Chapter 303: The Hospital's Secret

"Alright, Miss Jiang, it seems you aren't in the mood to chat today."

Yan Jing shrugged. "I'll see you next time, then."

With that, ignoring the look of disgust from the woman across from him, Yan Jing headed toward the cafeteria.

It was almost time for dinner.

Since he was already here, he figured he might as well work a shift serving food to see if the problem lay with this hospital.

Soon, he had put on a white apron, picked up a serving spoon, and stepped onto a stool.

"Why is it you again?!"

The old man waiting at the window widened his eyes upon seeing Yan Jing, then said indignantly, "I'm not lining up here! The food you serve always has a bunch of cat hair in it!"

"..."

It seemed not everyone liked Fourth Young Master Cat.

No, it would be more accurate to say that, as expected, nobody really liked Fourth Young Master Cat.

But that was understandable. For those who didn't like small animals, animal hair was an absolute taboo. Nobody wanted cat hair in their meals.

Yan Jing wasn't particularly fond of cats or dogs either, so he understood perfectly, but...

He pursed his lips.

"I'm the only one serving food today."

"Why?!" the old man across the counter asked in surprise.

"Because none of them want to serve food with me."

Yan Jing shrugged.

Information spread through the cafeteria workers faster than Boss Rat drove his car. In just this short amount of time, the old men and women who never paid attention to the news already knew that this bright, sunny little cat was a criminal.

"Alright..."

The old man was highly adaptable and quickly accepted the situation.

After all, a criminal serving food wasn't anything rare in Peace Heavenly Kingdom; there were plenty of things even more absurd than this.

Filling his stomach was the priority.

"I want the braised pork with spaghetti, drizzled with a spoonful of blueberry juice."

"..."

Yan Jing pursed his lips.

In his eyes, insulting braised pork like that made the old man's crimes almost equal to his own. But out of humanitarian concern, he still dished out a meal that roughly matched the request.

"Wishing you a smooth trip to the restroom later!" he said before the old man left.

"This isn't blueberry juice! This is strawberry juice!" the old man said indignantly.

"Blue is the color that ruins an appetite the most. Even as a cat, I believe that."

Yan Jing spoke with absolute righteousness.

"Strawberry juice paired with braised pork is a far more perfect match."

"Alright."

The old man hesitated a bit. "I'll give it a try."

After all, just like having a criminal serve food, this wasn't entirely unacceptable.

"Next."

Yan Jing called out.

"Double cheese with salmon sushi, drizzled with a spoonful of hotpot broth," the next auntie ordered. Immediately after, she specifically emphasized, "Make it a spicy beef tallow broth."

"Alright."

Yan Jing also preferred spicy hotpot, but in this moment, he still offered his professional advice.

"I think under these circumstances, a tomato broth would be better."

"Tomato..."

The auntie hesitated. Just then, the old man who had gotten his food a moment ago walked over with a pleasantly surprised expression.

"Strawberry juice really does taste more refreshing than blueberry juice."

"I'm a professional."

Yan Jing kept his expression tight, not revealing the slightest flaw.

"Impressive." The old man gave a thumbs-up.

"If you ever want to stroll around our hospital, remember to come find me. I know this place inside and out; I'm clear on every single path."

"Okay."

Yan Jing replied.

"Then I'll try the tomato broth..."

The auntie finally compromised.

"Next!"

"Three normal batteries paired with an Energy Core, and um... I want to try the strawberry juice too..."

"Next!"

"One... one mouse... Yes, yes, I still eat mice... But... but that's determined by my genes, sir. You won't laugh at me, right? You should be able to understand. I just want one mouse, that's not a high demand... It would be best if it's alive, but—"

"Here are three for you. Next!"

"..."

"..."

Even as a cafeteria server, the famous actor, oblivious scumbag, and homicidal maniac—Mr. Yan Jing—still upheld the fine tradition of dedicating himself to whatever line of work he was in, completing his tasks flawlessly.

That was until a little girl walked up to him.

The little girl was very pretty and looked to be in her early teens.

She just seemed a little slow-witted.

Angelman syndrome—Yan Jing recalled a particular illness.

"It's you! Kitty! You're here!"

The little girl looked at Yan Jing and smiled foolishly.

This smile lingered for several seconds.

One glance was enough to tell she wasn't quite normal.

"Kitty, did you bring the little birdie?"

The little girl gazed at Yan Jing.

Little birdie?

Yan Jing quickly dug through the nooks and crannies of Mao Si's memories and found this event.

Back then, Mao Si had come to this hospital a second time to successfully pick up a girl.

The little girl in front of him had asked Mao Si if he could give her a little bird.

If he gave her one, she would tell Mao Si a secret.

The woman Mao Si had his eye on was right there at the time.

In order to win the beauty's favor, Mao Si had said he would next time.

When he came for the third time, he really did bring the little girl a bird made of paper.

But unfortunately, Mao Si hadn't learned the so-called secret, because what the little girl wanted was a bird that could move on its own.

Still, Mao Si had already gotten what he wanted—that young woman had bought him a cup of coffee.

So the so-called secret was no longer important.

"Kitty, did you bring it? Hehehe..."

