The next day, Chen Zehao still drove to the Huaijiang Night Bureau on time. Even if there were strange things at the bureau, he would need to go through proper procedures to leave; he couldn't just skip work and disappear.
Fortunately, the morning at the Night Bureau was normal and peaceful, with crystalline dew drops on the Boston ivy leaves, bearing no resemblance to anything sinister or eerie.
"Little Chen, you're quite early." Hong Limei happened to meet Chen Zehao at the entrance and smiled, "How was your rest yesterday?"
"...Fine." After suppressing a night full of worries, Chen Zehao finally saw Hong Limei and could voice his concerns, "Sister Hong, our bureau should be quite normal, right?"
Hong Limei looked puzzled: "What do you mean by that?"
Chen Zehao felt nervous inside and carefully probed: "I mean, it can't possibly be haunted, right?"
Hong Ximing froze.
Chen Zehao became increasingly frightened: "...Has it been haunted before?"
Seeing Chen Zihao's pupils contract, Hong Limei quickly grabbed him warmly and declared solemnly: "It's absolutely impossible for it to be haunted."
"But yesterday..."
Hong Limei's eyes sparkled with conviction: "I can guarantee you, it's definitely not haunted!"
The bureau only had supernatural beings, how could it possibly be haunted?
Chen Zehao was assured by Hong Limei's resolute words. His chest was nearly burning with socialist fervor, ready to incinerate all superstitious evil spirits and ghosts, and he felt somewhat more at ease.
In the hallway, Hong Limei led the way for Chen Zehao as they headed directly to the third floor of the office building, stopping in front of the logistics department.
Hong Limei glanced inside: "Let me introduce first."
As a newcomer, Chen Zehao needed Hong Limei to make introductions.
"Alright, thank you for your trouble."
"It's no trouble at all, just wait outside for a moment."
When Hong Limei entered the room, she even closed the door behind her, leaving Chen Zehao alone in the hallway. Though he had been worried about seeing something unclean, today he was fortunate that nothing unusual happened.
A few minutes later, Hong Limei opened the door to the Logistics Department and ushered him in enthusiastically introducing him, "Come in, this is our new colleague Chen Zehao, a talented graduate who's returned from Yinhai City!"
"No, no, you're too kind," Chen Zehao modestly waved his hand and quickly stepped infront to greet his new colleagues, "Hello everyone, I'm Chen Zehao. "
"Hello, welcome, welcome!"
Chen Zehao noticed there were three people in the Logistics Department, two men and one woman. The men appeared to be older, while the only female was around his age.
"Little Chen, don't be so modest. You were specially recruited by Director Hu as part of our talent program!" Hong Limei said while scanning the room, her gaze unusually sharp, with a hint of warning in her tone.
"Don't worry, Chief Hong, everything will be fine!" The round-bellied man patted his chest vigorously, promising something unclear. His eyes were small and round like black beans as he fawned, "Our Logistics Department has always been the most sensible."
Hong Limei: "This is Wu Changgong, head of the Logistics Support Section."
Chen Zehao bowed: "Hello, Section Chief Wu."
"This is Niu Shi, who's in charge of our bureau's landscaping and cafeteria," Hong Limei pointed at the middle-aged man with a square face and dark skin, then looked toward the short-haired young woman in the corner, "And that's Little Jin, Jin Yu, who also joined us recently."
Chen Zehao greeted each of his new colleagues in turn, quickly memorizing their faces: the round-bellied man was Section Chief Wu, the square-faced man was Niu Shi, and the short-haired woman was Jin Yu.
Hong Limei looked around the office: "Isn't there one more person in your office?"
Wu Changgong reacted as if hearing about an unlucky topic, waving his hand, "Oh, Chief Hong, it's debatable whether they even count as part of the bureau!"
"Alright, then consider the introductions done," Hong Limei said caringly, "Little Chen, get familiar with the Logistics Department first, and we'll see how Director Hu wants to arrange things when he returns."
"Okay, thank you, Sister Hong."
After bringing Chen Zehao to the Logistics Department, Hong Limei soon went back upstairs to the HR- Personnel Department.
Section Chief Wu noticed Hong's special attention to Chen Zehao and superficially showed some concern for him. But as soon as Hong completely left the Logistics Department, he immediately darted out of the office, disappearing to who knows where.
Fortunately, both Niu Shi and Jin Yu had nice personalities and helped Chen Zehao adapt to the new environment.
Niu Shi completely embodied the image of a kind and honest big brother, volunteering to go to the warehouse to get a computer for ChenZehao.
Jin Yu showed him around the room, asking, "Where would you like to sit? The Section Chief usually stays next door, this is Brother Niu's desk, and I sit here. Would you like to sit next to me?"
There were six desks in the room, many covered with miscellaneous items. Two desks had computers, apparently belonging to Jin Yu and Niu Shi.
"I'll sit behind you," Chen Zehao decided, thinking that sitting next to Jin Yu near the door would make it too easy for leaders to catch them off guard.
