On the Ark.

"Are you misunderstanding something?" The bunny-eared girl closed the book and said calmly, "I am Ansel. Nearl sent you to find me, right?"

Lin Ye was genuinely bewildered. It took him quite some time to come up with an incredibly unbelievable conclusion.

"Um..." Lin Ye slowly turned around, looking at Ansel sitting on the bed, his cheek twitching slightly, "If I may ask, are you... a boy?"

Ansel crossed his legs and said somewhat displeasedly, "Of course I'm a man, can't you even tell?"

Lin Ye: "..."

It's obvious there's something fishy going on here! You're prettier than Nearl, more womanly than Nearl... oh, sorry, Nearl doesn't look like a woman... and you're saying you're a man?! That's ridiculous! So, what's in front of him isn't some bunny-eared girl at all, but... a bunny-man?

Lin Ye felt his heart pounding like it was on a rollercoaster. If his heart condition hadn't improved by now, he'd probably be meeting God, Allah, and Buddha by now.

Ansel put the book aside, got out of bed, and walked towards Lin Ye.

He was a head shorter than Lin Ye, probably only about 1.6 meters tall, which is also the most suitable height for girls.

“Ansel, a member of Rhodes Island Operations Reserve Team A4.” Ansel extended his hand to Lin Ye, “and is also an intern in the medical team.”

Lin Ye immediately put down his luggage and shook hands with Ansel.

Ansel's hands were as soft and clean as a girl's hands, and her fingers were very slender.

So Lin Ye couldn't help but ask, "Are you really a boy?"

Ansel said calmly, "Want me to take off my pants and show you?"

“No, no need.” Lin Ye looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry for offending you before. My name is Lin Ye, I’m from Chernobog, and I used to work as a… veterinarian.”

The two let go of each other's hands.

Ansel nodded: "Yes, I've heard Nearl mention you."

"...I don't think Lin Guang thinks very highly of me." Lin Ye chuckled awkwardly.

Ansel shook his head: "No, she said you are a very courageous person."

This surprised Lin Ye: "Really? I thought she hated me."

“That’s not contradictory. Lin Guang said you’re a very courageous person, but you can be a little annoying.”

Lin Ye: "..."

“But in my opinion, you’re probably not a bad person.” Ansel returned to his bed, picked up the book he had put down earlier, and turned the pages. “I’ll be your roommate until you pass the job entrance exam. And after you pass the exam, we might continue to be roommates, if neither of us dislikes the other.”

Lin Ye didn't know how to respond to Ansel's words. He stood there for a while before packing his luggage at Ansel's prompting.

"You can sleep in that bed," Ansel said, pointing to the empty bed against the wall. "By the way, do you have any bad sleeping habits?"

"Bad habits refer to..."

"Sleep talking, snoring, or teeth grinding, etc."

Lin Ye shook his head repeatedly: "No, absolutely not."

"That's good." Ansel nodded, then lay down and turned off the light. "I'm going to sleep now. Goodnight."

Lin Ye sat on the bed, completely bewildered.

What's going on? I haven't even showered or brushed my teeth yet.

However, he was too embarrassed to ask Ansel to turn on the light, so he could only make do and go to sleep.

As Lin Ye lay in bed, he thought to himself.

Rhodes Island, what a dream day.

I hope I'll wake up and find that this isn't a dream.

Lin Ye thought to himself, then closed his eyes.

But he couldn't fall asleep.

Because the sound of teeth grinding came from the bed next door.

Chapter Twenty: Time Waits for No One

When Lin Ye opened his eyes, he saw Shining standing by his bedside, saying in a serious tone, "Hello, Panda."

He blinked, feeling dizzy and not quite clear-headed.

The sun had already risen, and warm sunlight streamed in through the window. Shining stood in the sunlight, her graceful figure casting a beautiful reflection on the wall.

"Uh..." Lin Ye rubbed his head and struggled to sit up in bed. "Is it already dawn? What time is it?"

"Ten o'clock," Shining said calmly. "Did you always wake up at this time when you were in Chernobog?"

“No, how could that be? We start work at eight o’clock.” Lin Ye sighed. “I know what you’re trying to say. You think I don’t want to get up early? If it weren’t for grinding my teeth… I mean, my teeth hurt a bit last night, so I couldn’t sleep.”

After thinking it over, Lin Ye decided it was better not to expose her roommate's quirks; it would only make things awkward if word got out.

"Where's Ansel?" Lin Ye looked around but didn't find Ansel in the dormitory. He only noticed that the bedding on Ansel's bed was neatly folded, and immediately understood. "Is he already up?"

“Rhodes Island doesn’t have strict clock-in times,” Shining said, “but we usually get up early because there’s a lot to do, especially for Ansel, who is still interning in the medical team.”

“I remember you were also in the medical team.”

“Well, but I don’t have anything left to learn,” Shining said. “Unless something really difficult happens, they won’t need me.”

"Okay." Lin Ye didn't want to ask what constituted a troublesome matter, but simply asked, "What should I do today?"

