Chapter 10
The filming went smoothly for the next few days.
With the city scenes mostly completed, the entire crew will now move to the suburbs to continue filming at a villa on a hillside. Filming is expected to last a week, and Xu Lan gave everyone two days off before they set off.
The next day happened to be Yu Miaomiao's birthday, and she went to meet Wang Shuo.
I took the subway and then a bus, which stopped at the city center's administrative building. On a weekday, the building was bustling with people.
In this seemingly ordinary building, there are floors that ordinary people can never reach.
[Fingerprint authentication successful, iris authentication successful, beep—Good morning, Yu Miaomiao.]
With a cold, mechanical sound, the door opened, revealing a sign for the "Department for Monsters and Spirits Affairs of City A".
Yu Miaomiao walked into the room, where a lively scene unfolded, with everyone performing their duties.
"They only allocated such a small budget to the Public Opinion Center for Q3! Don't they need money to appease the public? Don't they need money to purchase amnesia medication? Don't they need money to hire online trolls? I absolutely will not sign it!"
"Another monster brawl has occurred in Jiang'an District! It's good that no ordinary citizens were watching; you knocked them unconscious! The reward for reporting... I'll try to apply for it for you. Thank you, I'll send someone over immediately..."
"If you're interested in joining the Enforcement Division, please keep an eye on our regularly posted recruitment announcements. Special recruitment? Skunk? Gas attack? Sorry, we don't have any of those requirements. Speaking English isn't enough either~"
Yu Miaomiao glanced at the time; it was still an hour before her appointment with Wang Shuo at 10 o'clock. So she decided to go for a medical check-up first.
Skillfully weaving through the diverse crowds, I arrived at the door at the very back, marked with a sign that read "Technology Development Department Laboratory".
A gentle knock came from inside, and a clear voice replied, "Just a moment!"
A moment later, the door opened, and a girl with fluffy, bright red ears stood behind it.
Seeing who it was, she was pleasantly surprised. "Miaomiao, isn't the follow-up check-up tomorrow? Why are you here today!"
Yu Miaomiao went inside. "I'm leaving for a week tomorrow, so I came early to do it."
"And get a full body check-up while you're at it."
Previously, she had suppressed the cat's heat cycle, and this was the first time she had reverted to her original form due to using her demonic power. She was somewhat worried about her physical indicators.
“No problem.” The girl, Hu Li, tilted her head and gave an OK sign, her big, furry ears twitching as she did so.
Blood was drawn and X-rays were taken; the results came out quickly.
The girl skipped and hopped over, carrying a stack of reports.
"Miaomiao, the medical report is out. There are a few data points that we need to pay attention to."
Yu Miaomiao carefully compared the data, and noted, "The cell differentiation rate seems to have increased."
"Oh dear, this is just a normal fluctuation and won't affect your application to the Demon Supervisory Committee!"
The girl pointed to several other lines of data, "These are more important. The bloodline fusion rate and the concentration of demonic energy have both decreased, which is related to physical health."
Have you experienced any physical fatigue after using your demonic powers recently?
"fine."
Yu Miaomiao didn't seem to care much and didn't mention that she had used her demonic power to suppress Xiao Jin's heat cycle.
A young lab technician carrying test tubes walked past the two and glanced at the report.
He quipped, "With such low scores, even adding a zero wouldn't get you into our lab. You'd only be able to get into the Demon Supervisory Committee."
"Wang! Da! Peng!"
Hu Li read out the lab technician's name word by word.
She slammed the report shut, stood up, and yelled at Wang Dapeng, "All you do all day is gossip! Do you have nothing better to do?"
"Someone who can't even clean reagent bottles properly has time to spout nonsense here!"
"Besides having higher demonic power, what other abilities do you have?"
"Sister, sister, I was wrong," Wang Dapeng said with a forced smile.
"Now you know you were wrong?" Hu Li sneered. "If you write another piece of crap like this lab report, guess if I'll bail you out?"
Wang Dapeng panicked completely, "No, Sister Hu Li, I really know I was wrong!"
But Hu Li had already pulled Yu Miaomiao to the reception room.
She apologized to Yu Miaomiao: "Miaomiao, I'm so sorry."
"Is this newcomer?" Yu Miaomiao asked.
"Yeah, I've only been here for less than two months." Hu Li said disdainfully, "I was assigned here after graduating from the Demon Vocational School. I don't know anything. I just love to show off because I have high demon power."
"The requirements for physical fitness of the Demon Supervisory Committee are not high, but he can't even meet the threshold for other requirements, yet he has the nerve to laugh."
The vocational school for demons has very low requirements for academic qualifications, so it seems the selection criteria have been adjusted again...
Yu Miaomiao pondered to herself.
"Let's not talk about him anymore."
Hu Li took out another report, "This is the re-inspection report for the Moon Dew project, take a look."
Moon Dew is a demon power restoration potion created by the Technology Development Division through research on the components of demon inner cores. It is currently in the experimental project stage.
The project aims to determine whether it's possible to help monsters rebuild their inner core by continuously consuming Moon Dew.
Ordinary demons and spirits usually possess an inner core.
The inner core is the source of a demon's power, capable of efficiently absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and transforming it into demonic power within the demon's body.
Generally speaking, monsters that are good at fighting have a large and beautiful inner core.
There are many reasons for losing one's inner elixir.
Some were broken in fights, some were stolen, and some were melted away during cultivation.
Yu Miaomiao is quite special: she was born without an inner core.
The reason is quite simple.
Her father was a monster, while her mother was a pure human.
