days, five premonitions, four wrong! At this rate, we'll be tormented to death before any accident even happens!"
One female worker complained, "These past few days, the boss's wife has been blaming me for being lazy. I can't even finish a simple task in a day. Honestly! You have to concentrate on your work. These past few days, I've been called down to run for my life every now and then. How can I possibly concentrate?"
"Who isn't?" someone chimed in. "Salary consists of a base salary and commission. These past few days have been filled with simulated escapes, I haven't even had a chance to settle down and make a garment, and the commission is pitifully low! What if next month's salary is too little to live on? Are you going to make up the difference for me?!"
“I’m quite grateful to Xiao Chen, but hasn’t he gone too far lately? He made us run around without even understanding what was going on, and after we finished running around and checked for an hour or two, we found out that the prediction was wrong. Isn’t he just making a fool of us? I can tolerate being wrong once or twice, but being wrong four times in three days is just too outrageous!”
"I was quite happy before that the boss was cautious and treated her employees like human beings. But if she doesn't keep an eye on things, I'm going to develop a mental illness..."
"Quiet down, everyone. Quiet down."
The director, sweating profusely, tried his best to reassure them, "You all wait here, I'll go see what's going on."
As he spoke, he hurriedly ran back.
Yun Xin carefully sensed it, but the superpower did not give any warning.
Looking at the others, who were surrounded by a faint gray mist, they didn't seem to be in any life-threatening danger.
So, the so-called earthquake was just a hoax?
But why?
The workers waited in the open space for more than an hour, but nothing happened.
Xiao Chen looked remorseful and sincerely admitted her mistake. As she spoke, her voice choked up, "It's probably because too many things have happened recently, and I'm too scared. That's why I'm so suspicious and take my wild guesses as a sixth sense warning me."
With that said, others couldn't be too blaming.
"A lot has happened in the past few months."
"Don't even mention Xiao Chen, who wouldn't be afraid after seeing this?"
"Although it's delayed my work, I'm alright, so let's just let it go."
After the apology, the dissatisfaction subsided, and the workers went back to their work.
Yun Xin looked at Xiao Chen and slowly uttered two words, "Lies."
For some reason, the boss's wife started to dislike her again, finding fault with everything she did. "How long have you been working at the factory? Why are you making reports every day? The factory doesn't have much data, so making reports shouldn't take that much time."
Yun Xin looked innocent and reminded her, "Boss, I've only been here for a week... I'm not very familiar with the goods the factory buys, so I need time to get used to them."
The proprietress was still not satisfied and handed me a delivery note, saying, "Enter this delivery note before lunch, then make a report, print it out, and give it to me."
Does this mean you can't eat until you finish?
Yun Xin was stunned for a moment, and the proprietress slammed the order form on the table and walked out.
Outside the factory, a truck delivered a new batch of fabric, and the foreman was arranging for people to move the goods into the warehouse.
"Hurry up!"
Why are you taking so long?
"Doing manual labor is incredibly strenuous. Haven't you eaten enough?"
Yunxin suspected that the proprietress was now in a state where she would kick any dog she saw on the street.
Nothing seems right to me.
They think everyone else does everything terribly.
"How much did you add to your four-dimensional attributes, and why are you showing such a sense of superiority?"
Yunxin found it hard to understand.
I picked up the order form and took a look; it should take about an hour to process.
I glanced at the clock; at my normal pace, I'd probably eat 15 to 20 minutes later.
"Forget it, let's get the report done first."
Yunxin focused her attention and started working.
Lunchtime, staff canteen.
"Today we have stir-fried octopus and grilled squid balls!! That's great, they're all my favorites."
The lunch break is probably the happiest time of the day for the workers.
A free lunch, generous portions, and delicious food—everything about it makes you happy.
A female worker served herself stir-fried octopus, mixed it with rice, and enjoyed it immensely.
It was well past lunchtime when Xiao Chen finally appeared at the restaurant. Her eyes were red, as if she had been crying.
Seeing many people secretly observing her, she forced herself to stay alert and explained, "I had a good talk with the boss, and I won't speak up unless I'm sure. I'm sorry to disturb everyone's work..."
"It's okay, it's okay."
Seeing that Xiao Chen sincerely apologized, the workers stopped pressing the matter. After all, Xiao Chen had saved them when his prediction was correct.
