Chapter 54 Argument: "Why are you looking at Xiaohong? Xiaohong listens to me..."
The next day, when Shu Qing and Jiu Su arrived at the Super Management Bureau, the little gecko had already been moved to a separate containment room and was being properly cared for.
“It’s not too serious,” the staff told them. “She experienced some hearing and vision loss last night, but it’s slowly recovering now. The specific cause is still unclear. Minister Jin looked at it and felt that she shouldn’t contact any more people. We might need to find an alternative plan for Ms. Shu.”
Shu Qing nodded. The studio had prepared backup plans from the start, so there was no need to worry. She was more concerned about the little gecko's condition.
This is a small, bright orange gecko, and it's a rare Level 2 among this batch of little monsters. Since the Huiyao Group incident broke out, the Super Management Bureau has opened up adoptions, and with Shu Qing's help in promoting it, almost all the other little monsters above Level 2 have been adopted. Only this one, because it's timid and refuses to show itself, has never been adopted.
It only mustered up the courage to come to the Youling Studio to interact with humans two days ago. When it first arrived, Shuqing observed it for a while until it started interacting well with people before she felt at ease.
It still couldn't adapt. Shu Qing thought: Could it be that the contact time was too long? It seems that the little monsters also need to take turns in the morning and afternoon.
The baby gecko was kept in a black glass box, with the noise and light from the outside world minimized, but not to the point of complete isolation. When the staff approached, the gecko remained motionless and completely unaware; when the staff took it out of the glass box, it only wagged its tail slightly and barely reacted.
Is this already a sign of "slow recovery"? Shu Qing felt a little gloomy.
Jiu Su touched her hair and led her outside. Halfway there, he suddenly frowned, looked at the other side of the corridor, and after a moment, took her hand and walked there.
Shu Qing followed, confused. After walking two-thirds of the way down the corridor, she vaguely heard a somewhat familiar voice saying something.
"...I told you before, cooperating with her is unreliable, it'll cause trouble sooner or later." The speaker was Hu You, the senior caretaker that Shu Qing met when she first came to the Supernatural Management Bureau. She now knew that this person was also a monster from a thousand years ago, but not known for combat strength, and was suitable for taking care of cubs.
Because he is a "superhuman being," he serves as the deputy to the head of the Nurturing Department. However, if he disagrees, Shu Qing cannot retrieve any monster cubs from the Supernatural Management Bureau; his word is his bond.
Jin Wanli retorted, "It's been more than half a month, and it's just this once? Besides, it's not a big deal. Haven't the other monsters benefited? Aren't they all doing much better than before? I think she's doing alright."
Shu Qing heard this sound from afar, "..."
She had mixed feelings; she never expected that Jin Wanli would speak up for her one day.
"What do you mean by that?" Hu You sneered. "Are you really planning to stay here in shackles like a hyena forever?"
"Bullshit!" Jin Wanli, with his explosive temper, could easily turn on you if you tried to talk to him nicely, so he couldn't stand this and immediately exploded, "Who do you think you are to talk to me like that? My brother is giving you face because you took care of him for several years, but I'm not. Let me tell you—"
He stopped halfway through his "telling" because Jiu Su had already walked over unhurriedly, her gaze sweeping over their faces indifferently.
Hu You, with a somber expression, still bowed halfway, while Jin Wanli didn't bow, only reluctantly shutting his mouth. Shu Qing, witnessing the scene of the three great demons tearing each other apart, felt awkward for a moment and could only offer a polite smile.
“Uncle You, since you have something to say, why don’t you speak to me?” Jiu Su said calmly. “A Shu is my girlfriend, and Wan Li is my brother. Your restrictions can’t stop me. Why bother bypassing me?”
Hu You straightened up, his eyes, though old, were still sharp. He met Jiu Su's gaze as if they were about to clash.
"Then I'll be blunt." Hu You's cold eyes swept across Shu Qing's face. "Has the Little Demon King forgotten the hatred of his past life?"
Jiu Su said calmly, "This is my private matter, and Uncle You need not concern himself with it."
"She caused the demon race to decline from its peak, and a promising situation was ruined overnight. Can that be considered a private matter?" Hu You's voice grew more stern. "She used to make this argument that immortals and demons are treated equally, deceiving you all into believing her. Today, she's using the same trick again. Are you going to do it again? You have a third life. Can you give it to her again?"
Shu Qing wasn't one to tolerate someone's chatter. Whether the other person was a "brother" or an "uncle," it was all the same. Before Jiu Su could speak, she raised her chin and said with a smile, "Are Mr. Hu and Minister Jin bringing up old grievances? I don't remember anything from my past life. Xiao Hong is biased and insists that I never wronged him. I don't know if it's true or not, so there's nothing I can do."
"But I overheard it from afar and wanted to ask you, what does something from your past life have to do with what's happening now?"
Jiu Su suppressed a smile and made a "please" gesture, meaning that she would take over the main battle and he would be responsible for support.
Hu You said grimly, "The Little Demon King asked me to speak with him. Miss Shu, are you going to interfere in this as well?"
“How can this be called interrupting?” Shu Qing laughed. “Xiao Hong asked you to talk to him because you were using this matter to make things difficult for Minister Jin, going around in circles and being inefficient. But, I am the one directly involved, so it’s fastest for you to tell me. Please don’t change the subject. Please tell me directly, what is the connection between what happened in our studio today and those old grudges from the past? I need to understand so I can learn from the experience and make targeted improvements.”
Hu You said coldly, "Miss Shu, if someone deceives you once, can you trust that person a second time?"
“Sure,” Shu Qing retorted without backing down. “When I first came to the Supermarket Management Bureau, Minister Jin kept saying ‘everything will be done according to procedure,’ but then he turned on me and even got physical. Doesn’t that count as lying to me?”
