Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Before Su Ximu could ask, Blue 242, standing at the door, offered a gentle smile. He raised the vegetable basket in his hand and proactively explained his visit: "I found some mushrooms in the flower bed in front of the dorm and thought I'd share some with you."

Su Ximu listened as Group Leader Blue 242 explained that this was a type of mushroom unique to the Tourism Park. Though its color made it resemble a poisonous mushroom, it was actually quite delicious, suitable for soups or even raw consumption.

His supervisor had picked mushrooms and even thought to share them with him. For a moment, Su Ximu felt a meticulous care that went beyond merely looking after a favored connection.

He stepped aside, allowing Group Leader Blue 242, basket in hand, to pass through the narrow dorm door.

Once Blue 242 was inside, Su Ximu closed the door and crouched down, curiously examining the mushrooms already placed on the table.

"It really does look like a poisonous mushroom. Can the soil in the Tourism Park grow local specialties too?"

In his previous understanding, local specialties, especially those that grew from the ground, were typically associated with an entire city, at the very least.

"Yes," Blue 242, who had been standing, also crouched down, chatting with the young man beside him to clarify: "These are special varieties transplanted here by the Director when the park was first established. In this Tourism Park, any colorful mushroom is edible."

"But the gray ones aren’t ready yet—they need to grow a bit more."

"Gray mushrooms can slowly grow and become colorful mushrooms," Su Ximu repeated, realizing he must have been so focused on familiarizing himself with his work today that he hadn't noticed these amazing little mushrooms growing in the park's lawns.

"Exactly," Blue 242 tilted his head, his gaze resting on the young man. His eyes had remained remarkably gentle since entering the room: "Gray mushrooms are the most common here. Some gray ones wither and die as they grow, while only a select few continue to develop."

"Next to the Tourism Park, there’s an amusement park and an aquarium. The rabbits in the amusement park are very good at charming tourists, and visitors willing to spend money can take a 'graduated' rabbit home as a pet."

"Graduated rabbits?" During this late-night conversation, the young man, being new and having seen little, lacked the experience for a back-and-forth exchange, leaving him with only questions.

He felt a little embarrassed, but a glance at Group Leader Blue 242 showed no sign of annoyance on the man's face.

The desk lamp was on. Su Ximu watched as Group Leader Blue 242 extended his palm, his fingers nimbly intertwining to cast a rabbit shadow on the wall using the light.

"Rabbits are the most abundant creatures in the amusement park. Just like people, each rabbit has a unique personality. That's why there's a dedicated rabbit garden in the amusement park. Only rabbits that pass the garden's assessment standards are sold as pets."

Then, the light and shadow on the wall shifted, and a large, menacing octopus appeared: "The local specialty of the aquarium—can you guess what it is?"

Finally, no longer needing to ask a question, Su Ximu replied: "Seafood!"

"Mm," Group Leader Blue 242 praised him as if he had answered some profound question: "So clever."

Su Ximu turned his head and met Group Leader Blue 242’s eyes, belatedly feeling a bit embarrassed: "Group Leader Blue 242, I'm truly sorry for troubling you with so many questions. I didn't know any of this before."

"No need to thank me," Blue 242 stood up and offered a hand to Su Ximu, whose legs had gone somewhat numb from crouching: "I forgot to mention, my current work is also at the Wang Family Compound."

Su Ximu looked up, pursed his lips, and finally accepted the offered hand to stand. Immediately afterward, he saw Group Leader Blue 242 pull something else from under the basket—it was the employee script, which he recognized very well.

Su Ximu felt an initial spark of happiness.

As a new employee, he was only familiar with the group leader responsible for training him in the entire Tourism Park. The group leader also seemed like a very patient and easygoing person.

It wasn’t that the other actor colleagues in the Wang Family Compound were hard to get along with; more accurately, he just hadn’t found a way to connect with them.

The colleagues in the Wang Family Compound were probably, as Group Leader Blue 242 had previously explained, either original residents whose homes were in the compound or those who found commuting troublesome and simply stayed to sleep there.

But Su Ximu, perhaps because he wasn’t used to it yet, felt that the entire mansion was somewhat oppressive and cold. So, he still preferred to spend a bit more time commuting from the employee area every day.