The little girl let out another foolish laugh.

Yan Jing pursed his lips.

Of course he hadn't brought one.

And he wouldn't have been able to bring it in anyway.

There was a contraption at the main entrance of this private hospital that automatically detected mechanical devices. Other than those sick Smart Seeds, all machines were forbidden from entering, as were non-sapient animals.

In the original owner's memories, such a device wasn't cheap. Thus, the original owner naturally assumed that the patients staying here were all wealthy and respectable, capable of affording astronomical medical expenses.

He really hadn't brought any little bird, but...

"I brought it, of course I brought it."

Yan Jing smiled.

"But I'll have to give it to you in a bit."

"Really?!"

The little girl's eyes lit up. "Good kitty!"

She stepped onto the stool, reached through the window, and patted Yan Jing's head.

"Don't touch my head. Stand properly. What do you want to eat?"

"Birdie, little birdie..." the little girl said with a smile, clearly already immersed in her fantasy of having a little bird.

"..."

Yan Jing grabbed two mantous and a bowl of porridge, placed them on a tray, and handed them to the little girl across from him. "Finish eating."

"You'll only get the birdie after you finish eating."

"Okay, okay!"

The little girl nodded vigorously and left with her tray.

At this moment.

Inside Yan Jing's body.

In some unknown place.

Fei Yu was sitting on a small stool, watching the events outside while cracking melon seeds. Beside her, the securely hogtied Fear Bird saw this scene and squirmed desperately, whimpering from its beak, "Mmm mmm! Mmm mmm mmm!!!! (That's the one! The person he likes looks exactly like her! That's the one! Look!!!)"

"Do you want to eat some melon seeds too?"

Fei Yu pulled another handful from her pocket and offered them to the Fear Bird.

"..."

The Fear Bird suffered a breakdown.

The guy outside was completely abnormal, and this bird beside it wasn't normal either.

...

...

Seeing that little girl, Yan Jing indeed thought of his own Mantou.

Whether due to her age or various other reasons, he harbored no improper thoughts. It was just that looking at her resemblance to Mantou naturally stirred a bit of fondness in him.

Of course, the two were still different.

The little girl clearly had some intellectual issues, whereas his Mantou was merely slow in speech and movement.

It was just that they were both sick.

...

...

Old Sin City.

Sitting at her desk, Mantou let out a huge sneeze.

"It's... it's almost winter..."

Shivering, Mantou grabbed a tissue, wiped her nose, and looked up at the sky outside the window.

"I wonder... how... how is Y-Yan... Jing... doing..."

"Keep going... Big Brother Chen said... once I finish... reading... these documents... then... then I can leave early... to go find Y-Yan... Jing..."

Mantou cheered herself on.

Now, as the path to the outside world opened up, the bottleneck disappeared, and the weird energy became dense.

Because she was the Lord of the Domain for Old Sin City, her Tier rose with the tide, and she had already reached the Fourth Tier.

Chen Nian had said that as long as she reached the Fifth Tier, she would just about be ready to set off.

When that time came, even if they couldn't match those massive Domains of the outside world, they would still hold a certain value and could exist as an affiliated Domain.

"Keep going... keep going... keep going..."

Mantou pumped herself up rhythmically.

But soon, her eyes glazed over. She looked at the documents on the desk in front of her and rubbed her eyes.

"Why... why did they multiply again?!"

She felt a little dizzy.

Why was the stack of documents getting taller and taller? There were just too many!

...

...

After he finished serving the food.

Yan Jing found the girl.

The girl showed Yan Jing her completely clean tray.

"I finished it! Kitty!"

"Not bad."

Yan Jing nodded, then reached into his pocket and lowered his voice.

"Watch closely, the little birdie is coming out."

"Okay, okay!" The girl lowered her voice to match his.

"Ta-da!"

Yan Jing actually produced a bird from his hand. It was remarkably lifelike, its pitch-black feathers refracting a magnificent array of colors under the lights as it fluttered its wings and flew onto the girl's hand.

"Little birdie?"

Watching the little bird incessantly pecking at her palm, the girl tilted her head in confusion.

Yan Jing's heart tightened.

Then the girl cheered happily, "It is, it is a little birdie!"

She happily drew the bird into her embrace and thanked Yan Jing.

"Thank you! Good kitty!"

"You're welcome."

Yan Jing's eyes flickered.

"Where are your mom and dad?"

"Dad... Mom..."

The girl tilted her head. "I don't know..."

After thinking for a moment, her attention naturally shifted. She lowered her head and whispered into Yan Jing's ear, "Kitty, I'll tell you a secret."

"Okay, tell me."

Yan Jing replied.

"In this hospital! There's something that eats people! If you aren't obedient, it'll eat you all up!" the girl said with utmost seriousness.

Yan Jing's gaze hardened. Just as he was about to speak, a figure in a white lab coat walked out from the side, quickly stepping in front of the little girl to shield her behind them.

"Hello."

It appeared to be a doctor. He looked quite young, wore a surgical mask, and stared unkindly at Yan Jing.

"Can I help you?"

"If I remember correctly, you're a criminal, aren't you?"