"Pre-employment testing".

Lin Ye was somewhat surprised: "But didn't you say before that Amiya and the Doctor hadn't returned yet?"

“They’re just in charge of the final signature,” Shining said, glancing up at the wall clock. “Instead of asking so many questions, let’s get up quickly; we only have less than twenty minutes left.”

Lin Ye was shocked and immediately got out of bed. After all, this was a big deal concerning his job application. He rushed to the bathroom to wash up.

While washing up, he was taken aback to find the sink piled high with cosmetics such as facial cleansers, as these were all women's products.

Ansel claims to be a man, so why does he need to take off his pants to prove it, and why is he using women's cosmetics?

Lin Ye pondered for a moment.

I should have made him prove himself last night.

He finished washing up in three minutes, changed his clothes in another minute, and five minutes later, he and Shining were waiting for the elevator.

"Will I be interviewed?" Lin Ye was still very nervous, so he asked Shanling, "Is my outfit okay?"

Shining gave Lin Ye a strange look: "I have absolutely no idea what you're thinking."

Lin Ye chuckled awkwardly. To be honest, it was a bit embarrassing for a grown man like him to be so nervous in front of Shining. But there was nothing he could do; it was like a college graduate entering the workforce, always worrying about whether the interviewer would be easy to talk to, especially on the first interview. Of course, this feeling would lessen with more experience, but unfortunately, Lin Ye didn't have much of that experience in his previous life, because he died suddenly before graduating from university.

The only time he ever did this was in high school, during a summer job interview at a bakery. He was fully prepared then, and his self-introduction alone lasted a full five minutes, leaving the other applicants stunned. The boss was also very impressed with Lin Ye, immediately slapping his thigh and saying, "Lin Ye, you're exactly the kind of person our bakery needs! We need someone like you to attract customers!"

Lin Ye was very pleased, thinking that his boss was indeed a discerning judge of talent.

Then he watched as the shop owner tossed him a Kumamon plush toy, and for the rest of the summer he dressed up as Kumamon and acted as the shop's mascot.

In any case, it was not a pleasant experience.

So Lin Ye was still nervous, and when he was nervous, he wanted to ask all sorts of questions: "Speaking of Ansel..."

"Ok?"

"Is he really a boy?"

"Of course, can't you see that?" Shining looked at Lin Ye with a "you must be stupid" gaze. "It's obvious, isn't it?"

"...But I just saw that the restroom was full of women's cosmetics. Did they belong to other people?"

"No, that's Ansel's."

Lin Ye opened his mouth, but suddenly didn't know what to say.

Just then, the elevator arrived with a "ding." After the two entered the elevator, Shining said to Lin Ye, "They were all gifts from others to Ansel."

"other people?"

“Yeah, those men who confessed their feelings to him,” Shining said. “Ansel isn’t just part of the operational reserve and medical teams; he also occasionally serves as Rhodes Island’s diplomat, and he’s the most popular one at that. Every time he goes out to negotiate cooperation with others, he gets confessed to by a bunch of men and receives a lot of gifts. Isn’t that strange?”

Lin Ye fell silent.

After exiting the elevator, Shining noticeably quickened her pace: "Hurry up, we only have five minutes left."

"Oh, oh." Lin Ye quickened his pace to catch up with Shanling.

Shining led Lin Ye through a maze of twists and turns in the corridors until they reached a large hall, where the two of them slowed their pace.

"Is this where I'm having my interview?" Lin Ye looked around and clicked his tongue. "This place is huge! How many interviewers are there?"

Shining didn't answer, but instead led Lin Ye to a shop window.

Ok?

Shop window?

Lin Ye sensed something was wrong. He turned to the side and saw that the person in the shop window was a chef wearing a white hat.

Wait... isn't this the cafeteria?

Why is the job interview being held in the cafeteria?

Before Lin Ye could figure it out, he heard Shanling speak up: "Hello, I'd like three pineapple buns."

The chef said, "Okay, there are three left. Good thing you came early, I would have been off work in two minutes."

Lin Ye: "..."

Three minutes later, Lin Ye and Shining stood under the signboard of "Rhodes Island Dining Hall".

"When you told me you didn't have time, was that what you meant?" Lin Ye looked at the pineapple bun in Shan Ling's hand and didn't know what to say.

"Yeah, the kitchen stops selling breakfast at 11 o'clock, so if we don't hurry, we won't have time." Shining handed Lin Ye a pineapple bun. "Eat this, then go to your interview."

"Oh, okay." Lin Ye took it. "Thank you. Do you want to save one for Lin Guang?"

Shining shook her head: "Nearlight doesn't like this, and she got up early and has already eaten."

"...Is that so?"

Shining turned and left, then waved her hand: "The reception room is in 3A. Go there and find someone named Zilan. She will give you the onboarding test."

"Ah... okay, I understand." Lin Ye looked at Shining's retreating figure, paused for a moment, and then said, "I hope I have the chance to help that child named Nightingale, really."