“What’s going on?!” I cried out in surprise.

“Little sister, this is as far as I can help you,” Ruoxue Jiejie said. “Don’t be so naive from now on. Take good care of this venue.”

“Ah… thank you… thank you, Jiejie…” Although they didn’t want to hear me say thank you, I couldn’t help but express my gratitude to Ruoxue Jiejie.

“Little Mouse…” Xiao Yao Jiejie turned to look at me. “So where exactly is the ‘Tao’ in your warehouse?”

“Oh, this warehouse actually doesn’t even have…”

Before I could finish speaking, Ruoxue Jiejie reached out and covered my mouth.

She frowned as she looked at Xiao Yao Jiejie. “Xiao Yao… what are you trying to do?”

“Ruoxue, don’t you think this is a great opportunity?” Xiao Yao Jiejie said. “We’ve come all this way to such a distant place, and we’ve encountered a ‘Zodiac’ like this. Have you forgotten the ultimate mission of the ‘Heavenly Gate’?”

“I won’t allow it,” Ruoxue Jiejie said. “Xiao Yao, this little sister is on her first day as a ‘Zodiac.’ She hasn’t harmed anyone yet.”

“Just because she hasn’t now doesn’t mean she won’t in the future,” Xiao Yao Jiejie said, though she looked hesitant. “Even though she’s a child… no matter what, the fewer ‘Zodiacs’ there are, the better.”

Hearing these words, Ruoxue Jiejie’s previously smiling face gradually became expressionless.

She took my hand and held it together with hers, then said to Xiao Yao Jiejie, “Xiao Yao, you need to understand the logic here. Because this child is standing with me, you can’t win against her.”

She squeezed my hand and repeated, “You absolutely cannot win.”

“You…!” Xiao Yao Jiejie looked extremely angry. “Ruoxue… are you protecting a ‘Zodiac’?! How is what you’re doing any different from the ‘Extreme Path’?!”

“Whether you call me ‘Extreme Path’… or call me a madwoman…” Ruoxue Jiejie shook her head. “But if you truly harm this child here… someday you’ll regret it immensely.”

Hearing this, Xiao Yao Jiejie’s expression gradually fell.

“So that’s how it is…” She gave a bitter laugh. “I had my suspicions before… but I didn’t expect it to really be you.”

“Yes,” Ruoxue Jiejie nodded. “So, Xiao Yao, what is your decision?”

“I promise not to kill this child, but…” Xiao Yao Jiejie walked forward a few steps with a dejected expression, then turned back and said, “Ruoxue, let’s break up.”

She left.

Seeing Ruoxue Jiejie’s sad expression, I felt like I had done something wrong again.

Ever since I came to this strange place, it seemed like I’d been constantly causing trouble for others.

“Ruoxue Jiejie…” I gently tugged at her. “Are you okay…?”

“Mm… I’m fine.” Though tears glistened in Ruoxue Jiejie’s eyes, she still bent down to pat my head. “Little Mouse, remember to live well. Someday we will definitely leave this place, and when that time comes, you must be alive…”

“Mm…” Though I didn’t quite understand, I still nodded. “Okay… Ruoxue Jiejie, I’ll definitely live well.”

She gently wiped the corner of her eyes, then took out a small bag from her personal pouch.

“This is something I found at a small supermarket before. I’m giving it to you to eat.”

I looked and saw it was a bag of peanuts. These peanuts seemed different from the ones I usually ate—they came in packaging.

When I looked up again, I found that Ruoxue Jiejie had already turned to leave. With her back to me, she waved at me from a distance.

What was going on?

Had she gotten into a conflict with Xiao Yao Jiejie…?

I looked down at the bag of peanuts again.

I couldn’t eat these by myself. I had to take them back to share with Tiger Shushu, Snake Shushu, Black Goat Shushu, and Baiyang Gege.

Because this bag of peanuts was what I “earned” on my first day of work, hehe!

Today went really smoothly! My very first customers earned me one “Tao” and a bag of peanuts.

Would I earn even more going forward?

Unfortunately, things weren’t quite what I expected. Just as I said, the place where I was might have been too remote—normally very few people came by. Throughout the entire day, I only saw Xiao Yao Jiejie and Ruoxue Jiejie.

I stood until I was exhausted, and every little while I had to secretly sit down for a bit, then stand back up when I’d rested enough.

It wasn’t until nightfall, when the glowing door appeared beside me, that the day finally ended.

I eagerly walked through the door and found that many uncles and aunties had already entered as well.

I don’t know why, but I still felt somewhat afraid… perhaps it was because everyone was wearing masks?

I waited in place for a while, and Tiger Shushu 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 said to Tiger Shushu with a smile. “I didn’t make Baiyang Gege lose money!”

Even though I’d been called a “money-loser” my whole life, I really didn’t lose money this time.

“What…?” Tiger Shushu didn’t look very happy. “You… you actually earned one?”

“Huh?” I didn’t quite understand what Tiger Shushu meant. “Aren’t we going out to earn ‘Tao’…?”

“Uh… yes, yes…” Tiger Shushu scratched his head and muttered under his breath, “But I lost seven today…”

We met Snake Shushu and Black Goat Shushu in the corridor—they had also just entered. Then we all went together to Baiyang Gege’s room.

This room was really strange. The scattered food and broken table from yesterday had been restored. Was it because someone cleaned up during the day?

“Come eat,” Baiyang Gege said, tapping the table just like yesterday.

This time I wasn’t very polite either. I directly sat in the chair next to Baiyang Gege, and everyone wolfed down their food just like yesterday.

I picked up another boiled potato. I kept feeling that it had my grandmother’s flavor on it.

“Little Mouse, why are you hiding off to the side gnawing on potatoes again? Do you really think you’re a ‘mouse’?”

Tiger Shushu sighed and once again took a chicken leg from Black Goat Shushu’s plate to give to me.

“Are you ever going to stop…?” Black Goat Shushu looked angry. “Do you have to take from my plate?”

“I’m helping you lose weight, so don’t… don’t talk too much,” Tiger Shushu said as he handed me the chicken leg.

I thanked them both again, but this time Black Goat Shushu didn’t say much. Instead, he took a pork rib from his plate.

“Chicken legs have fewer calories. Eat more pork,” he said.

“Thank you, Black Goat Shushu!”

Before long we finished eating. Baiyang Gege wiped his hands with a napkin from the side and asked, “How much did you collect today?”

I grinned and stood up, saying, “Baiyang Gege, I earned one ‘Tao’ today!”

I took out the glowing little orb from my pocket and pushed it forward.

After hearing this, Baiyang Gege threw the napkin on the table and looked at me coldly. “Mouse, do you think you’re very smart?”