Chapter 281: Earned It
"What's going on?!" I cried out in surprise.
"Little sister, I've helped you as much as I can," Sister Ruoxue said. "From now on, don't be so naive. Take good care of this venue."
"Ah... thank you... thank you, sister..." Even though they didn't want to hear me say thank you, I couldn't help expressing my gratitude to Sister Ruoxue.
"Little Mouse..." Sister Xiaoyao turned her head to look at me. "So where exactly is the 'Dao' of this warehouse?"
"Oh, actually, this warehouse doesn't even—"
Before I could finish my sentence, Sister Ruoxue reached out and covered my mouth.
She frowned and looked at Sister Xiaoyao. "Xiaoyao... what are you trying to do?"
"Ruoxue, don't you think this is a great opportunity?" Sister Xiaoyao said. "We've come all this way, and we've run into a 'Zodiac' like this. Have you forgotten the final mission of 'Heaven's Gate'?"
"I forbid it," Sister Ruoxue said. "Xiaoyao, this little girl just became a 'Zodiac' today. She hasn't harmed anyone so far."
"Just because she hasn't now doesn't mean she won't later." Although Sister Xiaoyao looked hesitant, she still spoke. "Even though she's a child... no matter what, every 'Zodiac' we can eliminate counts."
Upon hearing this, Sister Ruoxue, who had been all smiles, gradually let her expression turn cold.
She took my hand and clasped it with her own, then said to Sister Xiaoyao, "Xiaoyao, you need to understand the logic here. Because this child is on my side, you can't beat her."
She squeezed my hand and repeated, "You absolutely cannot win."
"You...!" Sister Xiaoyao looked furious. "Ruoxue... are you protecting a 'Zodiac'?! How is that any different from what the 'Extreme Path' does?!"
"Call me 'Extreme Path' if you want... call me a madwoman if you must..." Sister Ruoxue shook her head. "But if you really hurt this child here... one day you'll regret it deeply."
Hearing this, Sister Xiaoyao's expression gradually turned despondent.
"So that's how it is..." She gave a bitter laugh. "I had my suspicions before... I didn't think it would really be you."
"Yes." Sister Ruoxue nodded. "So, Xiaoyao, what's your decision?"
"I promise not to kill this child, but..." Sister Xiaoyao walked forward a few steps with a look of loss, then turned back and said, "Ruoxue, let's break up."
She left.
Seeing Sister Ruoxue's sorrowful expression, I felt like I had done something wrong again.
Ever since I came to this strange place, it seemed like I was always causing trouble for others.
"Sister Ruoxue..." I gently tugged at her sleeve. "Are you okay...?"
"Yeah... I'm fine." Sister Ruoxue's eyes glistened with tears, but she still bent down to pat my head. "Little Mouse, remember to stay alive. One day, we will definitely leave this place. When that time comes, you have to be alive..."
"Mm..." Although I didn't fully understand, I still nodded. "Okay... Sister Ruoxue, I'll definitely stay alive."
She lightly wiped the corner of her eye, then pulled a small pouch from her bag.
"Your sister found this in a small supermarket before. I'm giving it to you to eat."
I looked—it was a bag of peanuts. These peanuts seemed different from the ones I usually ate; they had packaging.
When I looked up again, Sister Ruoxue had already turned and walked away. With her back to me, she waved her hand in the distance.
What was going on?
Had she and Sister Xiaoyao had a falling out...?
I looked down at the bag of peanuts again.
I couldn't eat these myself. I had to take them back to share with Uncle Tiger, Uncle Snake, Uncle Black Sheep, and Brother White Sheep.
Because this bag of peanuts was what I had "earned" on my first day of work, hehe!
Today really went smoothly. My very first customers let me earn one "Dao" and a bag of peanuts.
Would I earn even more next?
Unfortunately, things didn't go as I imagined. As I said, the place I was in might have been too remote. Usually, very few people came by. Throughout the whole day, I only saw Sister Xiaoyao and Sister Ruoxue.
Standing was so tiring. Every now and then, I had to sneak a sit, and once I'd rested enough, I'd stand up again.
Finally, as night fell, a glowing door appeared beside me. The day was over at last.
I couldn't wait to step through the door and found that many uncles and aunties had already entered.
For some reason, I still felt a little scared... maybe because everyone was wearing masks?
I waited where I was for a while, and Uncle Tiger appeared behind me again.
"Little Mouse... how did it go?" He patted my head. "How many did you lose today?"
"Hehe... I earned one today." I smiled at Uncle Tiger. "I didn't make Brother White Sheep lose money!"
Even though I'd been called a "money-loser" my whole life, this time I really hadn't lost anything.
"What...?" Uncle Tiger didn't look very happy. "You... you earned one?"
"Huh?" I didn't quite understand what Uncle Tiger meant. "Aren't we supposed to go out and earn 'Dao'...?"
"Uh... yes, yes..." Uncle Tiger scratched his head and muttered under his breath, "But I lost seven today, dammit..."
We ran into Uncle Snake and Uncle Black Sheep in the hallway again. They had just come in as well, and then we all went together to Brother White Sheep's room.
This room was really strange. The scattered food and broken table from yesterday had been fixed. Had someone cleaned up during the day?
"Come eat." Brother White Sheep knocked on the table just like yesterday.
This time, I wasn't so polite. I sat directly in the chair next to Brother White Sheep, and everyone wolfed down their food like yesterday.
I picked up another boiled potato. It always seemed to have a hint of Grandma's taste.
"Little Mouse, why are you hiding in the corner eating potatoes again? Do you really think you're a 'mouse'?"
Uncle Tiger sighed and took a chicken leg from Uncle Black Sheep's plate.
"Are you never gonna stop...?" Uncle Black Sheep looked annoyed. "Do you have to take it from my plate?"
"I'm helping you lose weight. Don't talk crap... don't say extra stuff." Uncle Tiger handed the chicken leg to me.
I thanked them both again, but this time Uncle Black Sheep didn't say much. Instead, he took a spare rib from his plate.
"Chicken legs are low in calories. Eat more pork," he said.
"Thank you, Uncle Black Sheep!"
Before long, we finished eating. Brother White Sheep wiped his hands with a napkin beside him and asked, "How many did you collect today?"
I grinned, stood up, and said, "Brother White Sheep, I earned one 'Dao' today!"
I pulled the shiny little ball out of my pocket and pushed it forward.
After hearing this, Brother White Sheep threw the napkin onto the table and looked at me coldly. "Mouse, do you think you're being clever?"