Growing Flowers and Vegetables on the Clock

The Logistics and Support Division of the Bureau of Monster Management was famous as a cushy department where people could coast toward retirement. When Wang Ning first joined, she saw that the rooftop was just a concrete slab with two rusty benches. It got full sun all day, had no buildings blocking it, and even had a faucet in the corner for washing mops. Her inner gardener stirred. Whenever she had some free time at work, she began bringing plants from home to a corner of the rooftop. Fruit trees that wouldn't fit at home went on the roof, too, and she started a little vegetable garden up there. She swore that, at first, all she wanted was that little corner. Who could have guessed that within just a few years, the rooftop would become the Bureau of Monster Management's favorite place to slack off and check in? One sunny day, after waiting all winter and spring for the division's white jade loquats to ripen, the Logistics Division suffered a disaster. Every last one was gone, and all they found at the scene were a few tufts of fur. The whole division wailed in despair. Who stole the first ripe white jade loquats our department ever grew?! Deputy Division Chief Zhou put down her crochet hook and slapped the table. "Pull up the surveillance footage! Now!" Xiao Zhang eagerly cracked his knuckles and started typing. In the end, the footage showed the short, stocky figure of the head of the Human-Monster Investigation Office. That day, Wang Ning learned what a truly cushy department looked like. All eighteen people from the Logistics Division crowded into the Investigation Office chief's room and cursed him out. Led by Xiao Zhang, their resident firebrand, they kept it up for a full half hour, blocking the chief from even getting out of his office. That was also the first time Wang Ning met Shu Yang. At the time, the two were at loggerheads: one was the caretaker of the white jade loquats, the other was the chief's lackey who'd stolen them. When she found out he was a wolf in his true form, Wang Ning, who was allergic to animal fur, looked at him with great disdain. "So, do you transform on the night of the full moon?" Shu Yang tugged at the corner of his mouth and couldn't be bothered to answer. Who would have thought that the two people who couldn't stand each other would end up falling in love without a shred of shame? As time passed, the full moon had barely any effect on adult wolves. But that didn't stop him from devouring her at night. :) Her colleagues all called her Little Wang, so Shu Yang followed suit and called her that, too. Wang Ning: "It'd sound more affectionate if you dropped the 'Little.'" Shu Yang: "Wang...?" Wang Ning: "Exactly. That's the feeling." Shu Yang: "???" A preview: Catch Demons, probably my next story. If you're interested, sisters, visit my column and save it! Lu Xi, senior sister of the Junliu Mountain sect, could crush a demon emperor's arm with her bare hands. She was the trusted protégé and right-hand woman of a thousand-year-old great demon, a cultivation prodigy who appeared once in a millennium. That was how people outside saw Lu Xi. After going from a secluded life to joining the world, she held fast to her principles after coming down the mountain, until one day, her resolve wavered. She lost her enthusiasm for work, too, and left demon-catching to her colleagues. On the day she submitted her transfer request, the famous Demon Emperor drove a luxury car to wait for her outside the Bureau of Monster Management at the foot of Banzhou Mountain. To celebrate her transfer, he even booked an entire French restaurant. Lu Xi rubbed her temples. "I'm not going out on field assignments anymore. Why are you still being so attentive?" Demon Emperor: "Perhaps you've heard of a little thing called courtship?" Lu Xi: "Don't mess around." Demon Emperor: "I have no criminal record, no bad habits, and no partner. I'm a good demon with none of those three strikes. Why can't I pursue you?" She and the Demon Emperor Hui Li had been childhood friends. She had always treated him like a younger brother, teaching him from a young age to obey the law, respect his elders, care for the young, and be a good demon. Under her guidance, a generation's Demon Emperor had become extremely mild-mannered and well-behaved. The one thing he wouldn't do was act like a younger brother. He spent all day thinking about taking her place. On the second day after Lu Xi transferred, the Field Operations Division, as helpless as if they'd lost a limb, came to wail outside her desk. "Senior Sister! Sixth Junior Brother's been kidnapped by a demon again!" Lu Xi: "Take it to one of our other colleagues. If all else fails, call for backup..." "Senior Sister! If you don't go, Old Six is going to have his essence drained!" Lu Xi: "I've transferred to the Logistics Division. This isn't allowed under the rules..." A special transfer order was slapped down on the desk. Lu Xi: "..." Her transfer had been for nothing. Theme: Farming really is the best.