Her Tentacles 25

Chapter 25: Extermination

Monsters are rampant in this world, so why do humans still have to go to work?

Shu Yao’s body was sitting in the office, but her soul was still in bed at home.

Until a message from Situ Jin popped up on her phone—

In the past few days, the “monster-eating-people incidents” in Nancheng seemed to have completely disappeared. The various videos that the city government and special departments had previously spent a great deal of manpower to suppress were nowhere to be seen, as if the monster had vanished overnight, or had left Nancheng for some special reason.

In short, even with the Situ family’s connections, they couldn’t find out more. The only thing they could do was to resume the business of their major shopping malls and group, which had been affected by the monster, as soon as possible after leaving the protection base.

And Situ Jin had returned to her usual liveliness. After renewing her flame with Shu Yao in the morning, she sent a message: “When does your summer vacation start this year? Do you want to go on a trip with me?”

“A cruise company my dad invested in has a good travel route in early July. Ask your girlfriend if she’s free. I’ll reserve a VIP room for you and have someone take care of your visas.”

Shu Yao: “!”

Only when hearing about vacations and travel could a working person’s corpse slightly warm up.

Her eyes lit up. She picked up her phone and tapped out a reply, at the same time forwarding it to Lin Ran with a cat peeking out emoji, its expression full of anticipation.

Situ Jin quickly sent over the cruise route.

This cruise ship’s entire route was half a year long, passing through many countries and regions, from north to south. You could practically experience all four seasons on the ship. Although Shu Yao’s summer vacation wasn’t that long, a cruise trip was a completely new experience for her. No matter where she got off the ship to buy a plane ticket back home, the process would be an interesting journey.

She just didn’t know if Lin Ran would be willing to take leave for this, and how many days of leave she could get.

…

“Teacher Shu, good morning.”

A deep, magnetic voice from in front of her caught her attention, pulling Shu Yao back.

She looked up at the other person. Her short hair was neat, with a small braid at the longer part below. She was just wearing loose and comfortable sportswear, but it gave her somewhat strong features a relaxed and approachable look.

At this moment, a piece of saucy pancake was hooked on her fingertip. The extremely strong aroma instantly filled the entire office, making Shu Yao’s stomach, which she hadn’t had time to eat for in the morning, start to grumble. She placed the breakfast on an empty spot on Shu Yao’s desk and smiled.

“Last time you said it smelled good, so I brought you a piece today. What a coincidence, you didn’t have breakfast today, did you?”

This was a new teacher who had recently arrived, specializing in teaching dance to kindergarten teachers and related majors. Mu Qing, when she introduced herself, she had told everyone to just call her Teacher Mumu.

She was a very sociable person. Within a few days of her arrival, she had become the new member that Chen Le and Fan Xin liked to go out with after work. Even during breaks, many students would come over to her desk, chirping like larks and asking her this and that. And her dance class had even attracted many other students who hadn’t chosen this course to come and watch.

The originally stagnant atmosphere in the office, after Wu Li’s disappearance, had become lively and harmonious because of her arrival.

Shu Yao was usually a slow-to-warm-up type, but she couldn’t resist Mu Qing’s enthusiasm—because since she had arrived, the extra work that other teachers used to throw at her had greatly decreased.

“Teacher Shu, have you finished your final assignment for the online course? Can I borrow it to have a look?”

Just then, Chen Le looked over this way with her cup. The various health tea bags she always had in it had recently been replaced with beautiful saffron stamens—this was a small gift from Mu Qing. She treasured the beautiful silver box with the flower filaments and kept it in a locked small drawer.

These teachers, even though they were already teaching in school, couldn’t escape the fate of online courses. The only difference was that the slogan had changed to “improving teaching skills and promoting professional growth.”

Shu Yao was about to nod when Mu Qing, who was standing in front of her desk partition, turned around. “Why don’t you look at mine? I’ve taken the civil service exam before, so I’m good at writing materials and assignments. You’re not referencing my assignment, are you not giving me, Mu, any face?”

Chen Le was amused.

In Mu Qing’s feigned angry expression, she happily decided to satisfy this show-off’s request. “Okay, okay, I’ll copy yours. Just you wait, Mumu. If the leaders hear about your experience, you’ll be appointed as the meeting recorder at the next teacher’s conference.”

Mu Qing immediately straightened her face. “If you copy my assignment, you’re one of us. You have to keep this secret for me.”

Seeing them joking around, Shu Yao let out a light sigh of relief, spared from the fate of being asked for her assignment by Chen Le and then being criticized for where she hadn’t written it well enough.

