Chapter 15: Receptionist

Zhou You knocked on the door first.

But nobody responded.

Unlike all the apartment units he had encountered before, however, this door was not locked.

It was merely slightly ajar.

He hesitated briefly, but ultimately chose to push the door open and enter.

The room inside was not large.

It looked nothing like a company that had contracted sanitation services for an entire city.

Perhaps space had been intentionally saved during construction, because at first glance the whole place felt extremely cramped.

There were very few furnishings as well.

Just a reception desk, several chairs, and a staircase leading to the second floor.

That was all.

At this moment, nobody was behind the reception desk.

Apparently the employee was upstairs taking a lunch break.

Zhou You was in no hurry to call them down.

Instead, he looked around.

After confirming there were no surveillance cameras or similar devices, he strolled over with his hands behind his back and casually glanced inside the desk area.

Unfortunately, it was just as simple as the exterior.

There were only several bottles of what appeared to be very expensive perfume and a registry book.

Zhou You picked up one of the perfume bottles and opened it for a sniff.

He immediately frowned.

The smell was wrong.

Although he had never used expensive cosmetics, he at least knew that no perfume should carry such an intensely pungent scent of cheap artificial fragrance.

And then there was the bottle itself.

Zhou You rubbed it with his thumb.

Tiny purple fragments immediately drifted down like snowflakes.

“The bottle is cheap too. Even Yiwu wouldn’t bother producing this kind of junk anymore. Where did they even get such counterfeit trash?”

Zhou You shook his head and set the perfume back in place.

After a moment’s thought, he adjusted its position slightly to ensure it looked exactly as before.

Only then did he open the registry.

Compared to the fake perfume, this item was completely normal.

It merely contained the names of sanitation workers and their assigned areas.

Yet instead of relaxing, Zhou You’s brows furrowed even deeper.

“Too few people.”

Under normal circumstances, a district would require at least ten sanitation workers, along with various tools to assist them.

Yet this registry listed only two workers per district.

That meant those two people were doing the work of ten.

Five times the workload.

And judging from the payroll records, they were doing more work for the same pay.

“I thought the original owner of this body had it bad as a security guard. Turns out there’s always someone worse off. This scenario actually has an even crueler boss.”

Before he could finish expressing his admiration, movement suddenly came from the second floor.

Someone seemed to be coming down.

Zhou You immediately returned the registry to its original position.

Then he walked to the reception desk, straightened his clothes, and after confirming there was nothing unusual about his appearance, put on a professional smile.

In the next second, however, that smile froze solid.

After all...

Nobody would expect that what emerged from the doorway...

Was not human.

The wooden door on the second floor burst open.

The first thing to squeeze through was a mass of yellow clothing, stretched so tightly that it had become grotesquely deformed.

What followed was a mountain of pale white fat.

At first glance it resembled a human belly.

But before Zhou You could identify it clearly, more fat poured through the doorway.

Together it formed a gigantic worm-like body.

Then dozens of thin, emaciated arms extended from beneath the creature.

Like the jointed limbs of an insect, they supported the enormous weight and slowly carried the monstrous bulk toward the reception desk.

Unfortunately, the cramped room could barely accommodate such a huge body.

The creature struggled for a long time.

It even shed chunks of fat before finally managing to squeeze itself into position.

Then its greasy flesh rippled and churned.

A woman’s face was forcibly extruded from the mass.

The woman appeared to be in her thirties.

Her features were fairly attractive.

Unfortunately, she wore so much makeup that any natural beauty had been completely buried beneath it.

Amid the bright reds and greens, only a clownish and ridiculous face remained.

The woman ignored Zhou You entirely.

Instead, she extruded two more arms.

Unlike the skeletal limbs supporting her body, these arms were plump and fleshy.

Their nails had been painted with cheap polish.

She picked up several perfume bottles and sprayed herself repeatedly.

Only then did she turn her gaze toward Zhou You.

“Who are you, and what exactly are you here for?”