"Great, I'll clear these things away!" Jin Yu enthusiastically began cleaning the desk surface.
Chen Zehao had thought no one sat behind him, but when he pulled out the chair, he noticed something odd. The desk behind had no computer but was scattered with candies, even some unwrapped candy papers.
"Does someone sit behind me?"
"Ah, don't worry, they rarely show up."
Before Niu Shi returned from the warehouse, Chen Zehao and Jin Yu sat chatting in the room.
Jin Yu was a short-haired, round-faced soft girl with fine, slightly yellow hair. Her voice was gentle and soft, and she appeared unworldly and simple-minded.
Before Chen Zehao could even warm his chair, Jin Yu started spilling everything like beans from a pod, complaining about how Section Chief Wu never came to the office and how she didn't dare offend the more senior Niu Shi, often dumping all sorts of messy work on her.
Chen Zehao listened with a smile, occasionally nodding in response, inwardly sighing that Jin Yu was indeed new or hadn't worked much before.
Jin Yu must have been excited to finally see a new colleague as herself, eager to have a companion. But if someone else had been listening to Jin Yu's complaints today, they might have gone straight to Section Chief Wu, stabbing her in the back.
However, having a naive new colleague was good for Chen Zehao. He had been worried about office politics, but now it seemed he could avoid many troubles.
"What does the Logistics Department usually do?" Chen Zehao asked, seeing Jin Yu standing around, "Won't you fall behind in your work if you keep attending to me?"
"There's not much to do usually, just some spreadsheets."
"Then you should work on your spreadsheets while I get settled in."
"Okay, just call me if you need anything."
Jin Yu had been the only newcomer in the Logistics Department, and having just met Chen Zehao, she had talked endlessly. Now she returned to her seat somewhat reluctantly and started working on her spreadsheets.
Chen Zehao sat behind Jin Yu, watching as the sunlight from the window cast a pale golden glow on her colleague's silhouette.
In the soft light, tiny dust particles danced and jumped in the air, occasionally accompanied by two or three floating transparent bubbles, creating a dreamy and peaceful scene.
...Wait, transparent bubbles?
Chu Zehao was surprised to notice the fleeting bubbles, similar to those blown from toys in childhood parks, though noticeably smaller. The rainbow-colored bubbles floated toward the window on the breeze, soon breaking and vanishing outside.
Where were these bubbles coming from?
Chen Zehao's eyes followed the bubbles' movement trajectory, finally realizing the source was Jin Yu sitting in front of him.
The water dispenser happened to be in Jin Yu's upper left corner. Chen Zehao pretended to be calm as he got up for water, taking the opportunity to see Jin Yu working from the front, finally confirming that her little colleague was blowing bubbles!
Jin Yu seemed to be struggling with the spreadsheet, not noticing Chen Zehao's expression. She anxiously scratched her head from time to time, her lips unconsciously opening and closing, making soft popping sounds like a fish poking its head above water.
This wasn't frightening, just like biting nails or pursing lips, except for the occasional bubbles that flew out when she opened her mouth.
Chen Zehao stood silently holding her water cup for a long time before finally speaking: "Jin Yu."
"What is it?" Jin Yu looked up innocently, her voice sweet and lively.
Chen Zehao stared at her colleague's innocent face, swallowed slightly, and said casually, "Jin Yu, is there a possibility you're not human?"
The air froze, and no one spoke.
Chen Zehao watched as Jin Yu's expression changed slightly, showing shock and panic. Her face turned blood red, her lips trembled timidly, and her eyes could barely contain two pools of clear tears, displaying an about-to-cry expression as if suffering a great injustice.
Chen Zehao became confused, had he guessed wrong? Did Jin Yu think he was insulting her?
The next moment, Jin Yu's tears finally broke free as she burst out crying, exclaiming in fear and shock: "...H-how did you know!?"
"..."
Jin Yu cried so hard she could barely breathe, as if facing a world-ending catastrophe.
Chen Zehao having had hesitated earlier about whether to expose this, fearing Jin Yu might become angry and lash out, but now his little colleague was crying inconsolably, making him feel guilty and moved, mistakenly thinking he had said something cruel about species discrimination.
"If you're not human, shouldn't I be the one crying?" Chen Zehao pulled some tissues from the desk and handed them to the sobbing Jin Yu, patting her back consolingly while saying helplessly, "Why are you crying so hard?"
"I-I'm scared..." Jin Yu cried so hard she couldn't complete her sentences.
"???"
As a non-human, what are you afraid of? Shouldn't humans be the ones who are afraid!?
Crocodile tears are just two or three drops, but Jin Yu's tears could flood the office, setting the scene for a rendition of "Bubbles."
As his little colleague wept painfully, she kept producing bubbles, threatening to submerge everything around them, like putting too much detergent in a washing machine. Rainbow-colored bubbles emerged endlessly, quickly engulfing both human and supernatural being.
Chen Zehao was dumbfounded watching this scene, his clothes almost getting wet.
Hee wished he had stayed silent, regretting that he had seen through it, or else everything wouldn't have turned into bubbles.