At this moment, the fog outside the strew thicker, engulfing the mpposts and benches in a hazy white mist.

  Daproag.

  Ihe store, visibility gradually improved.

  Qin Nuo noticed the employees around him beginning to stop their tasks and tidy up their ing tools.

  Ohe a clo the wall chimed, the employees put their tools ba pd headed toward a doorway.

  Qin Nuo watched this se, feeling a bit puzzled.

  A creepy ugh echoed in his ear. Ghost Granny appeared out of nowhere and said, "Put all the tools ba their pces. After pleting the handover, return to your rooms to rest."

  With that, she tossed a key over.

  Qin Nuo caught the key and looked at the room number on it, suddenly uanding.

  Does this venieore have a day-night shift, only w six hours?

  This work schedule is much more humahan the 996 culture, no wonder no employees quit.

  "Be on time for your shift. If you're te, it ts as a strike." Perhaps because of Qin Nuo's Half-Ghost identity, Ghost Granny's gaze always carried a sinister and malicious i.

  She seemed eager for Qin Nuo to make a small mistake so she could justifiably use the "little punishment" she mentioned.

  Qin Nuo noticed these looks but didn't care.

  If he did make a small mistake and Ghost Granny wao act against him, Qin Nuo could only drag her into the ste room food talk about how a petent supervisor should maintain good retions with employees—a rational issue.

  He put the bucket aher duster ba their pces.

  Holding a mop, Qin Nuo walked toward the ste room in the corridor.

  Creak.

  The door opened, and the smell inside was still unpleasant and pu.

  Qin Nuo walked in, looking at the old woman still diligently ing the clutter in the er, and said, "Granny, I brought the mop back for you."

  "Just leave it on the shelf, I'll ha," the old woman said without turning her head.

  Qin Nuo pced the mop on the shelf, which already had several wet tools. Although it was dripping water, the air was filled with a strong smell of blood.

  Qin Nuo vaguely knew something but chose not to care or rather didn't want to care.

  After putting things in pce, Qin Nuo didn't io leave, his surroundings. Eventually, his gaze fell on Ghost Granny.

  The work in Ghost Granny's hands seemed never-ending, scrubbing one filthy, blood-crusted garment after another.

  Basins of blood-red undry water were poured into a funnel on the side.

  As she washed, it seemed she could hear the cries of the skeletal baby in the sling, stantly soothing it.

  "Don't cry, my dear grandson, don't fuss. Grandma will py with you once I'm done washing. It won't take long."

  She said this, but Qin Nuo saw she had been washing all night.

  Ghost Granny pulled her wet hands from the basin, supp the bottom of the sling, and shook it twice.

  As a result of the excessive motion, the baby's skull in the sling fell out, rolling onto the water-soaked floor.

  "Thud! Thud thud! Ctter ctter..."

  The skull rolled right to Qin Nuo's feet.

  Looking down, the eye sockets of the baby's skull were fag Qin Nuo.

  In the eye sockets, with traces of flesh remaining, maggots were crawling out.

  Ghost Granny suddenly turned her head, staring ily at the skull of her grandson on the ground, her expression somewhat dazed.

  Her eyes carried a sense of fusion.

  This was a dangerous signal!

  Faced with such a crisis, Qin Nuo, familiar with the ghost's routine, was experienced.

  He squatted down, picked up the baby's skull, walked over, and pced it ba the sling, smiling kindly, "Granny, the floor is slippery, and kids are mischievous. Be careful."

  Ghost Granny blinked her dark eye sockets, her wrinkled mouth curling into a horrifying smile, "Thank you, young man."

  This se would probably scare a girl into fainting on the spot.

  But for Qin Nuo, it leasant surprise, as it meant he had established the most basic retionship and gained some goodwill.

  "Granny, how long have you been at this store?" Qin Nuo took advantage of the goodwill to ask.

  Ghost Granny turned back, tinuing to wash the clothes in the basin, and said, "I fot the exact time, about two months, I guess."

  "The employees here get along quite well. For an old dy like me to find a job to support my grandson a's not easy." As Ghost Granny spoke, she couldn't help but grioothless mouth making her words unclear, and Qin Nuo had to strain to uand.

  "Indeed," Qin Nuo replied with a smile.

  Then, he casually asked, "Have you seeore manager, Granny?"

  Ghost Granny paused her work, as if in thought, then shook her head, "Haven't seen."

  "It rarely es to the store, often going out. All authority is in the hands of the deputy manager."

  So it's a hands-off manager.

  Qin Nuo thought, then asked, "You've seen the deputy manager, right, Granny? What's your impression?"

  Ghost Granny didn't speak, suddenly turning to stare at Qin Nuo.

  Though she had no eyeballs, it sent a chill down his spine.

  Qin Nuo knew she was suspicious and wary, so he scratched his head and smiled awkwardly, "Actually, I just started, and I'm not quite suited for the stock clerk position, so I wao ask Granny if I could apply for a transfer with the deputy manager."

  Ghost Granny then turned back, still speaking in her vague, slow manner, "The deputy manager has a bad temper. If you have this idea, it's best to drop it."

  "Besides, you should talk to the supervisor about a transfer."

  "The deputy manager appears around six every evening to supervise the employees' performahen disappears."

  Qin Nuo listened, nodding thoughtfully.

  He wao ask more, but Ghost Granny fell silent, as if she hadn't heard him.

  Occasionally, she would just soothe the grandson in the sling on her back.

  Qin Nuo knew she didn't want to reveal more about the store, so he stood up, greeted her, ahe ste room.

  By now, the outside was a vast expanse of white, the fog so thick it swallowed everything in sight.

  A lot of the white mist also seeped into the stiving it a desote feeling.

  When Qin Nuo came out, the employees on the shift were already managing the shelves.

  Apart from Qin Nuo, most of the employees were indistinct White Shadows, moving like puppets among the shelves.

  These were ghosts with very low self-awareness, like robots. Give them the appropriate bes, and they would do as much work for you, without pints, without tempers, never asking for a raise—a perfect five-star employee!

  Holding the key, Qin Nuo twisted his neck.

  He really hadn't rested much these past two days, rushing from the her Springs Restaurant and then infiltrating the Other Shore venieore headquarters.

  "Better take a nap."

  "At six tonight, when the deputy manager shows up, I'll act accly."

  Qin Nuo's advantage y in never being anxious to plete anything.

  As the saying goes, pns ever keep up with ges.

  No matter how perfect a pn is, if you don't act at the right moment, a small ge disrupt and colpse your entire pn...

  JOSOLUNA