If Group Leader Blue 242 was also working in the Wang Family Compound recently, they could commute together every day, just like today.

His childhood experiences had made Su Ximu someone who wasn’t very skilled at socializing, but that didn’t mean he had always been a solitary child. He still liked having friends and hoped to have someone by his side.

"Group Leader Blue 242, who are you playing?" The young man’s tone lifted slightly.

Blue 242 opened the script to show him.

The character introduction section read: [The Eldest Young Master of the Wang Family]

Su Ximu recalled his own script—he was the youngest young master of the Wang Family.

Group Leader Blue 242 was the eldest young master of the Wang Family.

So, they were playing brothers?

"Eldest Brother?" he tried calling.

Blue 242 corrected: "As brothers, calling me 'Eldest Brother' feels a bit distant."

"Brother?"

Blue 242 stood there, a faint smile on his lips, but still didn’t respond.

"Then... Gege?" (Older Brother)

Blue 242 nodded in acknowledgment.

As night fell, and the matter of address was settled, Blue 242 left the huge mushroom behind when he departed, telling Su Ximu he could either eat it or keep it planted to watch it grow.

After the man left, Su Ximu looked at the blue, umbrella-like mushroom on the table and decided to wait until the next day to decide.

He murmured to himself: "I wonder if the mushroom can still be planted after being picked and left overnight. If not, I’ll just eat it with Group Leader Blue 242 tomorrow."

The blue mushroom on the table seemed to understand these words. In the middle of the night, its half-open cap managed to spread out a bit more.

***

The next day, as soon as Su Ximu got out of bed, he saw the blue mushroom lying in the basket, looking spirited after working hard all night.

Seeing it still so lively, Su Ximu judged that it could probably be planted and survive.

He’d heard that some mushrooms, when planted, could multiply from one cluster into many.

Su Ximu had always felt he had quite a talent for planting, but due to limited conditions before, he hadn’t had many opportunities to verify this talent.

Now, he felt he could start testing it out with something simple like planting mushrooms.

Before work, he took about ten minutes to dig up some soil from the green area downstairs. Making use of what was available, Su Ximu found an old washbasin in his dorm room, filled it with soil, and transplanted the mushroom into it.

Twenty minutes later,

Su Ximu and Blue 242 stood together in the waiting area in front of the dormitory building, waiting for the shuttle.

The occupancy rate of the entire dormitory building was quite high. Su Ximu watched as people came and went in the waiting area—some whose workplaces were closer simply walked over.

Among these employees, some, like him, wore gray employee badges on their chests, while others wore hats of various colors.

Blue and purple were the most common colors, with an occasional green hat seen here and there.

With Group Leader Blue 242, Su Ximu, who was no longer so shy, had a sudden insight and whispered to the group leader: "Did the inspiration for the colors of the employee hats in the Tourism Park come from the local specialty mushrooms?"

"They’re all colorful."

Blue 242 nodded in agreement with the guess: "Hmm... maybe that's the case."

Since work was starting today, Blue 242 wasn't wearing his little blue cap anymore. Or rather, he hadn't worn it since last night, nor was he in the park's uniform.

Instead, he was dressed in a long robe of the same style as Su Ximu's, though the color was slightly different.

The two stood together chatting quietly until the tour cart arrived, then boarded together.

Throughout, Su Ximu didn't notice the old employees behind him staring at him with looks as if he were a psycho killer.

It wasn't until the tour cart had driven far away that the old employees finally let out a sigh of relief, huddling together to exchange information in hushed tones.

"Hey, does anyone know, what number is that Blue on the balcony windowsill?"

"Not sure, but the pattern looks like Blue 144."

"If he dares to plant a Blue today, he'll dare to plant a red one tomorrow! Should we report this to the manager?"

"Huh? Why did he plant the body in a pot? And is it even a body? Is it really completely dead?"

"It's a warning! Pure intimidation!"

"Public display of a corpse—haven't you heard of that?"

"Connections sure make you untouchable!"

Author's note:

Little Mu: Planting mushrooms, watering them, and putting them on the balcony to get some sun.

Other supernaturals: Look, this guy named Xiao Mu—on his second day at work, he put his colleague's corpse on public display...