Chapter 9: Activation

Xie Sen’s job description at the Care Center was exactly what Yang Shun said. ‘There is no set job.’ He was a mobile person, and helped out wherever he was needed. According to Yang Shun, this way he would get familiar with the various parts of the work faster, and find the department where he fit best.

Xie Sen went to all the departments: physical therapy, recreation, medical care, and feeding. His work included cleaning, adjusting humidifiers and thermostats, feeding, bathing contract animals, assisting with shots and so on. Since he joined, he had been so busy that he had no time to spare, but the rewards were huge. In less than three hours, he gained five energy and currently had nine energy.

All of these energies were gained when he assisted the caretakers in administering injections to the contract beasts.

It was almost four when his bracelet suddenly went off. He was startled, then remembered that it was the alarm he had set that morning. As Adam had reminded him, he needed to rest at this time in case there was an accident.

He ordered take-out under the excuse that he hadn’t eaten all day, and fought for a half-hour break. He slept so heavily that he woke up in a daze only after the alarm went off twice, and he braced himself to continue working.

Once the break was over, he received a new work schedule to feed the contract beasts. By the time he came out of the feeding area, it was quarter past five, only fifteen minutes before the end of his shift. He was desperate to receive the job of shot assistant, since his energy was just shy of 10. Maybe he could activate a plant today!

The bracelet vibrated a little. He immediately connected, and the other party said, “Please go to Decontamination Room 202 to help.”

Xie Sen lamented, then secretly hoped that the little thing in the decontamination room was difficult so that its owner might appreciate him.

There were two types of equipment in the decontamination room, a decontamination meter that used rays to decontaminate, and a contract beast bathtub that used a decontaminant to bathe. The second type was mostly used for long-haired contract beasts.

What Xie Sen could help with was only the second kind.

“Hard work.” The caretaker for Room 202 had a baby face, spoke with a pursed mouth, and looked a little shy. “This time the guest is my friend. His contract beast is a long-haired Chow Chow beast. 1 It doesn’t like bathing, and it’s too lively. “

“It’s okay. I’m happy to help.”

The doll-faced caretaker led him into the washroom. Once inside, Xie Sen subconsciously paused. The floor of the room was almost covered with water, while one person and one dog were playing a game of you-chase-me inside the room.

When he heard the commotion at the door, the dog chaser stopped. He was wearing a wide, athletic, short-sleeved shirt and wide-legged shorts, most of which were wet. He rubbed his head, which moved his inch long hair before he said to the caretaker, “Sorry, Tu. Little Song was too rowdy.” He looked at Xie Sen curiously. “Is this the colleague you said could help?”

“Yes, he is very good,” Xiao Tu nodded. “Hold Xiao Song.”

The inch-haired man squatted down towards the chow chow, which was cowering in the corner, and held out his hands. “No bath. No bath. Brother will take you home.”

The chow chow’s guarded look was instantly gone, and ‘da, da, da,’ it ran to the inch-haired man and cheerfully licked his hand. The inch-haired man held it in his arms.

“Put it directly in the bathtub?” He came close to Xiao Tu’s head and asked in a whisper. The chow chow let his master hold him as his round eyes looked expectantly toward the exit, completely unaware that it was cheated.

Xie Sen couldn’t help but lovingly touch Little Song’s wet head. It instantly fell on him, as it stuck its head out and begged to be stroked.

Xiao Tu said, “Wait. I’ll put water in the tub again.” The previous water was almost all spilled by the two.

After the water was filled, Xiao Tu took a white medicine box from the medicine shelf and took out a black pill from it. He said to Xie Sen, “This is a water-soluble medicine. Just one at a time. This kind is specially for canine beasts.”

He put the pill into the water, and reminded him, “It’s okay for people to touch it, but don’t eat or drink it. It can cause poisoning.”

Xie Sen remembered carefully, and nodded. “I will pay attention.”

He and the inch-haired man, together, put Little Song into the bathtub. The inch-haired man was alert, to prevent Little Song from running away, but he didn’t expect Little Song to obediently stand in the water, as it kept rubbing against Xie Sen’s hand.

“Wow, I’m almost jealous!” the inch-haired man exaggerated.

Xie Sen laughed, and said while he watched how Xiao Tu bathed Little Song, “It’s your contract beast, it listens to you the most. I just have a high affinity.”

Ten minutes later, when the bath was over, Xie Sen dropped his hand. The inch-haired man took a big bath towel, wrapped up the absent-minded Little Song and said to Xie Sen, “Really. Thank you so much. It hates baths. This was the smoothest one.”

Gratitude Energy 1, total 10.

A prompt appeared in front of Xie Sen’s eyes. The next moment, he suddenly felt a warmth in his brain. A hard, green book appeared in his mind, with a five-colored peony in the upper right corner of the book cover. It was emitting a shimmering light.

Xie Sen got excited, the System panel!

He had the panel immediately when he first obtained the System, but then the peony on the cover was red. Now it seemed that the cover had something to do with Adam’s energy. The pages slowly unfolded, and a pattern gradually emerged on the blank first page. The moment the pattern was fully revealed, a prompt appeared in Xie Sen’s head.

“Congratulations, Master. You can activate the plant, red pepper. Each vegetable requires one energy. The spiciness is up to you.”

The pattern on the first page was a red pepper bush, with lush green leaves, but not a single pepper.2

The word ‘exchange’ was written at the bottom. When Xie Sen looked at it, a prompt immediately appeared in his head. “0 energy left. Cannot exchange for chili peppers.”

When Xie Sen looked at the top left corner of the pattern, the word ‘fight’ was written, and when Xie Sen looked at it, a question appeared in his mind, “Do you choose to fight with red peppers?”

Xie Sen replied in his mind, “No.”

“What’s wrong with you? Hahaha, you’re not shy because of my compliment, are you?” 

Xie Sen remembered the current scene and hastily turned off the System. He laughed at the inch-haired man who was looking at him teasingly. “I’m not shy, I have a high tolerance. I can stand any compliment, I just remembered something.” He looked at the time. One minute to 5:30. “I’ll leave now. Contact me again if something comes up.”

He left the bathing room, and immediately went to Yang Shun. “Manager Yang, I want to apply for overtime in the evening.”

The care center was open twenty-four hours a day. The main working hours were from 8:00 am to 5:30 pm, and from 6:30 pm to 11:30 pm, with only a few people on duty the rest of the time.

The working hours on his internship contract were from eight to five thirty, excluding lunch time, and his salary was billed at nine hours a day. He wanted to work overtime not only because of the pay, but mainly because he wanted energy.

Yang Shun asked, “You were walking on the road when I met you. Where did you park your shuttle?”

“My shuttle? I don’t know.” Xie Sen froze. Did he have one?

Yang Shun laughed. “Why so confused? Did you forget the stopping point? It’s okay, just look it up in the traffic program in your bracelet.”

Xie Sen opened his bracelet, then opened the traffic program, and clicked on ‘My Shuttle.’ A map appeared on the virtual screen. There was a green dot on the map. He zoomed in on the map, and the green dot showed up in the Star City University parking lot.

“It’s at the school.”

Yang Shun said, “I remember you’re from Star City University. It’s too far from here. It’s not convenient to leave work at night without a shuttle, not to mention you have your graduation exam tomorrow. You should rest early. I’m not agreeing to your application.”

Xie Sen then remembered that he still had to take the exam, and gave up the idea of working overtime today. “I’ll submit the late shift application when I finish the exam.”

“Fine, you can get off work now,” Yang Shun said gently. “Go home early, and don’t stay out too late.”