The offspring of a human and a demon rarely inherit the demon bloodline; they are usually just ordinary humans. She is one of the few exceptions.
Therefore, she became one of the most valued participants in this project team.
The process for this project is very simple: take Moon Essence Dew regularly every week, and have a check-up every month to observe whether there are any signs of condensation in the inner elixir.
"Miaomiao, your retest results are not ideal."
Hu Li pointed out several data points in the report: "All the data show that no signs of inner elixir formation were detected."
She hesitated for a moment, then said, "This project has been going on for over a year, and the results for the 13 participants have not been very good. I heard that it will be cut in two months."
After saying that, she carefully observed Yu Miaomiao's expression, but there was no sign of disappointment or dejection on that pale face.
Yu Miaomiao nodded, "I understand. Remember to let me know if there are any similar projects."
Her situation was different from the other participants; she had no expectations whatsoever about condensing an inner core.
The reason for participating in the project was simply to obtain free potions to replenish demonic power.
Before leaving, Yu Miaomiao took the new week's Moon Dew, and Hu Li secretly increased her dosage by 50%.
The girl winked at her mischievously, "We've produced a lot of Moon Dew before. Anyway, this project isn't going to last long, and it'll just be gathering dust in the warehouse anyway. I might as well give it to you; I know it'll be useful to you."
Before leaving, Hu Li called out to Yu Miaomiao, "Oh, right, there's one more thing."
"Our company launched a big data-based monster-finding system this week. All examinations involving blood draws will store bloodline information in the system by default."
"Even though you're an orphan, you might be able to find your distant relatives among the demons!"
Yu Miaomiao hummed in acknowledgment, but did not respond to Hu Li's second sentence, and pushed the door open and left.
Around ten o'clock, she wandered through the dense corridors and offices until she found the sign for the Department of Education.
She went in and explained that she was looking for Section Chief Wang. Someone went to inform him, and soon a slightly overweight middle-aged man came running over with a file bag.
"Miaomiao, sorry to keep you waiting."
Wang Shuo was fair-skinned with a round face and a smiling expression. "Let's talk in the conference room."
In the conference room, Wang Shuo pulled the contract out of the file folder and handed it to Yu Miaomiao.
"Once the contract is signed, the money will be entirely yours."
He added, "But the money is still in the trust, and it can only be withdrawn after three months. The returns over the years have been pretty good, totaling more than 4.3 million after deducting service fees."
Yu Miaomiao opened the contract.
Ms. Yu Jianqing passed away in a car accident, and the entire compensation of three million yuan she received was handed over to…
She didn't look at the huge sums of money, but lingered on the first line, "Yu Jianqing," for a long time.
She quickly skimmed through the remaining pages, then signed her name on the last page, showing no sign of being tempted by the large sum of money.
After completing all the formalities, it was nearly midnight. As she walked out of the Education Department's gate, someone called out to her from behind.
"Miaomiao, wait!"
Wang Shuo rushed over, his forehead covered in sweat. "It's such a hassle to ask for leave. You're going to see your mother, right?"
"I haven't been there in a while either, I'll go with you."
Yu Miaomiao did not refuse. The two bought some flowers and drove to the cemetery on the outskirts of the city.
Yu Jianqing's grave is deep in the cemetery; it took the two of them ten minutes to walk there.
The tombstone was old, with many broken edges, but it was clean, without moss or cobwebs, indicating that it was regularly cleaned.
She used a rag to wipe away the thin layer of dust on the tombstone, first the edges, and finally the photo in the middle.
This photo is a "family portrait" taken by Yu Jianqing when Yu Miaomiao was 4 years old. At the time, no one could have imagined that it would be cut out and used as a funeral portrait.
Looking at the photos alone, no one would guess that this bright and cheerful woman, with her smiling eyes and seemingly carefree demeanor, is a mother whose husband has disappeared and who is raising her four-year-old child alone.
On the tombstone, the woman's radiant smile was as vivid as yesterday. Yu Miaomiao stared at it, unable to resist touching it, but all she touched was the cold stone slab.
The time he spent away from Yu Jianqing was much longer than the time he spent with her. One of them remained forever 30 years old, while the other kept growing up.
Now, their similar features make them look more like sisters than mother and daughter.
She wiped the photo repeatedly until it was spotless, then stopped, her lips moving silently as she called out, "Mom."
Wang Shuo cleared away a patch of weeds that had sprouted around the cemetery and came over, rubbing his back.
"I haven't exercised in ages, I'm exhausted."
He stopped, looked at the person in the photo, and said with emotion, "Little sister, Miaomiao has come of age today. She's an adult now, so you can rest in peace in the afterlife."
"No, since there are monsters in this world, there might be reincarnation. Your mother might have already been reincarnated into a good family and is enjoying happiness, so she can't hear what I'm saying, haha."
Wang Shuo observed Yu Miaomiao's expression. He said those words to comfort her, but seeing her expressionless face, his awkward laughter slowly stopped.
Just then, Yu Miaomiao's phone rang. She hung up without answering, but the phone kept ringing relentlessly.
She answered the unfamiliar number impatiently.
"Hello, who are you?"
"Is this Yu Miaomiao?" The voice on the other end of the phone was that of an elderly person.
Yu Miaomiao frowned; she was certain she didn't know the other person.
"I am. What's up?"
"Miaomiao, I've finally found you! It's Grandma!"
The old man's voice was kind and excited, with a hint of sobbing, conveying his deep longing for Yu Miaomiao.
But Yu Miaomiao's face remained unmoved; she gripped her phone tightly, her eyes revealing a hint of coldness.
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