That night, He Qing, with no choice, ate the koi fish. Afterward, he spent the entire night tapping his wooden fish. Only when the first rays of morning sunlight streamed through the window did He Qing finally put it away.

He opened his eyes, which were now clear and bright.

Finally, it dawned on him—the issue wasn’t that he wasn’t a proper spirit, but rather, he was too proper of a spirit. He couldn’t just absorb Duan Chenhui’s essence—no, his virtue energy. Though it was quite delicious and willingly given, human virtue was tied to their luck and longevity. He needed to find a way to return it.

“But the general should have calmed down by now, right?” After all, he had accompanied him for that koi dinner. He Qing got out of bed and opened the door, only to find Duan Chenhui once again blocking his path.

He Qing jumped in surprise. “General? Up this early?”

Duan Chenhui leaned on the armrests of his wheelchair, raising his eyes to meet He Qing’s. “Not early. You were tapping that wooden fish all night—I listened to it all night.”

He Qing glanced back at his room and then looked down, politely suggesting, “General, perhaps you could upgrade the soundproofing in your room?”

“I have SSS-level mental power.”

“…” He Qing gave him another look. “Listening to the wooden fish is good for your mental health.”

Duan Chenhui chuckled at that. “I listened all night. Today my mind feels tranquil. I suppose it worked?”

Seeing him smile, He Qing walked over and pushed him downstairs. “That’s great! I can record it for you, General, if you like.”

“…” Duan Chenhui hadn’t expected things to go in such an odd direction, but he replied, “If you have time to record it.”

“Sure, I’ll record it tonight,” He Qing agreed immediately. Once they were downstairs and seated in the dining room, He Qing noticed that today’s breakfast was finally normal. He ate in peace.

After finishing his salad, he checked the time. “General, I have to head out. I got a call last night—my internship starts today.”

“Hmm. It’s just a morning shift over there. You can come back to school in the afternoon,” Duan Chenhui nodded. “You have a license, right? There’s a car outside, prepared for you. You can use it to go anywhere you want.”

He Qing paused slightly, hesitating. “Is there a surveillance system in the car?”

“No!” Duan Chenhui placed his fork on the plate with a clatter.

“Sorry, General! Goodbye!” He Qing grabbed his bag and bolted out of the house.

Duan Chenhui watched him leave, resting his head in his hand against the table. He wasn’t an easily angered person. Calm down.

—

Outside, He Qing fiddled with his prayer beads. “Amitabha.” The general’s mental state seemed fairly stable. When he looked up, he saw a sleek and flashy hovercar shining in the yard.

He Qing walked over and touched it. “So cool.” He suddenly remembered Duan Chenhui’s impressive mecha. The general really had a thing for stylish machines, and the understated luxury of that wedding ring… Maybe Jing Yi had been right—perhaps the general had a weakness for good looks.

“Beep, fingerprint recognized. Master, I am Eleven. Please get in the car.” The door opened automatically.

He recalled that Duan Chenhui’s car was named Ten. So, this was a new one. He Qing got in and said, “Please take me to the Central Panda Base.”

“Understood,” replied Eleven, and the vehicle started.

During the ride, He Qing checked out the campus gossip on the school forum—his new favorite pastime.

[Wow! Zhang Lin got assigned to feed pigs yesterday and was so mad he ran ten laps around campus!]

[Haha, he must’ve lost his mind. I hope he gets reassigned to a better place after midterms!]

How tragic, He Qing thought with a smile. That Zhang Lin was Zhang Yi’s brother. After finishing up with the gossip, he arrived at the panda base. After swiping his card to enter, he was informed that there would be a meeting in the conference room where tasks would be assigned by the administrator.

As He Qing walked down the corridor and rounded a corner, he unexpectedly came face to face with Zhang Lin from the neighboring pig-feeding station.

“Good morning, Zhang,” He Qing greeted him with a friendly smile.

“Morning.” Zhang Lin was silent and sullen, likely due to his frustration.

Seeing his pale face, He Qing offered, “Luck is only temporary.”

“I know. I don’t need your consolation.” Zhang Lin curtly threw out this sentence and brushed past him.

“I think both feeding pigs and caring for pets are meaningful tasks,” He Qing added as he looked back.

Zhang Lin didn’t reply, walking away with heavy footsteps.

He Qing shrugged and continued on his way. Zhang Lin was even harder to communicate with than Zhang Yi. Suddenly, He Qing had a thought and pulled out his terminal to message Duan Chenhui: “General, would you get angry if you were assigned to feed pigs?”

Duan Chenhui’s reply was almost instantaneous: “Who’s angry enough to look like a pufferfish? Let me note down their name.”

”…” He Qing almost wished for an AI malfunction. “No one, I was just curious.”

“It wouldn’t bother me. It wouldn’t affect my performance.” Duan Chenhui answered, as serious as ever.

“As expected of the general.” He Qing threw in a small compliment.

“Your sweet-talking isn’t bad occasionally.” Duan Chenhui continued, “Even though you’re with the pandas, they have a strong bite. Be careful.”

“I will. Catch up later.” He Qing ended the conversation as he reached the conference room. There were already quite a few people there, all of them assigned to the panda base like him.

He found an empty seat and looked around. None of his classmates were present, though some of the others were sighing.

“I really wanted to join the First Expedition Team.”

“Hey, Zhang Yi, why are you here too?”

“I requested a transfer,” Zhang Yi replied, crossing his arms. “But I got assigned to the wrong place.”

“Ah, trying to stick with your brother? You two sure have a good bond. I’m jealous.”

“Yeah, sibling solidarity.”

He Qing glanced over and noticed that the Zhang Yi who had messed with him yesterday now looked much better—normal, even. He smiled and said, “Zhang, you look much healthier today.”