Her expression softened, and she said softly, “Thank you.”

Mu Qing patted the partition lightly before turning around. “You’re welcome. Remember to eat it while it’s hot. It won’t be as good when it’s cold.”

The saucy pancake, slathered with a secret sauce and with the finely chopped scallions baked to a crisp, was not only particularly appetizing but also very filling.

Shu Yao had just finished two big classes in the morning and was kept back by the students, who treated the recent “monster-eating-people incident” in Nancheng as a current event hot topic. They asked her to talk about whether it was related to the recent marine disasters encountered by many coastal and island countries in the world, and finally asked her to predict if the end of the world was coming.

Shu Yao: “…”

If I could predict that, would I still be teaching here?

By the time she had finally dealt with the enthusiastic students and walked out of the public lecture hall, she found that it was already twelve-thirty. If she walked any slower, the cooks in the cafeteria might have already gotten off work.

“Teacher Shu.”

As she passed the nearest teaching building, a familiar greeting came from beside the tall bushes.

Turning her head, she saw that it was Mu Qing, dressed in black dance clothes. Her face was flushed, and her forehead and temples were covered in sweat. Her whole body was full of youthful energy from working out.

Compared to her, Shu Yao, a working person with a professional vibe, felt a little inadequate, but she still politely stopped and waited for her to walk over.

“Why are you also in class until this late?” Mu Qing smiled at her. “Were you also held back by the students, like me?”

Shu Yao nodded and at the same time took out a tissue and a wet wipe from her bag and handed them to her.

“Thank you so much. I don’t have this habit. It’s a good thing I ran into you, otherwise I was thinking of just using the tap water from the cafeteria ladies later.” She let out a huge sigh of relief and took Shu Yao’s tissue to wipe the sweat from her face and neck.

Hearing her words and looking at the outline of her body revealed by her sweat-soaked, thin clothes, Shu Yao had a very untimely thought of someone.

But—

That person would not be so polite and thank her. She would even laugh at her for not having gotten over the habit of her hands sweating when she was nervous.

“Thank you, Bodhisattva Shu, for saving me. You must let me treat you to lunch today!” Mu Qing brandished her brand-new staff card, and before Shu Yao could refuse, she added, “New employees seem to have a one-month discount. Come and join my team of fleecing the capitalists.”

Shu Yao hesitated for a moment, then heard her say that Teacher Fan and Teacher Chen had both taken advantage of it several times. If she refused again, it would not be politeness, but intentionally creating distance.

She could only nod. “Then I’ll treat you to milk tea this afternoon?”

After saying that, she was a little worried that a sports enthusiast like Mu Qing would not like this kind of fatty drink, but to her surprise, the other person agreed immediately. “Sure!”

Just then, they walked out of the grove on both sides of the tree-lined path of the teaching building area. The cafeteria stood alone in an open area on all four sides. Shu Yao opened her umbrella in the sun.

She had been worried that the color of this umbrella might only be suitable for rainy days, but she didn’t expect that the hotter the weather, the cooler the shade under this umbrella. Even during the yellow high-temperature warning issued these two days, when Shu Yao held the umbrella and passed through the hottest part of the playground, the white handle was still as cool as jade.

It protected her from being soaked in the scorching heat outside.

This was different from all the umbrellas she had bought before. It even gave Shu Yao the illusion of stroking her girlfriend’s cool, delicate skin when she touched the handle. She really liked this gift from Lin Ran.

It was at this moment that Mu Qing, who was walking with her, naturally stepped out of the sunlight and into the shade of the umbrella. She looked up at the winding black patterns on the red background of the umbrella, and the smile on her lips inexplicably deepened.

“Teacher Shu’s umbrella is really special,” she sighed from the bottom of her heart.

Shu Yao was a little surprised. Since she had received this gift from Lin Ran, she had only heard one particularly unlucky comment. She didn’t expect to hear a compliment from a new colleague now, and couldn’t help but ask, “Really?”

Mu Qing lowered her head to meet her gaze and nodded. “Mmm, very special—I see Teacher Shu carrying it to and from work every day. It must be a gift from someone else, right?”

Shu Yao nodded.

Mu Qing smiled brightly. “That person must like you very much.”

“?”

Shouldn’t the normal conclusion be that since she cherished this gift so much, she must really like the person who gave it to her?

How did it get reversed with Mu Qing?

Shu Yao blinked, but then she felt that what she said was also right, so she curved her lips slightly and returned a smile.