While eating, one person suddenly collapsed and lost consciousness.
The workers were shocked. "What's going on?"
Others went to see Xiao Chen, their voices urgent yet tinged with reproach, "Why were you mute when you should have given a warning?!"
Xiao Chen was stunned and stammered, "I...I didn't feel anything!" As soon as he finished speaking, some people felt nauseous and vomited, while others covered their heads and said they had a headache.
Yunxin happened to enter the restaurant to eat at that moment.
Hearing the screams from inside the restaurant, she was immediately startled. Her eyes darted around quickly, and after a quick glance, she shouted, "The stir-fried octopus is bad! Don't eat it!"
"What are you talking about?" someone complained. "I also ordered stir-fried octopus, and I was perfectly fine after eating it, without any problems at all."
"You dare to show your face without any ability... Xiao Chen is no good, do you think you can do it?"
"I ordered stir-fried octopus, and I was fine after eating it."
"I ordered it too, I ate it, and I'm fine."
Several people reported that they had eaten stir-fried octopus and were unharmed.
Some suggested calling an ambulance, while others advised Yunxin to stop talking nonsense and to induce vomiting as soon as possible for rescue.
In an instant, Yun Xin had a flash of inspiration. She said gravely, "The stir-fried octopus contained blue-ringed octopus. Eating regular octopus is fine, but those who ate blue-ringed octopus were all poisoned."
"If someone orders stir-fried octopus, don't eat it, throw it all away."
"Blue-ringed octopus is highly poisonous. If you eat it, you might not survive within ten minutes. If you've just eaten it, induce vomiting immediately; there might still be a chance."
"What nonsense are you talking about..." some people didn't believe it. But when they turned around, everyone who had eaten the stir-fried octopus was vomiting.
Some people are gagging their throats, while others are pressing their tongues.
Those who hadn't yet had a chance to eat the stir-fried octopus pushed the dish far away.
Suddenly, one person experienced a muscle spasm and difficulty breathing. Then, their legs gave way, and they stopped breathing.
"Dead, really dead!"
A male employee mustered up the courage to step forward and feel the pulse in the person's neck, but found that he could not feel anything. He exclaimed in surprise and stepped back.
In an instant, the area around the fallen victim was unusually empty, and everyone only dared to stand at a distance and watch.
"Where are the police? Where is the ambulance?" The director was extremely anxious, but no one had come.
"On the way," one person whispered back. "Our factory is in a remote suburb, far from both the police station and the hospital. Even if we set off immediately after receiving the notification, it will still take a while to get here."
The director was speechless.
During the question-and-answer session, another person collapsed.
The director couldn't help but ask Yunxin, "Is there any way to help them?"
“I’m not a professional,” Yun Xin admitted. “I only know that blue-ringed octopuses are highly poisonous, 1,000 times more poisonous than ***. One blue-ringed octopus can kill more than 20 adults. I don’t know anything else.”
Upon hearing this, the director broke out in a cold sweat.
He wanted to help the victim, but he hesitated because he heard there was no cure for ingesting the blue-ringed octopus—he was an amateur and didn't know how to professionally save someone. What if something went wrong and the person died, and he was held responsible?
Therefore, he could only anxiously wait for the ambulance and dared not do anything else.
At the same time, Yun Xin sighed inwardly. In fact, besides its high toxicity, there was another terrifying aspect—the blue-ringed octopus's venom only affects the peripheral nerves and cannot enter the brain.
In other words, a person poisoned by the blue-ringed octopus will become paralyzed, lose all control of their body, and be unable to call for help. However, the poisoned person will remain conscious during this time.
They were like people trapped inside their bodies, consciously facing death.
After being poisoned, death can occur as quickly as ten minutes or so, or at most as slowly as six hours.
During those six hours, the brain was clear, the pain receptors were not suppressed, and the patient could feel all the pain.
Breathing becomes increasingly difficult, and the person gradually becomes oxygen-deprived. However, it takes a full six hours for the person to die completely.
For the person involved, this is an extremely cruel punishment.
Moreover, the toxins in blue-ringed octopus are alkaloids and do not lose their activity when cooked.
So the workers who mistakenly ate the blue-ringed octopus were really, really unlucky.
(End of this chapter)
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