AGN -Chapter 336 Qu Jing Has Been Quietly Working Hard All Along

That day, Zang Liang left work in shock—bordering on collapse.

Zheng Siyuan left work shocked as well, but lost in deep thought.

Tan Weian was also shocked… well, actually, there was nothing left for him to be shocked about. He simply left work carrying a bowl of crab roe mixed noodles.

Qin Huai appeared calm—so calm it almost looked like he was putting on an act. In reality, he wasn’t that calm; beneath the surface, there was still a trace of shock as he got off work.

Almost as soon as he stepped out of Yunzhong Canteen, Qin Huai turned back to take a glance, making sure Zheng Siyuan and the others were no longer within sight and that no one could read the expression on his face. Without hesitation, he pulled out his phone and opened the group chat [Loving Family].

Qin Huai: I seriously feel like I’m the protagonist of a system novel right now.

Qin Huai: Guys, this is honestly ridiculous—I actually have talent in thickening sauces (gouqian).

Qin Huai: When my talent kicks in, even I get scared.

Faced with Qin Huai’s shock, Luo Jun replied calmly and dismissively:

Luo Jun: So?

Seeing there was gossip to enjoy, Chen Huihong immediately started a group call.

“Chen Huihong, are you out of your mind? Is your neighborhood committee so idle these days? Why are you always starting video calls? Do you even realize I have things to do? I haven’t even finished my TV drama yet. Xiao Zhang, go buy some green plants!”

“Alright, Mr. Luo,” Zhang Shumei’s cheerful voice came through the phone. Qin Huai could practically picture her happily grabbing her bag and heading out to slack off.

Chen Huihong ignored Luo Jun completely. The moment Qin Huai joined the call, she eagerly asked, “Xiao Qin, what do you mean you have talent? What’s this ‘gouqian’? What even is that? How are you talented?”

Qin Huai: …

As expected, Sister Hong’s cooking skills never disappoint—in the worst way.

Qin Huai briefly explained what had happened that afternoon. During the explanation, Qu Jing also joined the group chat. Qin Huai focused especially on explaining the differences in thickening techniques, in case the three spirits didn’t understand where the difficulty lay.

Of course, much of what he said was simply repeating Zang Liang’s explanation from earlier—because before that afternoon, Qin Huai himself didn’t understand the difficulty either.

After listening, Chen Huihong didn’t react much. She just pretended to suddenly understand, nodding exaggeratedly—but her acting was terrible, completely unconvincing.

“Oh~”

Even her “realization” sounded fake.

“So Xiao Qin, what you mean is that those double-crab buns are about to be finished? And Yunzhong Canteen will stop selling crab roe noodles? We won’t be able to eat them anymore, and you’ll only sell buns from now on?”

“Luo Jun, did you hear that? Soon there’ll be no more crab roe noodles. Aren’t those your favorite? I’ve been asking you to come eat noodles in the afternoons these past few days, but you never came. Is that new spy drama really that good? Didn’t you only watch xianxia before?”

“It doesn’t take long to go out. You don’t have many years left—why not go out more while you can? Once you reincarnate, you’ll have to start over as a child. By then, you won’t get to do whatever you want.”

Hearing this, Qu Jing quickly chimed in, “That’s right, Mr. Luo. If you can go out, you really should. Getting fresh air and sunlight would be good for your health.”

“And if you have time, it would be even better if you could come to our hospital to finish your remaining physiotherapy sessions. Dr. Zhou from the rehab department asked me today when you’d be coming—you haven’t been here at all this month.”

“Physiotherapy requires persistence. You can’t just stop coming now that I’ve awakened. You only came before because you wanted to help me awaken and had Qin Huai get close to me. If that’s the case, I’d rather have awakened later.”

Facing the joint “attack” from Chen Huihong and Qu Jing, Luo Jun simply sneered coldly.

“Hmph, awaken later? If you’d awakened later and had Qin Huai try to get close to you then, the grass on your grave would already be two feet tall. The first one among us to reincarnate wouldn’t be me—it’d be someone else.”

Qin Huai: …

What kind of stimulus has Luo Jun been under lately?

He used to be sharp-tongued, but now he’s even worse—he even insults himself. And he keeps snorting and sneering. Has he secretly started watching domineering CEO romance dramas along with his spy shows?

Changed his taste?

Feeling like his time is running out, afraid he won’t be able to watch TV freely after reincarnation, so now he watches everything?