She and Lin Ran were in love with each other.

But today, they ran into Director Zhou, who had been avoiding them for several days, at the cafeteria.

Because Mu Qing didn’t want to eat the stir-fried dishes in the faculty cafeteria and was curious about the specialties of the student cafeterias on the other floors, the two of them went downstairs and happened to run into the team of leaders inspecting the student cafeteria. Shu Yao was immediately caught by Director Zhou.

The three of them found another table, and in the encirclement of the students, Director Zhou, while tearing off the slightly cold and hard skin of a steamed bun, asked, “Yaoyao, what happened with Little Hao that day? I heard you didn’t even eat and left halfway through. Did he do something wrong?”

Mu Qing looked up.

The surrounding students also quietly pricked up their ears. Shu Yao even caught a glimpse of some of them starting to tap on their phones, their probing gazes like small needles pricking her.

She braced herself and said in a low voice, “No… it’s just that I, I actually already have a partner. Uncle Zhou, I didn’t know you were setting me up on a blind date that day, so…”

Zhou Wenbai’s widened eyes stretched the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. “Huh?”

He didn’t expect such a misunderstanding. He put down the steamed bun and slapped his thigh. “You child, you found a partner and didn’t say anything. That’s fine, I’ll talk to the Hao family. When you have time, bring your boyfriend over, and your aunt and I will meet him and vet him for you.”

Shu Yao: “Uh…”

Meeting is fine, but it might not be a boyfriend she’s meeting.

She replied reservedly, “I definitely will if I have the chance.” After finally finishing a lunch under Director Zhou’s concerned gaze, she was surrounded by several curious students as she left.

“Teacher Shu, Teacher Shu, you have a boyfriend?”

“You’re so beautiful, do you still need to go on a blind date?”

“What does your boyfriend look like? We don’t think we’ve seen him…”

“That’s right, I’ve only seen a particularly beautiful woman come to pick you up after work before. Oh, and before that, there was someone who looked a lot like Teacher Mumu—Teacher Shu, is your partner really a man?”

…

Their gossipy gazes became more and more intense.

Even though Baiquan was a vocational school, they were still very strict about phones, and they also had mandatory evening self-study. So they, who were in school, were still drowned in boring studies, and were particularly interested in gossip about beautiful teachers like her.

Although Shu Yao didn’t think there was anything wrong with her sexual orientation, she didn’t want the whole school to be spreading rumors that she was a lesbian when she entered the campus tomorrow.

She pressed her lips together and was about to speak when Mu Qing next to her suddenly clapped her hands. “What are you all asking about? Whether Teacher Shu has a boyfriend or not, it’s her private matter. She doesn’t need to report to you, does she?”

“Disperse, disperse. Which classes are you all from? Do you want me to ask Director Zhou to come over and find your homeroom teachers one by one?”

Hearing the threat of their homeroom teachers, they looked dejected and all ran away.

Shu Yao couldn’t count how many times Mu Qing had helped her out since she had come to the office.

After thanking her again, on the way back to the office together, Shu Yao couldn’t help but secretly size up the person next to her.

But the other person happened to be looking at her as well. Their eyes met, and Mu Qing touched her face. “What’s wrong, do I have rice on my face?”

Shu Yao shook her head, thinking about how to express her doubts.

She was the type who didn’t have many friends since she was a child. Apart from the playmates she grew up with, she didn’t make any very good new friends in junior high, high school, or university.

She had never even received a confession or a love letter.

Except for that one from Lin Jingshu.

So much so that for a long time, Shu Yao had been thinking about whether her socially anxious state made her look too cold and unapproachable, making others think she was difficult to get along with.

Until she started working, she had already gotten used to this state of seeming to get along well but actually not even having a lunch buddy. But then she met Mu Qing.

It wasn’t that there hadn’t been such sociable girls before, who had come to try and win her favor, but they would quickly give up. Only Mu Qing treated everyone in the office equally.

Hearing her carefully worded, slow-paced expression, Mu Qing looked as if she were thinking, “What’s the big deal?” and smiled, showing her teeth. “What’s this, you’re worried about this? It’s just that I’m a sucker for good looks. When I see a beautiful woman, I really want to go and make friends with her. What’s wrong, did my behavior make you feel uncomfortable?”

“It’s okay, you just go at your own pace. Whether we can be friends or not depends on fate. Don’t feel pressured.”

She made a cheerful summary.

Perhaps it was because of such a good colleague in the office that Shu Yao didn’t feel as tired as usual when she got off work today. Of course, it could also be because she didn’t have to work overtime!

