The scene was extremely embarra.s.sing.

A man and a dog were both frozen; n.o.body dared to be the first to move, n.o.body dared to be the first to speak.

The large wolfdog smelled a human smell and the only thing in his mind was imdeadimdeadimdead.

When humans see monsters, they kill them.

Lin Mu looked at the majestic-looking and sleek wolfdog, and the only thing in his mind was imdeadimdeadimdead.

He heard that all monsters want to eat humans.

A man and a dog looked and watched each other with vigilance, fearing that in the next second the other party would rush up to kill them.

They faced each other for a long time, until the sun outside started to shine brightly, and the clock on the wall struck the hour.

“It is now nine o"clock in Beijing time.”

The large wolfdog so was frightened by the time being reported that he whined and leaped under a desk, shivered as he curled up into a ball.

Lin Mu was so scared by his movements that he took three steps back and watched the big pile of fluff under the desk, barely even breathing.

He stared at the ball underneath the desk and tried to lift his feet to get away. As soon as he lifted his foot, he saw the large wolfdog under the table tremble and gave a small whimper.

“……”

Why does this seem like……

Lin Mu tentatively placed his foot down.

The pile of fluff shook like a sieve1You shave a sieve very quickly to shift through stuff..

Lin Mu looked at the large wolfdog and felt that this large wolfdog seemed to be more afraid of him.

With this idea in mind, Lin Mu simply lifted his foot, rushed to the door in a hurry, turned his head to see several pedestrians nearby, and finally manage to get a little courage.

He stood in the door, took a deep breath and asked loudly, “excuse me…… This is Qingyao Subdistrict Office, right!”

The large wolfdog"s shivering suddenly stopped. A dog"s head poked out from under the table, and responded in a weak voice, “…… yes.”

“……” Lin Mu opened his mouth, and his mouth worked before his brain, “…… I"m Lin Mu, who"s coming in to join today.”

The large wolfdog paused, climbed out with a grunt and jumped up onto the table. He stared at Lin Mu for a while, before letting out a sigh of relief, “scared the h.e.l.l out of me! I thought I was going to be killed.”

Holy s.h.i.t!

It spoke!

The dog spoke!

The dog really spoke!

The dog also sighed in relief!

Lin Mu"s brain was ringing.

The large wolfdog crouched on the table and gasped, “really scared me to death, with this human smell on you, I really thought you were a human!”

Lin Mu: ……

Lin Mu: ???

Lin Mu"s mind was blank for a long time and was stuck between ‘the dog spoke", ‘the dog was really more afraid of me" and ‘he said something I didn"t seem to understand". In this state of shock, he stumbled over these questions, picked one and asked with a trembling voice, “I, I am not human?”

Da Hei2Da Hei (大黑) – Lit. Big Black. Another translation would be Blackie/Blacky. shook his fur, “half of you is. h.e.l.lo, I"m Da Hei.”

Lin Mu whole body jolted, “what do you mean? What is half of me is?”

I"ve lived for over twenty years, how could I not know I"m not human!

“Ah?” Da Hei was slightly confused by his question, thought for a bit and felt that Lin Mu might be afraid of being bullied. He consoled him, “although I do not know what your monster half is, but whether or not you"re a half-monster, I"m able to smell it on you. Don"t worry, what era is this, we don"t discriminate against half-monster.”

Lin Mu: “……”

No!!

What!!

What"s going on!!

Why am I suddenly kicked out from the human race!

“Also, true, a standard human wouldn"t be a.s.signed here.”

After Da Hei finished, he smacked his lips, turned back into a human form and with a bare b.u.t.t, took a big coat from a cupboard under the desk and casually wore it.

Lin Mu, who witnessed everything, felt that he was going to be blind.

Da Hei felt that his previously fearful actions were kind of foolish, and decided to save his image a little. Wrapped in a long coat, he turned to Lin Mu, “are you here to enter? Since that Old Turtle isn"t here at this time, he"s probably not coming today. I"ll do it for you.”

Lin Mu looked down at his files, thought for a moment, and felt that he shouldn"t apply for this job.

If he had known at an earlier time that taking a civil service exam would take him out of the human race, he wouldn"t have taken it if he had killed him.

No wonder his mother wouldn"t let him find his father. It turned out that his father was a monster.

Lin Mu looked down at his hands, and felt that he had found out the reason for his natural talent.

He raised his hand again and touched his face.

No wonder he grew up to be especially tender, any small injuries would be healed extremely fast without a scar, and also was smart and precocious, and learnt everything quickly.

It turned out he was a monster.

Although only half.

“……”

……

…… No.

Couldn"t accept it at all.

Lin Mu gathered up his files, stood at the doorway and said with a straight face, “can I not enter?”

