Zhu Niao and Gou Yu were left in the shop, staring at each other.
“Uh, I don’t think we necessarily have to work this shift today.”
Gou Yu held up one finger. “Look, the boss is gone. If we sneak out now, what could she possibly find out?”
“Hey, Old Dog, how come I never noticed what a slacker you were before?” Zhu Niao frowned and poked Gou Yu’s head with her finger. “The boss left the two of us in charge of the shop because she trusts me, her star employee, and you, her own brother. But aren’t you just betraying that trust right now?”
“Besides, this is my job. I was supposed to watch the shop until closing time tonight anyway.”
This interrogation made it seem like she was trying to shove Gou Yu’s entire being into the dirt.
If it were any other time, Gou Yu might actually feel ashamed, but today was different.
Gou Yu knew that his dear sister’s intention wasn’t to force him and Zhu Niao to stay and watch the shop. It was simply to leave the two of them alone and avoid disturbing their private time.
That was all there was to it.
Unfortunately, Little Bird seemed to truly believe she needed to hold the fort until the final moment.
In reality, the focus was just on the two of them being alone. It didn’t matter where they were, and Gou Yu actually felt like he could relax a bit more at home.
But just as he thought, the point was being alone together, so the location didn’t really matter.
Thus, he put on an expression of deep remorse. “General Zhu, I didn’t think of it that way. I put my own selfish desires ahead of everything. I deserve to die.”
“Repent, then!” Zhu Niao put on a merciful expression and lightly tapped Gou Yu on the forehead.
“Speaking of which, what do you actually do when you’re working?” After playing along with Zhu Niao, Gou Yu turned the conversation toward something relatively serious.
“My work?”
Zhu Niao pinched her chin and thought for a long while, seemingly racking her brain to remember if she had ever done anything meaningful or relatively professional.
Then she gave up. She couldn’t think of anything.
“I think my job is mostly just being a conversationalist. Based on the nature of the work, it should count as part of the service industry,” Zhu Niao said.
“I can’t even imagine how easy your life is at work.” Gou Yu shook his head while clicking his tongue.
At first, he had considered that Zhu Niao might enjoy certain conveniences because his sister was the boss. But he hadn’t expected the convenience to reach this level.
“Exactly. You know how great this job is, yet you were just trying to instigate me to defy the boss? What were you thinking? Can’t you stand to see your brother doing well?”
“I think this is actually quite normal. People are afraid of their brothers suffering, but they’re even more afraid of their brothers driving a luxury car,” Gou Yu argued with a straight face.
“I don’t care. If I lose such a stable and comfortable job, I’ll bite you to death.” Zhu Niao bared her fangs and waved her claws. Her small canine tooth seemed to glint at that angle.
“Don’t worry, she won’t fire you,” Gou Yu waved his hand.
Zhu Niao also waved her hand. “That’s not what I want. I can’t keep this job long-term just because of you. Even though I know the special treatment in this situation is probably because of our relationship, but…”
“But I just don’t want to rely on others for my chance to survive. How is that any different from being a parasite?” Little Bird paused. “Even if I’m feeding off you, it’s not okay.”
This was the pride and self-reliance ingrained in Zhu Niao’s bones, which hadn’t changed at all despite their current circumstances.
“Earth 2.0 is already on hard mode, and you still want to increase the difficulty for yourself?” Gou Yu’s gaze toward Zhu Niao was filled with a mysterious sense of heartache.
It wasn’t just life; Zhu Niao also had her family issues.
Others, including him, could go to a safe harbor called “home” to seek a bit of protection when they were tired.
But Zhu Niao couldn’t. This girl had no protection to speak of.
That was why he was trying to become Zhu Niao’s safe harbor.
For now, it was only an attempt.
“What do you know? Is a life without challenges even a life?” Zhu Niao chuckled and punched Gou Yu in the shoulder.
“Fine, fine,” Gou Yu said. “Now that my sister has left for something else and your job is just chatting, the two of us should at least take over her workload too, right?”
“The Store Manager Lady’s work…” Zhu Niao paused. “is also chatting.”
“So the two of you just sit here chatting with each other during work? Why didn’t she just open a tea party here instead?” Gou Yu was starting to feel genuinely envious.
When he thought about how he would have to brave the bitter cold and scorching heat to deliver food outside in the future, he felt even more jealous.
“Most of the time we chat with each other, but sometimes customers do show up.” Zhu Niao was also a bit embarrassed by her do-nothing job. “Don’t be in such a hurry, let me check.”
She clicked open her chat interface with the Store Manager Lady and pulled up a picture the other woman had sent a few days ago.
The picture was thoughtfully captioned with three words: Shift Schedule.
Strangely, the schedule didn’t list employee names, but rather the customers who would arrive at the store at corresponding times during the week. They were all scheduled appointments.
And even for a shift schedule, it was more sparse than Zhu Niao’s college timetable.
“Let me see, for tonight…” Zhu Niao made a sound as if she had suddenly realized something. “Ah, there are no customers coming tonight. It’s just time for chatting.”
“Hmph.” Gou Yu crossed his arms. “I didn’t realize your work was so arduous. I wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t come today.”
“I think you’re just jealous.”
“Yes, I feel like my Sharingan is about to awaken,” Gou Yu admitted without hesitation.
Then, he let out a sigh. “Let’s just respect the job. We’ll do whatever you normally do for work today. I want to see just how long you two can chat. Doesn’t your throat get dry chatting all the way until clock-out?”
He sat in the seat that originally belonged to the Store Manager Lady, while Zhu Niao sat back in her own spot.
“Actually, we don’t chat the entire time. It’s more like the two of us do our own thing, and we only talk when we’re bored,” Zhu Niao explained briefly.
“What do you talk about?”
“Your embarrassing history and romance topics,” Little Bird replied.
“Oh, so it’s romance topics and…” Gou Yu’s face froze. “I think it’s necessary for you to undergo a memory erasure now.”
“Wait, wait! How long have the two of us known each other? I’m perfectly aware of most of the embarrassing stories she told. I even personally experienced some of them.”
Gou Yu thought about it and withdrew his fist.
“Then, should the two of us talk about romance topics?”
“I think we should just watch a movie.” Zhu Niao began operating the computer on the counter.
“Let’s go with this one.” Gou Yu suddenly stopped Zhu Niao, who was about to look for a film, and pointed at one of the movies.
*Final Destination.*