She walked into the community and heard two “beep beep” sounds from the side.

The car’s hazard lights flashed.

Turning her head, she found that it was Lin Ran, who had driven home from work. The other person lowered the car window, and her deep black eyes looked over. “I replied to your message. You don’t seem to have seen it?”

Shu Yao: “!”

She picked up her phone and saw that the other person had replied around three or four o’clock, saying, “I can apply for leave, but I have to wait until the recent countryside free clinic activity is over.”

“I think I was busy with something else in the office at the time, so I didn’t hear it…” she replied, dazed.

Lin Ran didn’t mind. Hearing a car honking behind them, she was about to let Shu Yao go home first, but Shu Yao quickly walked over, opened the passenger door, and followed her all the way to the underground parking lot.

Shu Yao subconsciously started to share the story of the new teacher in her office with Lin Ran. As she opened the car door to get out, she suddenly felt something cold brush against her ankle.

“Ah—”

She screamed and jumped onto the woman who had locked the car and was walking over.

Lin Ran raised her hand and caught her steadily, looking at her clinging to her like a koala with her arms and legs open, and a corner of her lip curled up. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s something,” Shu Yao turned her head in her arms to look. “I don’t know if it was a cockroach or a rat that touched me just now…”

She muttered, but found that it was just an empty plastic water pipe lying on the side.

Looking at her current state, although she was wearing jeans, she was hugging her girlfriend’s neck tightly, and her legs were wrapped around her waist…

Shu Yao’s face flushed red, and she wanted to get down from Lin Ran’s arms, but found that the other person’s grip on her was not loosening, as if she intended to carry her home all the way like this. She even asked leisurely, “Are you afraid of these?”

Who isn’t afraid of them?

Shu Yao nodded vigorously, remembered something, and added, “Mainly because there have been some at home recently, so I’m so scared.”

Lin Ran’s footsteps paused. The sunset outside the parking lot hadn’t set yet. Even though the incandescent lights inside were on, it was still dim.

In the dim light, her dark eyes were even more bottomless. “Home, what is there?” How did she not know?

“Rats, cockroaches, or bugs, right?” Shu Yao found that her grip was particularly steady, as if she were just carrying a not-yet-adult little sloth. She tried to let go of one hand and let her see the faint marks on her neck.

“These past few days, I’ve been waking up with these marks on my body, like a bug has crawled over me. I’m even allergic. And the roses on the balcony have also withered a few…”

Speaking of the latter, Shu Yao was heartbroken. Those varieties were all beautiful varieties that she had worked so hard to buy, after carefully sifting through the pitfalls of those Suqian shipping locations online and avoiding some internet-famous filter pitfalls!

Her Gabriel, her Charlotte Perriand, her Pretty Sweet…

Ugh, ahhhhh!

Shu, the social phobic, was furious just thinking about it. She had finally avoided the black spot rot and insect pests of this high-temperature, rainy season, and had even worked hard to prune and fertilize in the winter, hoping for a grand and brilliant flowering period this year—

But they just withered.

Fertilizing didn’t work, and there were no insect eggs on the leaves, but they just looked as if “I don’t want to live anymore,” “I can’t get over it.”

It must be because there were pests in her house that she hadn’t found yet, not only tormenting her, but also her flowers!

…

Lin Ran looked at her, who had recently liked to stick to her and so had been resting on the sofa every night. As a result, after she fell asleep, if she wasn’t paying attention, her tentacles would all stick to her.

Previously, when she lived in the dormitory, these little guys only liked to slip into bottles and jars after Lin Ran had fallen asleep. In the first few days of her stay, they also loved to compete with Shu Yao’s succulents for territory. Later, they liked to pop the bubbles when Lin Ran was taking a bath in the large bathtub at night.

Now they had found a new habitat: Shu Yao’s body.

Even if Lin Ran spent the night in the bathroom, they would quietly sneak out from the shampoo bubbles and wrap themselves around the person lying on the living room sofa, taking advantage of her. And they were always fond of causing trouble, but never cleaned up the scene.

At this very moment.

In the master’s ear, the mimicked tentacles in the shadows repeated a few words, their dao heart shattered, trembling in disbelief, their swaying arc much slower than usual.

【Me? A bug?】

【A cock—a cockroach?】

【A rat?!】

But Shu Yao didn’t hear these shocked questions. She said firmly, “No, I must hire a professional extermination company!”

Lin Ran: “…”

Her silence was deafening.