Jin Wanli never expected that when it was Shu Qing's turn to speak, he would also be targeted. He immediately glared and asked, "What did you say?"
“But when the Huiyao Group incident happened, he came to help me, and I still trusted him, didn’t I?” Shu Qing gestured to Jin Wanli to calm down. “Because in this matter, I have no conflict of interest with him. The same applies to the cooperation between the Super Management Bureau and Youling Studio. What would I, a demon-raising content creator, gain by harming those little demons? Aren’t I afraid that I’ll end up like Huiyao, suffering a huge setback?”
"Mr. Hu, you've lived for so many years, even if you haven't heard of 'discussing the matter at hand,' you should at least have heard of 'times change,' right?"
Taking advantage of the fact that Hu You was a thousand-year-old demon, she didn't care about his cardiovascular health at all. Her words were sharp as knives, yet they were always reasonable. Hu You was so angry that he couldn't speak and looked at Jiu Su with a dark face.
"Why are you looking at Xiaohong?" Shu Qing asked with a smile. "Xiaohong listens to me. Besides, even if she doesn't listen, does that mean what I said is nonsense?"
Jiu Su smiled slightly and gently squeezed her hand—the two had walked over with their fingers intertwined, and even during this verbal argument, they hadn't let go, remaining clasped together the whole time.
“There were things we could only do in the past, but time has passed and there’s no need to dwell on them,” he said calmly. “Let’s just talk about what’s in front of us now. The little monsters that the Super Management Bureau sent to the Spirit Studio all have some issues with their demonic power being out of control. In the past two weeks, Ashu has used his talent to help them recover. That’s a fact, and Uncle You has seen it all. You can’t deny it, can you?”
Hu You scoffed, clearly convinced that Shu Qing had ill intentions, and he wouldn't listen to either Shu Qing's or Jiu Su's words.
“That’s normal,” Shu Qing thought. “Persuading a middle-aged or elderly human man in his fifties is already a difficult task. Persuading a middle-aged or elderly monster man who is several thousand years old is like hell. Xiao Hong might as well not try to persuade him.”
Although she didn't speak, Jiu Su miraculously connected with her telepathically, and his tone suddenly changed: "On the contrary, I want to ask Uncle You: I went to see that little gecko. Although it's rare for a creature to perceive the bloodline of all things, with Uncle You's eyesight, he shouldn't have failed to recognize it, and he should know that it's not suitable for the Spirit Studio. Do you have anything to say about that?"
Shu Qing couldn't understand again, but since Jiu Su was confronting Hu You, she couldn't openly whisper to Jiu Su, so she could only quietly ask Jin Wanli, "What does 'perceive all things' mean?"
“I’ve given you the database for free.” Jin Wanli still remembered the two sarcastic remarks she made earlier when she used him as an example, and rolled his eyes, but still explained, “It just means that your senses are exceptionally sharp, you have eyes that can see a thousand miles and ears that can hear the wind, and you can discover anything. If you grow up, this ability is very powerful, but when you are a cub, it’s best to avoid contact with messy things.”
Shu Qing instantly understood: This is a living scanner, in its infancy.
Jiu Su glanced at Jin Wanli without making a sound, and then, using her sleeve as a cover, vigorously shook Shu Qing's hand. Judging from the movement, it was clear that Shu Qing's hand was sore again.
But his jealousy didn't show on his face; he maintained a cold expression, glancing at Hu You, waiting for him to give him an explanation.
Hu You frowned deeply and replied stiffly, "That's another matter..."
Shu Qing chuckled: "It seems Mr. Hu also knows what 'one thing at a time' means."
"...This was indeed the caretaker's mistake," Hu You said, his face ashen and his voice trembling. "I will tell them to screen the cubs properly, and I will personally inspect all the cubs that are sent out in the future. This will never happen again."
Nine-Su gave a smile.
"But I advise the little demon king to think carefully about this so-called cooperation." Hu You gave Shu Qing an unfriendly look. "Humans think that those who are not of our kind must have different intentions. Aren't we the same? Today's events are certainly partly due to the caregiver's faults, but ultimately, without her unrealistic ideas, this would not have happened."
"If we let her continue, there will likely be more and more problems in the future. Is the little demon king going to blame others every time?"
This was even more absurd, so Shu Qing immediately retorted, going on and on about how to divide responsibilities and clarify the division of labor in project cooperation, and how to attribute problems to causes... She gave the old monster a thorough lesson on the modern workplace blame-sharing system, and drove him away with her verbal attack, giving all three of us a good venting of our anger.
However, there is a price to pay for swearing. When Shu Qing wanted to take the little gecko back to her home and raise it with her own talent, she was firmly rejected by the Nursing Department. The deputy minister said that Shu Qing did not have a nursery worker qualification certificate, and this matter did not comply with the regulations.
Okay.
Shu Qing dismissed the idea, feeling only regret but nothing more. She was simply feeling sorry for the little demon and wanted to do her part; failing to help wouldn't have harmed her.
She figured it out today. Anyway, with Jiu Su around, Hu You wouldn't dare to really turn against her. Let him think whatever he wants.
She didn't take it to heart, but when she went to Youling Studio again the next day, Qi Yun's solemn expression made her uneasy.
"What is this, a marketing account?" Shu Qing leaned closer to Qi Yun's laptop. On the screen was an article that had been published just minutes ago. "An insider revealed that the supernatural beings from Youling Studio have been taken back to the Supernatural Management Bureau for recuperation..."
Qi Yun nodded heavily.
"Forward this to me." Shu Qing had been caught up in the controversy surrounding the abuse of monsters before, so she was quite adept at it. In just a second, she was in battle mode. "How do they know this?"
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