Thinking this, Qin Huai suddenly felt a bit guilty. He had been busy making pastries lately and hadn’t had time to visit Luo Jun. It had also been a long time since everyone gathered for their tea parties.

Of course, Qin Huai’s home never lacked fruit. Even without tea parties, Chen Huihong would regularly “borrow” some from Luo Jun’s house—and very thoughtfully bring portions for Qin Huai and Qu Jing as well.

Qin Huai asked with concern, “Mr. Luo, how has your health been recently? Is something wrong? If there is, you should really go to the hospital. Don’t avoid treatment—even if you really want to reincarnate, there’s no need to rush.”

“Sister Hong is right. If you reincarnate, you probably won’t be able to watch TV for at least a year or two.”

Luo Jun: …

He was very glad he had sent Zhang Shumei out earlier, because right now he really wanted to breathe fire through the phone and roast all three of them alive.

Luo Jun exploded, “Qin Huai, did Chen Huihong infect you with brain damage too?”

“Don’t think I won’t scold you just because your pastries taste good! Saying you’re the protagonist of a system novel—have you even read any? Which protagonist is like you?”

“What have you actually been doing? Completing tasks? Triggering missions? Have you contacted Gong Liang? Gotten closer to Wang Gensheng? Built favorability with An Youyou?”

“You think those three can be ignored just because it’s their final life? Do you think every spirit is like Qu Jing—brain not working from the very first life, ending up like this?”

“And you want to be a system novel protagonist? You don’t even have a girlfriend!”

Qin Huai: …

Well, you used to have one—but your girlfriend…

Forget it.

Still, who exactly irritated Luo Jun recently?

Qin Huai felt that Luo Jun never used to target him like this—now even he wasn’t spared.

So Qin Huai changed the subject: “Come to think of it, I haven’t contacted Mr. Gong for a while. But that’s hard to help—I’m not in Gusu, so naturally there’s less interaction, and it’s harder to trigger tasks.”

“And An Youyou clearly doesn’t have side quests. All her memories come from the main quest, and you all know how difficult those are—it’s impossible to complete them quickly.”

“So right now, I can either work on Old Master Wang’s task or improve my own skill panel. I’ve been doing both recently, but both are quite difficult and won’t be completed anytime soon.”

Qu Jing asked curiously, “Then have you been chatting with Youyou lately?”

“I added her on WeChat last time. We’ve been chatting quite a bit recently.”

The three of them: !!!

What? Qu Jing has been secretly working hard to build favorability with An Youyou?!

Qu Jing was still in her department office, wearing headphones. Although it seemed like she was the only one there at this hour, she still spoke cautiously in a very soft voice…

“Jingjing, what have you been talking about with An Youyou?” Chen Huihong asked curiously. “Xiao Qin has been having her deliver mung bean cakes and radish cakes to our neighborhood committee every day lately. I see her every day, but we barely exchange a few words.”

“That girl is always in a rush. The moment she drops off the cakes, she runs off immediately. I try to get her to sit down and have some water, but she won’t.”

“How did you even manage to talk to her?”

Qu Jing replied, “We just chat on WeChat.”

“She’s definitely very busy during work hours. She told me Qin Huai spoke with her recently and that she’ll be getting a promotion and a raise next month. She said she’s determined to work hard this month, put in overtime seriously, and not make a single mistake.”

“She even spent a few dozen yuan online buying pirated books like How to Be a Good Employee, Workplace Survival Guide, and 20 Tips for Communicating with Your Boss. You can tell she really loves working, values this promotion, and wants to earn money through her own efforts.”

Qu Jing’s words left even Luo Jun silent. For a moment, he stopped being sarcastic and even showed a slightly stunned expression, remarking in disbelief:

“A three-legged golden toad… wants to earn money through hard work?”

“Is she really a three-legged golden toad?”

Qu Jing could only smile and continued, “The reason I got closer to Youyou was because Qin Huai asked me to bring her to our hospital for a physical exam last time.”

“She had never had a check-up before, so I accompanied her the whole time. I even took her to our cafeteria and told her the meal was included in the exam package, so she didn’t have to pay.”

“That’s how we became familiar. Maybe it’s because during that meal, I told her my apartment is rented, and she asked me how much the rent was.”

“She also wants to rent a place in Yunzhong Community, but it’s too expensive. Her salary just can’t cover it. She’s actually quite interesting—she likes digital gadgets, pretty clothes, jewelry, traveling, dining out, and going to amusement parks. But because she doesn’t have money, she can’t do any of the things she likes.”

