Chapter 178: Target Employee Cannot Apply
The time was drawing near. Shang Yue was digging through the sand and soil with all his might, working up a heavy sweat.
The dried blood on his forehead was once again washed into his eyes by the sweat. Through his blurred vision, a bizarre sight manifested once more—amidst a continuous expanse of lush, green mountains stood a bright, rustic, two-story white building.
However…
In modern times, at the old house.
Jian Xingxia set an alarm for four-fifty. But she woke up before the alarm even rang.
This was the first time in her life that she bore the heavy responsibility of someone else’s life, and she hadn’t slept very soundly.
The moment five o’clock arrived, the system’s recruitment quotas refreshed:
Formal Workers: Two slots (summonable)
Temporary Workers: Two slots (recruitment notice can be issued)
Temporary Worker Job Satisfaction: 60 points
[Temporary Worker Anonymous Evaluation & Inner Thoughts (Excerpts)]:
“Old Ou has gone mad. Have I gone mad too? Otherwise, why would I suddenly go to that bizarre manor?”
“Does the benefactor truly exist? And that black giant—how can there be a person who looks like that in the world? He is actually even taller than Lu Bo.”
“Yet my stomach is indeed full right now, and I have strength in my body.”
“What did the benefactor mean by those words? Why can I understand them at times, yet not at others?”
“Am I about to die? I’ve heard people say that one sees bizarre things before death.”
“But others say a person experiences a terminal lucidity before passing. Could this strength in my body be terminal lucidity?”
“It’s over, I’m definitely about to die… The terminal lucidity has begun. Otherwise, how could I dream of such a strange encounter?”
Jian Xingxia: “…”
Seriously, the minds of these temporary workers were each stranger than the last. Sometimes when she barely paid attention to them, like with Old Man Xu and the scholar, they gave high scores right off the bat. Other times when she looked after them with meticulous care, the other party ended up completely filled with worry and doubt.
Forget it, forget it. Seeing as Shang Yue believed he was experiencing “terminal lucidity,” Jian Xingxia wouldn’t hold a grudge against him.
Jian Xingxia decisively issued a recruitment notice—
[Recruitment Demand: One temporary worker. Job Description: Construction. Working Hours: 16 hours.]
Jian Xingxia maxed out the recruitment duration to sixteen hours, which standardly should be enough for Shang Yue to get a proper rest.
However, in the next second, the system unexpectedly popped up a notification—
[The target employee cannot apply for the position. Please modify the recruitment demand.]
“Huh? What’s going on?”
Jian Xingxia was dumbfounded. This was the first time she had encountered a situation where a temporary worker could not apply. Previously, there had been an incident where she issued a recruitment notice exceeding the maximum single-day working hours of six hours for a temporary worker. But this was the first time she encountered a situation where the notice was successfully sent out, yet the target employee couldn’t apply.
Did this mean the recruitment notice could be sent out, and Shang Yue had very likely seen it, but he couldn’t come or refused to come? Then what about before? Was it that no one had refused, or had they refused but she hadn’t been notified?
Jian Xingxia was entirely in a fog, but when she questioned the system, it merely provided an automated response: [The target employee cannot apply for the position. Please modify the recruitment demand.]
Jian Xingxia: !
What use do I have for you… No, no, she still lacked the courage to say those words aloud.
Jian Xingxia pondered carefully, then looped back to inspect Shang Yue’s evaluated inner thoughts. This was currently the only connection between her and Shang Yue. Reviewing it once more yielded nothing, but just as Jian Xingxia was fretting, the excerpted thoughts segment unexpectedly refreshed! A few more lines popped up!
[Temporary Worker Anonymous Evaluation & Inner Thoughts (Excerpts)]:
“Strange. The guesthouse business was so booming, yet the young mistress owner said it won’t be open today… After going there several days in a row, not having to cook today actually feels rather uncomfortable. Oh well, I’ll go check on my Dahong and the little chicks today.”
Anonymous, but this was undoubtedly the plump auntie.
“Sigh… My stomach is so hungry. Should I head home? But what if people ask about the imperial examinations when I return? I have no face to confront the elders of my hometown! Sigh, if only I could go to that manor again to score some food. My stomach is so hungry.”
Jian Xingxia: “…”
My boy, even anonymously, I know exactly who you are! Jian Xingxia had given the scholar plenty of supplies to take back, including red dates and coarse salt, to make it easy for him to barter for travel expenses and food so he could return to his hometown sooner. Who would have thought this fellow was still loitering outside!
“Xing’er and I sewed another pouch today. This time it’s the prettiest one. Mother said it can be given to Sister Owner. I wonder if Sister Owner will like it?”
“Xing’er was talking in her sleep again last night. She was still learning manners in her dream and calling out for Sister Owner. She must really want to go to the manor… But Mother said we can’t go play all the time, as it easily disrupts Sister Owner’s affairs.”
“I hope Xing’er and Brother Shu grow up quickly. Once they can perform labor and do a good job, maybe Sister Owner will call them to visit the manor too. The manor is truly wonderful…”
Jian Xingxia’s heart melted completely. This was the little darling Taoya! It turned out there were two more little darlings, Xing’er and Brother Shu.
Jian Xingxia’s feeling of having a surplus of labor vanished in an instant—so many people still wanted to come to the manor. At two people a day, the queue would take ages.
Jian Xingxia scrolled through and discovered that the anonymous inner thoughts of the temporary workers refreshed irregularly every day. Since there weren’t many people yet, she could figure out most of them. Only a few with unclear directions were hard to discern.
For instance: “That guest at the manor today was truly strange. How could they speak without opening their mouth? Tapping twice on that iron slab, what came out was that guest’s voice, exactly the same.” This could be a lamentation from A-Feng, Lin Sanniang, the plump auntie, or Taoya.
But for the most part, Jian Xingxia could figure it out.
Shang Yue also had a line:
“Lu Bo and the others are still right beside me. If I am suddenly summoned away, won’t they be scared to death… But if I don’t go, how can I bring back medicine and food? How can we dig our way out of this mine shaft?”
Jian Xingxia: !
So that was why! Shang Yue had people around him, and judging by the look of it, they were trapped inside a mine shaft. He likely found it highly difficult to secure an opportunity to avoid those individuals.
The crucial point was—Jian Xingxia knew that when she was present, the traversal channel for the ancient temporary workers would not manifest. But on Shang Yue’s end, with people right beside him, was it that he refused because he feared scaring the people around him, or was the system directly rejecting Shang Yue’s arrival because there were people around him?
Shang Yue’s inner thoughts could only display his worry, but didn’t clarify whether it was an active or passive rejection.
Jian Xingxia deliberated for a moment, then began picking and choosing from the supplies she had prepared last night.
“They lack food. Shang Yue can eat his fill here, but how can we find a way to let him carry some of the rest back? It needs to be cheap, convenient to carry, and preferably not too outrageous or out of line so it won’t scare people.”
“They lack medicine. I don’t know what kind of injuries they have, but stopping bleeding and relieving pain surely won’t go wrong.”
“Tools to dig out the mine shaft…”
Jian Xingxia had already gathered these items yesterday, but they were arranged according to a sixteen-hour recruitment duration. Currently, Shang Yue likely carried no way to vanish for too long, so Jian Xingxia could only re-process and combine the supplies.
At the same time, she modified the recruitment demand, shortening the recruitment duration.
