Chapter 128: Gu Yinglong

Chen Mu felt a chill on his back, trying hard to recall whether he had ever offended Tang Jing before.

Fortunately, it seemed he hadn't.

Time was still early; after breakfast, everyone had a period of free time, and only around 9 o'clock would the day's work officially begin.

According to Qiming's regulations, a meeting is held every seven days to plan the work for the coming week, and if nothing unexpected happens, each person will be assigned a fixed task.

Only two people are exceptions.

One is Chen Mu.

Because of his ability, his tasks tend to be special and more random.

The other is Tang Jing; she doesn't need to do any actual work and can freely schedule her own time.

……

The two of them came again to those wooden crates.

Because it was already too late yesterday, the 36 wooden crates were left where they were, to be examined and organized properly today.

Tang Jing squatted down, casually rummaging through the pile of potatoes that had been dumped on the ground, and then revealed a smile.

"What did you find?" Chen Mu likewise squatted down.

"Look." Tang Jing picked up two potatoes and placed them together.

Chen Mu glanced at them; at first he noticed nothing, just feeling that something was odd.

But he was soon greatly surprised.

He looked at the potato pile, reached out and raked it twice, wondering aloud: "Are they all the same?"

"Mm." Tang Jing nodded: "Shape, size, color, even the indentations and damaged spots—everything is exactly identical."

"Is this a duplication ability?"

Yesterday, because everyone was in a hurry to open the other crates and the evening light was dim, no one paid much attention to the potatoes' appearance.

"It doesn't look like it; shrinking remains the key."

"But if it were merely shrinking, it would be impossible to find potatoes that are completely identical."

"I have some hypotheses, but I can't be certain yet."

Tang Jing said that, then glanced again at the girl who was still asleep.

Chen Mu noticed her gaze and asked, "Do you suspect it's this person's ability?"

Tang Jing nodded: "This should be the most reasonable explanation for now; if this girl's ability truly can produce these foods, then Yi Zhong imprisoning her without killing her would make sense."

"Actually, I had some doubts yesterday as well."

"What?"

"Even if this person's ability really is Shrinking Objects, and even if Yi Zhong could really find that many potatoes, why would they shrink the food? That would be pointless and wasteful." Chen Mu asked.

"It's not that simple..."

Tang Jing was about to explain when she heard Du Jia Jia's delighted voice:

"Oh, you're awake!"

Chen Mu and Tang Jing, too busy to chat, both turned their heads.

Only Du Jia Jia was seen holding a plate of flatbread, squatting in front of the girl's iron cage, apparently trying to wake her with the food's aroma.

Who knew.

It actually succeeded.

Everyone hurriedly gathered together.

The girl at first merely opened her eyes, staring straight at the plate in Du Jia Jia's hand, and then slowly sat up.

Perhaps because she had slept too long, her body appeared very weak; she propped her hands on the ground, lowered her head, and took a long time to gradually adapt.

Once she sat upright, everyone could see her appearance more clearly.

This girl's stature is indeed unusually small, like a child's; if not for her school uniform fitting perfectly, everyone might have thought she was an elementary school student wearing Ziwei High School's uniform.

And although her looks are somewhat youthful, if she were a first-year high school student, it would barely be plausible.

In that case.

This girl seems merely naturally petite, or perhaps slightly malnourished.

Possibly because she had just woken, her gaze was a bit vacant; at first she merely stared at the food in Du Jia Jia's hand, only later realizing that many people stood around.

But after she casually glanced around the crowd, her face showed no surprise at the new environment; she simply looked at Du Jia Jia and said one word:

"Hungry."

Her voice was soft and gentle.

It was somewhat heartbreaking.

Du Jia Jia obviously seemed a bit at a loss.

After a moment.

"Oh oh, come, eat something."

Saying that, she hurriedly moved the plate closer.

Because they knew nothing about this girl, they had never taken her out of the iron cage, fearing she might suddenly go berserk.

But now, such a delicate and frail girl has softened everyone's hearts somewhat.

Their guard has also been lowered largely.

Since they couldn't slip the plate through the bars of the iron cage, Du Jia Jia could only press it against the outside; the girl seemed already accustomed to this, naturally reaching out from the cage to take the rolled flatbread on top.

Because the flatbread had just been made and still retained a hint of warmth, she held it with both hands and took a gentle bite.

"Delicious."

Saying that, she did not raise her head, silently eating on her own.

Everyone was somewhat at a loss by her reaction, and, looking at each other, could only quietly wait for her to finish eating the bun.

The girl's eating movements were very slow.

About ten minutes or so.

Only then did she finish eating the flatbread completely.

Afterwards, she raised her head, looked at Du Jia Jia, and said: "Thank you."

"Hehehe... You're welcome..." Du Jia Jia, a bit flustered, didn't know how to respond.

After the girl finished thanking, she then glanced around at the surrounding people, seeming somewhat unsure whom to address, and finally her gaze settled on Dong Junwei:

"I'm full, I can work now."

Everyone was completely stunned, having no idea what that meant.

It sounded like she didn't care who these people were, only knowing to eat, sleep, and work.

Dong Junwei furrowed her brows, glanced at Tang Jing, seeing she had no intention to speak, then stepped forward, crouched down, and asked: "What's your name?"

"Gu Yinglong."

The answer was very straightforward, with no intention to bargain.

This made everyone even more puzzled.

Dong Junwei asked again: "Do you know us?"

The girl shook her head.

Dong Junwei asked again: "Then do you know where this is?"

The girl named Gu Yinglong shook her head again.

"Do you know Ziwei High School?"

She shook her head.

"Shangshi First Middle School?"

She shook her head.

"Do you remember where you were before?" Dong Junwei continued to ask.

Gu Yinglong seemed to think for a moment, then said: "The cafeteria."

Chen Mu and Tang Jing exchanged a glance.

She doesn't know Ziwei High School, yet knows the cafeteria—what kind of strange logic is this?

Dong Junwei asked again: "What do you do in the cafeteria?"

"They have me work."

"What kind of work?" Dong Junwei frowned.

Gu Yinglong didn't answer directly, but pointed to a nearby pile of potatoes.

Although they had already guessed somewhat, everyone was still a bit surprised.

Dong Junwei eagerly asked: "Are those potatoes yours?"

"Mm." Gu Yinglong nodded.

"How did you make them?" Dong Junwei asked the question everyone wanted to know.

Gu Yinglong obviously paused for a moment, seeming to consider how to describe it, and after a while said: "Using a big potato."