“She also likes going to work, because her salary allows her to do the things she enjoys.”

“Honestly, if Qin Huai hadn’t told me she’s a three-legged golden toad, I wouldn’t think she’s a spirit at all—let alone that kind. She’s the most human-like among all of us.”

“I think she’s quite happy every day, without many worries. Her only concern is not having enough money—but that’s also a very human kind of worry.”

“I can understand that a three-legged golden toad’s obsession usually relates to money, but as for her… I don’t really think she has any particular obsession.” Qu Jing showed a puzzled, almost bird-like expression.

“I actually think Mr. Luo’s previous suggestion might have had some issues. Even if she does have an attachment to money, I think she’d rather earn it through her own efforts than receive it effortlessly. Of course she’d be happy if a windfall fell from the sky, but that might not necessarily help her awaken.”

Qin Huai finally understood—while he had been motivating An Youyou to work harder, Qu Jing had quietly become best friends with her.

Close enough to analyze her inner world.

Now that they were discussing something serious, Luo Jun stopped being sarcastic. He frowned, listened carefully to Qu Jing, thought for quite a while, and then reluctantly nodded in agreement.

“Alright. I was wrong last time.”

That single sentence shocked the other three again.

Luo Jun actually admitted he was wrong.

In Qin Huai’s eyes, Luo Jun was the kind of person who would rather jump off a building and reincarnate immediately than admit fault. Stubbornness and refusing to admit mistakes were practically his trademarks. Even when it came to memories involving Liu Tao, he would show emotional fluctuations but never verbally admit he was wrong.

Hearing “I was wrong” from Luo Jun felt like something out of science fiction.

“Mr. Luo, you…” Qin Huai didn’t know what to say for a moment. After thinking for two seconds, he decisively opened his system panel to check Luo Jun’s current status.

Still: about to lose his memory.

Alright—no change there.

“What are you looking at? Do I look like someone who refuses to admit mistakes no matter what?” Luo Jun said irritably. “Do you think I don’t know how to apologize?”

Chen Huihong said faintly, “Well, you’re not even human.”

“Chen Huihong, maybe you should stop chatting so much with that Chen Gong lately. Have you been talking to him too much? Your words are getting sharper.”

Chen Huihong replied, “It’s not that bad. Xiao Chen has been really busy lately—he rarely has time to chat.”

“But chatting with him is actually pretty interesting. He’s been an assistant for so many years and has been to many places. He recommended several good travel destinations for taking Huihui out during summer and winter holidays.”

“Jingjing, if you have time, you should come with us. I think your hospital also gives annual leave, right?”

Qu Jing nodded. “Okay, Sister Hong. If I can take leave, I’ll go with you.”

Speaking of Chen Gong, Qu Jing added, “Actually, it was Assistant Chen who suggested that I chat with Youyou on WeChat. He said that as an ordinary worker, she probably doesn’t have the energy to socialize during work hours, and after work she’s unlikely to go out.”

“Since she’s also financially tight, she probably stays at home during her free time. So offline interaction would be difficult, but online communication is a good entry point. I tried what he suggested, and sure enough, Youyou is very willing to chat with me on WeChat.”

“But Assistant Chen seems very busy lately and doesn’t have much time to respond to me. Sometimes when I don’t know how to handle something while chatting with Youyou, he can’t reply immediately.”

Qin Huai said, “He’s probably just busy with work. He’s President Han’s assistant—if President Han is busy, he’ll be even busier.”

“Look, we’ve been on this video call for so long, and he hasn’t joined. Last time, he was still listening while working on spreadsheets.”

Qu Jing nodded. “That makes sense. His work is much busier than ours as doctors.”

After chatting a bit more, they finally ended the call.

At Luo Jun’s home, the moment he hung up, he glanced at the tablet on the coffee table. On its screen was clearly a video call between Luo Jun’s alternate WeChat account and Chen Gong.

Chen Gong was facing his computer, typing up a report.

“Mr. Luo, you really should consider my advice,” Chen Gong said, eyes fixed on the screen, fingers tapping on the keyboard. “Everyone is concerned about your health, including Chef Qin.”

“I know you haven’t won a single argument against me lately, so your temper hasn’t been great. But you need to learn to control it.”

“Even if you’re a Bifang, having too much temper will still harm your health.”

“Just now, you even scolded Chef Qin when you lost your temper. From his voice, he sounded quite surprised.”

“Hmph.” Luo Jun snorted coldly and hung up the call.