Zhang Yi’s eye twitched. Seeing He Qing’s gentle smile reminded him of his embarrassing mishap yesterday. “You’re looking even better today,” he said through gritted teeth.

“…” The other students watched, anticipating a confrontation. Drama so early in the morning? It would be a shame to miss it.

But no drama unfolded because the dean walked in with his team: “Good morning, students.”

“Good morning, Dean.” The students all stood up in greeting before sitting down again.

The dean looked them over and then sat down himself. Honestly, he found this task quite frustrating every year. Sending people here felt like mutual torture. He pulled out a well-worn document and began to read: “The first thing to know at our zoo is to treat the animals with care. Second, feed the animals on time. Most of these tasks are assisted by machines. Follow your instructors, and at the end of the month, submit an animal observation report.”

“Understood!” the group responded in unison.

He Qing glanced at the row of staff members. It turned out they would each get one-on-one guidance. After a brief orientation, He Qing was taken by his instructor to the panda area.

“First, you need to learn to recognize the pandas. The one with round ears in front is A-Li, and next to him is his brother, A-Hui…”

He Qing listened closely, but then the instructor suddenly turned back to test him. “What’s the name of the one over there wrestling with the others?”

He Qing looked over. A bunch of pandas were piled on top of each other, black and white blurring together. They all looked exactly the same.

Hesitating, He Qing ventured, “I think it’s A-Li?”

The instructor patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry. After seeing them enough, you’ll be able to tell them apart. To the monkeys, we probably all look the same too.”

“Got it.” He Qing sighed and fingered his prayer beads. It was the first time he realized he had face blindness when it came to animals!

As they continued walking, He Qing spotted a big, lazy panda lounging on a chair, chewing on bamboo. “This one’s special.”

“Good eye,” the instructor laughed, placing some fresh bamboo on the table. “That’s Da Bai. He used to be wild and is popular because his movements are very human-like.”

Da Bai glanced at them sideways, threw away the bamboo husk in his hand, and grabbed a fresh stalk with an air of superiority.

He Qing stared at him for a moment. So this was Chi You’s former steed.

After feeding the panda, the instructor gave He Qing a full tour of the zoo, including peacocks, crocodiles, and more.

When they finished, the instructor checked the time and urged him to leave. “That’s all for today. You can head back.”

“Thank you—”

He hadn’t even finished speaking before the instructor hurried off, pushing the bamboo cart as if he were afraid He Qing would harm the pandas—or get harmed himself.

He Qing twirled his prayer beads with a sigh. Although he was an Omega, there was no way a panda could overpower him. He thought about it for a moment and decided to go check on Zhang Lin, who was feeding pigs, and Zhang Yi, who was dealing with geese.

Zhang Yi was being chased by a flock of large white geese. “Instructor! Why won’t they stop chasing me?!”

“Because you’re a stranger! And you’re holding their food!” the instructor shouted from the water’s edge.

“Then what should I do?”

“Drop the food and save yourself!”

Zhang Yi spun around and threw the feed on the ground, finally escaping and running back to the instructor. “They’re so aggressive.”

“They really are.” He Qing, who had been watching the whole thing, agreed.

Hearing a familiar voice, Zhang Yi looked up and saw He Qing standing by the fence. His temple throbbed. “You skipping work?”

“I’m off already.”

“…???” It’s only nine o’clock!

The two stared at each other for a moment before Zhang Yi turned to his instructor. “Sir, can I clock out?”

“No.” The instructor grinned. “Pandas and geese are different.”

“Oh.” Zhang Yi, resigned to his fate, held the feed bucket with a defeated expression.

He Qing smiled and said, “Good luck then, classmate. See you later.”

“He Qing! Are you mocking me?!” Zhang Yi growled through clenched teeth, ready to rush over and give him a beating. But the instructor grabbed him by the collar. “Think about your brother. He probably has it worse.”

“…Ugh, fine. Let’s get this over with. I want to finish up early and get back to class.” Zhang Yi mulled it over. Feeding geese wasn’t as bad as feeding pigs. Supposedly, pigs smelled awful when crowded together…

He Qing turned to check on Zhang Lin, his unfortunate comrade. Leaning on the fence, He Qing saw that Zhang Lin was much calmer than Zhang Yi.

After finishing with the pigs, Zhang Lin turned and looked at him. “You got time to waste?”

He Qing nodded. “I’ve already completed my work. Are you heading back to school this afternoon?”

“Yeah.” Zhang Lin answered slowly, one word at a time. “Why?”

He Qing smiled slightly. “I knew I could count on you, Zhang Lin.” He pulled out his school ID. “Would you mind clocking me in?”

Zhang Lin finally raised his eyebrows, giving him a serious look. “You’re planning to sneak off and do something else behind the general’s back? Why should I help you?” Clocking in would automatically send a notification to one’s guardian.

He Qing wiped the smile off his face. Zhang Lin was indeed sharper than Zhang Yi. “Then I’ll just ask Zhang Yi for help?”

Zhang Lin stared at him for a few moments, then extended his hand. “Toss it over.”

“Thanks, classmate!” He Qing beamed and immediately tossed his card down, just in case Zhang Lin changed his mind.

Catching the card, Zhang Lin asked, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll snitch to the general?”

He Qing clasped his hands together in a gesture of respect. “If you do, I’ll handle it. If you don’t, it’ll save me some trouble.”

Zhang Lin smirked and pocketed the card. “I hope the general uncovers your true self soon.”

“Amitabha.” He Qing didn’t argue, nodding gratefully before turning and leaving the zoo. He still had things to take care of in the afternoon.

His one-month deadline had arrived—it was time to return that egg.