Da Hei was stunned, “generally you can"t. Do you have any legitimate reasons?”

“What kind of reason is legitimate?”

“Disability or death, proof must be shown. We always have a lack of manpower, so we are stricter. If you mess around, it"ll be marked on your file. But the level of disability is calculated according to the human side. If there"s no proof, I"ll beat you and give you one. Anyways, we recover quickly. Pick a disability level?”

Lin Mu: “……”

Pick, as if.

I"ll pick the dog meat hot pot.

This unit was absolutely awesome3sarcasm.

Why would one get beaten up if they didn"t wish to enroll?

Da Hei looked at Lin Mu, who was frowning, and wondered, “why don"t you want to be employed here? We really don"t discriminate against half-monster, and the pay is also quite good, and relaxed……”

After he finished, he paused and changed his tune, “oh, wrong. Some things have happened recently, so we might be a little busy.”

Lin Mu heard the words ‘pay" and his eyes twitched, “pay? Isn"t it the same pay as ordinary civil servants?”

“That"s the human side. Although it"s the same test, monsters are treated differently.” Da Hei tightened his long coat and repeated himself, “we lack manpower. Not many monsters will come to do this. You need to read books, interview, investigate, all these have to follow human"s rules and regulations, and they find it to be tedious.”

Lin Mu paused, “what pay?”

Da Hei"s mouth was extremely agile, “wage of two thousand, bonus of twenty thousand. As seniority rises, up to a sixteen month salary. Six insurances and two golds4From what I can find, from 1600-4000 a month, inclusive of bonus. 4000 for those who have worked there for a few years.  900-1300

Dependent on place, cities would be better, etc since Lin Mu"s place is quite rural, it would be on the lower end of the scale.

Standard insurance plan is 5 insurances (Life, medical, unemployment, work injury, maternity) and 1 gold (housing provident fund). Lin Mu"s dream-like workplace has supplementary medical insurance (aka better medical insurance) + Corporate Pension Plan., reimburs.e.m.e.nt for food, living, and accommodation. No need to clock in and out of work, no work on the weekends, no compet.i.tion between the employees. Benefits are given during the holidays, annual leave is reimbursed by a special travel fund.”

“……”

Holy s.h.i.t!

Lin Mu touched his chest.

Oh no, his heart was touched.

Lin Mu took in a deep breath to suppress the excitement in his heart, and cautiously asked, “what about the job contents?”

“Take a census of the floating monster population, family planning surveys, Urban Safety Maintenance, mediate the conflict between humans and monsters……” Da Hei said a whole set of things, “it"s just miscellaneous stuff. Basically, if you encounter a disobedient monster, you can just beat it up. Extremely simple.”

“Okay.”

Lin Mu lifted his foot and walked back into the door, nimbly released the hand holding the file and the registration card.

If it"s fighting, he"s good at it.

“Alright! You can sit next to me.” Da Hei took the things in his hand and turned to the computer.

“What type of half-monster are you?” He asked as he quickly entered in the details. “I"ve just gain spiritual awareness not too long ago, and haven"t met that many monsters, can"t recognise them.”

What a coincidence. I"ve also just gained spiritual awareness not too long ago. Not even ten minutes ago.

Lin Mu pulled a chair and sat down, leaned back and dryly said, “…… I don"t know either.”

“Ah?” Da Hei paused, glanced at Lin Mu"s information, and found that both of his parent"s columns were empty.

Empty, means there wasn"t, or there once was.

Either way, they were gone now.

“…… Ah.”

Da Hei scratched his head, and realised that this situation meant that Lin Mu might not know what he was.

No wonder he was so shocked before.

Da Hei mumbled a little, and thoughtfully did not mention anything about his parents, and instead asked, “then did you find anything special about yourself?”

Lin Mu pondered and said, “I"m strong.”

Da Hei nodded, “en, en. monsters are all quite strong.”

“I learn things fast.”

“Half-monsters" growth period is short, this is normal.”

“My injuries heal fast without leaving scars.”

“En, en. monsters generally have strong self-healing abilities.”

“Hm…….” Lin Mu thought carefully for a while, then hesitated and said,” I……. look good?"

“……” Da Hei fell silent for a few seconds, turned his head to look at Lin Mu carefully, and nodded very seriously. “Really not bad, I"ve heard that mixed-race babies on average are good looking, monsters and humans are also mixed-race.”

Lin Mu had just casually said it, and felt embarra.s.sed when it was confirmed.

He smiled at Da Hei, revealing the two small dimples in the corners of his mouth.

Really not bad looking.

Da Hei smacked his lips, banged away on the keyboard and turned his head to continue with Lin Mu"s entry procedure and signed it, “done!”

