Processing Plant 3

After Brother Zhu left, Suman stared fixedly at his retreating back for a short while.

She did not retract her gaze until she heard a commotion.

It was the female pig-headed person she had seen earlier.

She was staggering toward this side, carrying a heavy trough filled with pig swill.

As she drew closer, one could see that the bucket was brimming with some reddish-black substance, emitting a fishy, foul stench that was utterly nauseating.

Suman stood in place for a moment before taking the initiative to speak. "Do you need any help?"

If she wanted to resolve the problems here, building a good relationship with the local employees was crucial.

And of course, there was another most important point: if she were to become the boss here in the future, all these backward practices would have to be eradicated, and this rotten system destroyed from its very foundations.

Since she happened to be here now, learning more about it would make implementing changes much easier later on.

Yet she never expected that the moment she spoke, the pig-headed creature would begin to tremble, appearing terribly frightened.

"No, no." The pig-headed person refused in a voice as faint as a mosquito's buzzing, waving her hands repeatedly. "I can manage by myself."

Without waiting for Suman to say anything further, she hastily dumped the contents of her bucket into the nearest pigsty, then turned and limped away as fast as she could, as if Suman were some kind of deadly plague.

Suman did not press the matter. She still had time, and she could take things slowly.

She walked over to the pigsty where the feed had just been poured.

At a quick glance, it looked pitch black. The top of every pigsty was half-covered with a shelter; the outer half was bright, while the inner half was plunged into deep darkness.

She could not see any pigs; perhaps they were lurking deep within that shadows.

Just as this thought crossed her mind, she saw two tiny bright spots light up in the darkness, accompanied by the grunting of a pig.

She strained her eyes, trying to make out what the creature inside looked like. The next second, a massive beast let out a howl and lunged from the darkness, attempting to burst through the enclosure and tear her apart with its razor-sharp tusks.

Suman's hand had already gone for her dagger when she heard a heavy, resounding thud. The massive beast crashed violently against an invisible barrier, then fell hard to the ground, letting out a shriek that sounded like a slaughtered pig.

Suman was actually not unfamiliar with that barrier; when Boss Zhu had harbored murderous intent toward her earlier, he had used a remarkably similar barrier to squeeze her.

Had Boss Zhu set this up personally?

The massive beast, hissing as it lay on the ground, finally revealed its appearance.

It was a black-skinned hog with long tusks, bloodshot eyes, resembling a wild boar, possessing a ferocious and utterly untamed look.

Its belly was sagging, much like a sow that had already given birth.

It seemed this was the very sow she had been assigned to tend to.

Realizing that she was staring at it, the pig stopped wailing, struggled to its feet, and assumed an attack stance once again.

Yet the outcome was identical to before; the pig crashed into the barrier once more and tumbled back to the ground.

It acted as though it felt no pain, repeatedly slamming itself against the barrier with a fierce, malevolent glare, as if it would not rest until Suman was dead.

Suman simply stood right there, calmly counting, until a hand grabbed her sleeve.

"Don't stand here. They'll die."

It was the female pig-headed person who had run away earlier.

She exerted force with her hand, seemingly wanting to pull Suman somewhere.

Suman glanced back at the wild boar, which had finally stopped its charges. Whether it was just her imagination or not, she caught a flicker of deeply human sorrow, fury, and despair in the pig's eyes.

She cast another look at the pig-headed person leading her blindly ahead, lost in thought.

Eventually, they stopped in front of a tiny cottage.

The pig-headed person explained cautiously, "This is our dormitory. You'll be staying here too. You should rest for a bit."

With that, she nervously clutched the corner of her shirt and turned to leave.

Suman called out to her. "Do you still have things to do? There are so many things here I don't understand—could you explain them to me? Since we're colleagues now, if I remain completely clueless, I might end up holding you back."

"I... I still have work to do," the female pig-headed person replied in a low voice, shrinking her neck and not daring to meet Suman's eyes, treating her as if she were some ferocious beast.

"Is that so? Then do you need my help?" Suman asked.

"No, no thank you. I can manage alone." The female pig-headed person nodded, quickly turning to leave once more.

"By the way, my name is Suman. I still don't know your name."

The female pig-headed person paused, burying her head very low, and muttered a name in an extremely soft voice. "Tingting. You can call me Tingting."

Having said that, she walked away with even faster steps. Yet after taking two paces, she stopped again without looking back at Suman, and quickly blurted out on her own accord, "If you really want to hear me talk about it, just wait. Wait until I finish my work and come back to tell you."

Fearing that Suman might refuse or say something unpleasant, she did not wait for a reply and sprinted off like a flash.

However, Suman did not wait for Tingting to return; instead, she was greeted by a stranger.

It was not that Suman had suddenly acquired the ability to tell apart pig-headed people, but the one who pushed the door open and entered was dressed with a truly exaggerated flair. Her pink outfit looked rather expensive, and her skin was fair and tender—not at all disheveled and battered like Tingting's.

The moment the female pig-headed person entered, she started crying. If one had to wait for her to speak on her own, the opportunity would long have passed.

Suman took the initiative to ask.

The female pig-headed person glanced at her through tear-filled eyes, and then wailed even louder.

Fortunately, she did answer Suman's question between sobs. "Huang Xin."

Suman nodded. "Are you a new employee?"

It was unclear which of Suman's words touched upon Huang Xin's sore spot, but Huang Xin let out a wail and cried even harder.

Wiping away tears with a delicate little handkerchief, she certainly looked pampered and spoiled.

When Huang Xin finally cried enough, she nodded with a hiccup. "I'm an employee."

Yet as soon as those words left her mouth, the tears she had just managed to hold back began to stream uncontrollably down her face again, and she burst into loud sobs anew.

Suman was reaching the limit of her patience.

She stood up, intending to go outside and look for Tingting.

Before she could even step out the door, Huang Xin sobbed and called out to her, "Are you going to look for that Tingting?"

Suman looked back at her.

"Don't bother looking for her. She's probably already dead."

Huang Xin struggled to suppress her tears. "I saw her on my way here. She asked me to tell you that she probably won't be able to come back, and told you not to wait."

Pausing for two seconds, she asked uncertainly, "You're Suman, right? Tingting asked me to tell Suman."

"I am." Suman lowered her eyelids. "You said she's dead? How did she die?"

How long could it have been since Tingting left? She was already dead?

"She should be dead." Huang Xin grew uncertain again. "Actually, when I saw her, she was already on her last breath..." She paused. "How else could she die? She was beaten to death by that Brother Zhu! Just a petty group leader... Sob... Am I going to be under Brother Zhu's control from now on? Am I going to be beaten to death too?"