Her voice buzzed like a swarm of flies.

Merely hearing it made one want to vomit.

Zhou You responded with a bright smile.

“Um, excuse me. I’m here looking for a...”

Before he could finish speaking, an even sharper scream interrupted him.

“I’m asking you, who are you, and what exactly are you here for?!”

Zhou You stepped back and frowned.

Nevertheless, he continued answering in a friendly tone.

“Uh, my name is Zhou You. I came here to find a...”

“No! Who are you? Who exactly are you? I’m asking who you are!”

The monster was not listening at all.

It simply kept shrieking the same question.

The makeup on its face became increasingly grotesque.

The pale fat surged like waves.

It looked ready to pounce upon Zhou You at any moment.

Seriously? The stall owner at least let me speak a few sentences. But this thing won’t even listen to human language? And this is your idea of daytime being relatively safe?!

Zhou You’s expression changed.

He was just about to activate Selfless Meditation and run.

But before moving, he suddenly remembered something.

Wait. I think there was something about this situation in the newspapers.

There was no time left for hesitation.

He forced himself to stand his ground.

Facing the monster that seemed ready to devour him alive, he abruptly spoke several words.

“Actually, I’m a reporter.”

The mountain of fat, churning like a tidal wave, froze instantly.

It was as though the creature had encountered some kind of curse.

At this moment, all traces of madness vanished from the heavily powdered face floating amid the greasy white flesh.

Only cautious fear and anxiety remained.

This sentence came directly from one of the newspaper fragments.

“Corruption... investigative reporter... will...”

At this point, Zhou You could fully reconstruct the article.

An environmental services company contracted for government projects was suspected of corruption.

An investigative reporter would soon be arriving to conduct interviews.

Thinking of this, he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Originally, he had considered the newspapers too fragmented to be useful.

Now, however, it seemed they were actually the key clues of this world.

While he was thinking, the woman’s head appeared to discover a flaw.

She suddenly raised her voice in challenge.

“Wait a minute. Why should I believe you’re a reporter? What kind of reporter wears a security guard uniform?”

Right.

I forgot about that.

Zhou You casually glanced at his clothing.

Still, he replied without the slightest panic.

“Miss, have you ever seen an investigative reporter who writes the word ‘reporter’ across their forehead? I just came back from collecting evidence at a company and haven’t even had time to change clothes yet. If you have doubts, feel free to ask your superiors. I’ll wait right here. But if you get scolded afterward, don’t blame me.”

Zhou You remained remarkably calm.

Strong on the outside, weak on the inside.

Using cheap perfume while pretending it was expensive.

Hysterical and aggressive on the surface, yet inwardly fearful and insecure.

According to the personality profiles constructed in psychology, this was a classic bully-the-weak-and-fear-the-strong type.

Therefore, he was absolutely certain that the creature would never dare to verify his claims with higher management.

As expected.

Just as he had predicted, the woman’s head immediately fell silent.

Maintaining his aggressive attitude, Zhou You continued.

“Since you’re satisfied now, it’s my turn. As I already said, I need a small favor from you. I need you to help me locate a sanitation worker employed here.”

The woman’s face froze briefly.

Then she gave an awkward smile.

“Well... according to company regulations, we aren’t allowed to disclose any employee information.”

“Really? Then I won’t force you.”

Zhou You smiled.

Before the woman could sigh in relief, however, he leisurely continued.

“I happened to notice that your staffing shortage seems rather severe. Only two sanitation workers for an entire district. As for those government funds you’re receiving...”

“Just tell me what you need! I’ll find them immediately!”

The response came as quickly and cleanly as an oath.

A brilliant smile spread across Zhou You’s face.

“The worker I’m looking for is easy to identify. You should know about the street vendor who made the news for dying from overwork some time ago, right? The person I’m looking for is his wife.”

Yes.

This was the most crucial piece of information from his conversation with the stall owner.

He had a wife.

And she worked here.