Don’t Discriminate Against Species

Chapter 20 - Environmental Protection Incident

The news of someone picking up all the rubbish at the beach in one night very quickly created a sensation. It had originally just been reported on by the local media as a novel incident, but for some reason, it attracted the attention of many when it was circulated on the internet. Some busybodies even specially went to interview residents living near the beach. These residents confirmed the incident – it was not fake news fabricated by the local television station in order to promote themselves but had truly occurred.

After the incident’s authenticity was confirmed, a netizen with a large brain hole suggested that this could have been caused by a yaoguai from the sea who could no longer tolerate humans throwing trash into the sea and thus warned these silly humans.

There was even someone who suggested that it was a performance sneakily put up by an environmental protection organization. When the incident caused a commotion, it would then raise the overall level of awareness of the need to protect the environment.

However, how could the mediocre guess that was the second suggestion be compatible with the netizens’ mentality of wanting to watch a show without any concern for how big a ruckus that was caused? They had already gotten to the bottom of the matter and were deliberating whether it was done by a dolphin spirit or shark spirit, with both sides throwing out multiple scientific papers.

In the end, it was the dolphin with the more pleasing appearance and who was by nature more intimate with humans, who led the vote count the entire way.

“Is there something wrong with them? They’re using scientific papers to campaign for votes for nonexistent yao. All they’re doing is joining in on the fun yet they’re treating it with so much authenticity. How bored are the netizens nowadays?” Zhang Ke finished reading the various remarks on the internet and turned to speak to Chu Yu, “Yu ge, was this really done by you fishes?”

“I am a freshwater fish. I’m not in the same group as the saltwater fishes,” Chu Yu patted the folder in his hands and side-eyed Zhang Ke. “Both you and the monkey are primates, but are the both of you the same?”

“Yu ge, I was wrong!” Zhang Ke felt that his mouth was really terrible. How could he have forgotten that many living creatures had a tendency to dislike outsiders. This Daoist fish even disliked a Buddhist freshwater fish, let alone those of the saltwater variety.

Xu Yuan covered her face with <Cultivation World’s Handbook of Rules> to conceal the scoffing smile on her face. Only when Zhang Ke and Chu Yu shot a glare at her did she sit up straight and cough dryly, putting on an act. “It’s best that we investigate this matter as soon as possible. If it was really done by a yao cultivator, we’ll have to give that person a warning.”

Appealing for everyone to protect the environment was the right thing to do, but doing it in such a way and so suddenly was still a little frightening.

“There’s no need to search anymore,” Zhuang Qing pushed open the door and walked in. He glanced at the news channel that was currently being broadcast on the computer. The host of the channel was describing just how large and tall the mountain of trash was in a very exaggerated tone of voice, as well as how clean the surrounding beach was. The camera even zoomed in multiple times on the sign stating ‘everyone has a responsibility to protect the environment’.

“Boss,” Chu Yu went up to welcome him, using his sleeves to wipe a chair. “You’re here? Please sit.”

Creatures of the water clan had an innate reverence for the dragon clan. Therefore, even though the current society was one where humans and yao were equal, Chu Yu still subconsciously kissed up to Zhuang Qing when faced with him. Xu Yuan and the rest had long seen grown used to Chu Yu’s behavior and were too lazy to offer any superfluous expressions.

“Boss, do you know what’s going on with this matter about a water yao cherishing the environment?” Xu Yuan was a little curious. She pressed the pause button and the scene on the computer stopped on the sign stating ‘everyone has a responsibility to protect the environment’.

“I was at the beach the night before yesterday.”

“You were the one who did this?” Xu Yuan looked at the sign incredulously. Boss’ handwriting had always been beautiful and elegant. These words… Did he write them using his toes?

Zhuang Qing glanced at Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan shrank her neck back. Did she say something wrong?

“Arrange for the publicity department to handle this matter,” Zhuang Qing sighed. “It’s been hard on everyone the past two days. Tidy up the accounts; I’ll be submitting the accounts to the higher-ups.”

“Sure,” Xu Yuan was brimming with vitality the next instance. Every time Boss went to submit the accounts, allowance would be sent down to them. Thus, Xu Yuan swiftly fished out the various financial bills and prepared to shove all of them to the finance department later on.

“Chu Yu, how many application forms are there this recruitment?” Zhuang Qing flipped through the applicant list and saw Fu Li’s name in a single glance.

“Boss, we’ve already received more than two thousand forms from all over the country. There are a total of 1656 human cultivators, 302 yao cultivators, and more than a hundred ghost cultivators.”

“What are the ghost cultivators doing running over to our side instead of finding work in the underworld?” Old Huang heaved a sigh. Sure enough, their yao clan was in decline. The number of yao applicants wasn’t even one-fifth of the human cultivators.

“The underworld emphasizes data management or something now; they don’t need much manpower. Besides, who doesn’t want to join this place of ours? What if they manage to enter?” Chu Yu was extremely pleased that he had managed to join the bureau. Unlike certain fishes who wasted several decades trying to no avail.

Zhuang Qing put down the name list and got up to return to his office.

“What did Boss come here for?” Zhang Ke stretched out his neck and stealthily peeked over. Only after confirming that Zhuang Qing had already left did he ask a colleague, “Was it just to ask about recruitment?” But during the past few years, when had Boss ever cared about it?

It wasn’t like nobody had ever tried to get the boss to open the back door during the past few years, but… nobody had ever succeeded.