The starting time counted from next week.

Lin Mu put away the forms, but did not leave. He subconsciously wanted to do something to give his colleagues a good impression. He turned his head and glanced at the office door and took the initiative to ask, “do you want to fix the door?”

When Da Hei finished his work, he leaned back lazily in the chair. When he heard Lin Mu"s words, he turned and asked, “you know how to?”

Lin Mu nodded, “I know.”

Lin Mu knew quite a lot of things.

He was the only male in the house, and he was strong and not afraid of getting injured. So when they had heavy or dirty work to do up home, he would roll up his sleeves and get to work.

Opening locks, repairing pipes, changing light bulbs, woodworking, and household ch.o.r.es. Although he couldn"t be called a master, he knew quite a bit.

Da Hei nodded, “sure. It"s okay to fix it.”

Lin Mu stood up and said, “Is there any hardware store near here?”

Da Hei also stood up, “yeah, but it"s a little far. I"ll take you there.”

Lin Mu glanced at Da Hei"s indistinct bird5slang for a certain male body part that can be considered a chicken that loomed while he walked, fell silent for two seconds, then spoke with a weak voice.

“…… You should get dressed first. ”

Qingyao Subdistrict Office was located in the old urban district of A City, on the outskirts, and is three stations and four lis away from Qingyao Village.

It consisted of all old residential areas that made it look remote and dilapidated, but the amount of residents could not be considered small.

A City was also considered a first-tier city, and was mostly made up of young people who rented houses in the relatively cheap suburbs and then worked in the city center.

So during the working hours, it would seem very deserted.

Da Hei and Lin Mu bought new locks and tools and walked out of the hardware store.

During which, a slightly restless Da Hei kept pulling on his b.u.t.toned shirt and skinny jeans.

Carrying the bag, Lin Mu turned to look at him, “are you uncomfortable?”

Da Hei tsked, “it"s tight and uncomfortable.”

“Then why not wear loose-fitting sportswear?” Lin Mu asked.

Da Hei"s actions paused and he said, “because wearing this seems well-mannered6Word used was 乖 (guai), a word usually used to talk about small children who did well (what a good (乖) child! So polite), or a pet, similar to ‘be a good boy". When used for adults, it"s kinda insulting..”

Lin Mu stopped talking.

He was wondering who Da Hei would be showing this well-mannered appearance too, and could it be another female dog? In the end, he turned his head to see Da Hei who walked to a small supermarket and bought some dragon"s beard candy and apples. He returned and followed a few steps before stopping.

They stopped at the door of a nursing home.

Lin Mu recognised this nursing home. It was considered to be one of the better ones nearby. The environment wasn"t bad, there were a lot of recreational facilities and the staff were professional. Only families of a higher living standard would be able to afford it.

Lin Mu followed Da Hei"s line of sight, and found that he was looking at an old lady who was under the pergola to avoid the sun.

The old lady was in a wheelchair, with a pair of reading gla.s.ses on her nose. Her hair was graying, and was slowly using a thread and needle to repair an old b.u.t.toned shirt, with small pieces of denim faintly attached to the underside of the shirt.

The little b.u.t.toned shirt looked quite old and the sleeves were very thin and short. It didn"t seem like it was for humans to wear.

Lin Mu looked at for quite a while, and suddenly realised, “a pet outfit?”

“En.” Da Hei nodded his head, then lowered his head to look at the dragon beard candy in his hand before turning to Lin Mu to say, “I"ll be delaying a little, if you don"t want to wait, you can go back first.”

Lin Mu felt that there wouldn"t be any issues with waiting. He looked at Da Hei who registered by the door guard and then was led in by the staff.

It was hot outside, so Lin Mu sat in the guard"s room and waited.

He glanced through the window and looked at the old lady"s b.u.t.toned shirt and denim jeans pet outfit that was placed to the side, then looked at the b.u.t.toned shirt and jeans worn by Da Hei who was talking with the old lady in the yard, realised a possibility, took back his line of sight and thanked the guard who poured him a gla.s.s of water.

Da Hei came out of half an hour holding two cleaned apples in his hands. The rest were left inside.

Lin Mu walked out with a bag in hand, and asked, “someone you know?”

“My owner.” Da Hei gave Lin Mu an apple, “when I was young and haven"t gained spiritual awareness yet and almost froze to death after being abandoned, it was her who picked me up.”

“Ah.” Lin Mu responded. He had guessed a little before, and did not feel much surprise, “she sounds like a good person.”

“En, a really good person.” After Da Hei finished, he took a bite of his apple, then ambiguously said, “but she"s going to die soon.”

A sleepy, sleepy couch potato that adores BL. Only second to sleeping.