“Ai, look, there’s a new development on the environmental protection incident,” A colleague seated at another side was pointing at the computer. “Our capital even made an appearance.”

There was a river in the western suburbs of the capital, of which a certain section was particularly dirty. Although a considerable amount of money had been poured into cleaning it every year, there still remained people who threw their rubbish into the river. However, all the trash at the bottom of the river had now been returned to shore. Moreover, a sign had once again been erected at the corner. The words were still as crooked as ever.

“This doesn’t seem like something Boss would do.” Chu Yu glanced at the new video and said with certainty, “Boss isn’t this idle.”

“You mean to say that the boss is covering up for someone else?” Zhang Ke asked.

The moment this question of his was uttered, all the living creatures in the room revealed a shocked expression, as if Zhang Ke had said something extremely scary. The atmosphere became incomparably awkward and quiet.

Zhang Ke twisted his head and looked around before laughing dryly. “What did I just say?”

“Nothing, hahaha.”

At the front counter of Affinity Moon Hotel, there weren’t many customers who did the check-in procedures in the depths of the night, so the security guards as well as the people manning the front counter were all a little tired. The front-counter lady stuffed two dried plums into her mouth to raise her spirits. She watched Fu Li spray the money tree at the main entrance with water from a spray bottle. “Fu Li, do you want some?”

“What is this?” Fu Li put down the spray bottle and glanced curiously at the thing in the front-counter lady’s hand.

“Dried plums.”

Fu Li tried one and his brows furrowed till they formed a clump. This appearance of his incited a few laughs from the few girls at the front counter. A handsome-looking person would still remain good-looking even if they furrowed their brows and made faces. Fu Li never once commented about the effects of their snack-eating, so they were most fond of sharing their snacks with him.

“So sour,” Fu Li covered his face. Seeing the happy looks of the few human girls, he realized that human females were extremely casual when it came to eating. They would occasionally eat sweet things, occasionally eat sour things, and occasionally eat spicy things; their tastes in food were too complicated.

“You’re on the night shift today?” The front-counter lady who gave him the dried plum glanced at the traditional court clock hanging on the wall. It was almost twelve o’clock – the time when Fu Li should be getting off work. Yet, the person taking over from him hadn’t arrived.

“En,” Fu Li nodded.

The sound of chatter echoed from the main entrance. A fashionably dressed man wearing a mask walked in with a middle-aged man. The middle-aged man was holding onto some things, his pace hurried.

“Come here,” The middle-aged man pointed at Fu Li. “Help us bring our luggage up.”

“All right, mister.”

Fu Li took the suitcase from the middle-aged man, effortlessly lifting it up with one hand. Seeing his relaxed movements, the middle-aged man stared blankly for a moment and didn’t say anything more.

After finishing the procedures, the two people walked towards the lift. Fu Li followed behind them with the suitcase.

The fashionable man removed his sunglasses, glanced back at Fu Li, and spoke to the middle-aged man, “On what basis is that She Weilong the lead actor? Such a sharp chin and large eyes. Someone who didn’t know any better would think that he’s a snake spirit who debuted. When I was the first male lead, he wasn’t even fit to put the heels of my shoes on my feet.”

“Yi ge, cool your temper,” The manager looked back at Fu Li. “We can talk more in the room.”

The fashionable man called Yi ge glanced back at Fu Li and snorted coldly. “Even a hotel’s security guard is better looking than him. With those morals and conduct, how does he have the nerve to pressure others using his looks. Such utter shamelessness.”

The manager gave two dry laughs. The moment the lift came to a step, he took out two large bills from his wallet and stuffed it into Fu Li’s hands as a tip. Hopefully, the other party would keep his mouth tightly shut and not leak out his artist’s brainless remarks.

“Hey, isn’t this teacher Yi?” A young man wearing a purple top walked over from the other side of the corridor. His eyes were large, his chin sharp, and even the way he walked gave off a subtle seductive allure. “Why didn’t you bring a few more assistants?”

“Teacher She must be joking. I’m responding to the call of my country and leading a simple life of hard work,” Yi ge turned and snatched the suitcase from Fu Li’s hands. He strode into his room and closed the door heavily in front of She Weilong.

When Yi ge and his manager left, the smile on She Weilong’s face disappeared. He raised his chin and shot a glance at Fu Li. Pinching his nose, he took a few steps back. “Stay away from me.” He most disliked humans who frequently carted heavy things; their bodies were constantly covered in stinky sweat.

Fu Li silently looked at this snake yao. Snakes didn’t breathe through their noses, so what was he doing pinching his nose?

Putting on artificial airs and play-acting – who knew where he had learnt these bad habits?

He stuffed the tip from the manager into his pocket and said unhurriedly, “Close your mouth a little tighter if you don’t want to smell anything. What use is there in pinching your nose?” He had already sent the previous not-so-sensible python to the zoo to turn over a new leaf.

A hint of embarrassment appeared on She Weilong’s face. He was a fellow yao? He was a yao cultivator with such good looks, yet he still ran over to the hotel to be a security guard. What breed of yao was he, was his level of intellect not very high?

Just as he was thinking this, the lift doors opened once more. The person who walked out caused She Weilong to take three steps back on reflex.

Could the bureau have found out that he used a bewitching spell to snatch the role of male lead in a television drama?

Was this offence so huge that even the boss of the bureau had to personally step out?

T/N: It’s my translation anniversary, so here’s an extra chapter to celebrate~ here’s to more pit digging &#k1U389;