Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Work
With information flashing through his mind, Wang Zijia gave a somewhat candid smile and said, "Good morning, Madam Wang. I couldn't sleep, so I got up early."
As she continued to clean up, Wang Dan replied, "Is it time for you to switch shifts again, sir? Hasn't it been less than ten days since you moved to the day shift?"
"No, I'm not changing shifts. Last night, I was a bit hungry and wanted to make something to eat in the kitchen, but it turned into this mess. Sorry for the trouble, Madam Wang." Wang Zijia said a bit sheepishly with a smile.
"Oh, there's no need to be so polite, sir. It's just a few bowls and chopsticks." Wang Dan's words held a sense of relentlessness as she went into the kitchen and started to clean up while saying, "You're indeed at the age where you should eat more. I'll make sure to leave some pancakes for you."
"Thank you, Madam Wang!" Wang Zijia responded, then went back to his room to tidy up. Later, he came to the center of the courtyard, under a massive ancient peach tree, positioned himself and started practicing martial arts.
This was a habit of his predecessor, practiced daily.
While practicing, Wang Zijia discreetly observed the nanny, Wang Dan. She was consistently busy, extremely diligent, and meticulous.
Of course, if she wasn't diligent, she wouldn't have been working for them for nearly ten years.
After observing for quite a while, Wang Zijia ruled out any problems for the time being, putting his worries aside.
In a while, after finishing her tasks, Wang Dan hurriedly left, likely to do other jobs. After all, it's quite challenging for ordinary people to settle in Wanyu Immortal City.
Wang Zijia finished his breakfast but didn't continue practicing martial arts.
After the nanny left, he started to roam around the courtyard, during which the memories of his predecessor surfaced in his mind.
It wasn't until around 8:30 a.m that Wang Zijia tidied up, went to the secret room to grab a handful of jade currency, wore his work clothes, and headed out.
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The neighborhood where he lived was considered a wealthy area. The streets were clean, and the residents were sophisticated.
Multiple pavilions and stores were open amongst the pavilions and lofts in the vicinity, full of life. Wang Zijia deeply felt how utterly different the world had become.
He hailed a horse carriage at the corner of the street and headed towards the city center.
The horse carriage dropped him off a few blocks away from his workplace at the city center.
Because the block up ahead was a place hard for ordinary people to enter. If Wang Zijia wasn't working, even as an Immortal Second Generation, he wouldn't be able to gain entry without his father's presence.
After paying some silver, he got off the carriage and entered the core area of Wanyu City.
As soon as he entered, he could clearly sense the difference from other regions.
On the side of the street, the buildings were no longer uniformly antient-style wooden buildings. Despite there being a lot of pavilions, besides wooden structures, there were also oddly shaped stone buildings, and even stores that grew directly from trees.
Even in daylight, numerous stores had their own spiritual lights flickering, somewhat akin to neon lights from a previous life, but quite distinguishable as well.
It appeared less scientific, and more fantastical. Despite being rich in the atmosphere of the Immortal family, it didn't lack the worldly and mundane air, exuding exotic vibes.
Although he had the memories of his predecessor, they weren't his own after all. Therefore, everything made Wang Zijia feel a kind of familiar strangeness, filled with novelty.
After a while, Wang Zijia arrived at the most central and bustling street of Wanyu City. He stopped in front of a huge pavilion.
The pavilion was seven stories tall with a height of more than thirty meters, making it one of the tallest buildings in the Fairy City.
The entire pavilion was pristine white, giving off the impression that it was sculpted and polished from a single piece of premium marble.
Describing it as a jade fence wouldn't be an exaggeration.
A plaque hung over the entrance of the pavilion, on which three words were inscribed: Wanyu Pavilion!
This was where he worked, one of the best stores in Wanyu Immortal City, an enterprise belonging to the Wanyu Sect's Outer Sect.
If one wanted to work here, they couldn't be an ordinary person without any qualifications.
With Wang Zijia's status, theoretically, he could succeed the position, but it didn't mean he could inherit it. Being able to work here, besides the remaining goodwill for his father, was largely because he had selflessly handed his father's corpse to the Sect. This allowed him to obtain the least profitable job.
Lost in thought, Wang Zijia bypassed the front door and headed towards the back door.
Wanyu Pavilion sold a wide range of items, such as talismans, elixirs, spiritual materials, magic tools, etc. It can be considered a mega-mall for the Cultivation World.
Positions like hosts, salespersons, receptionists, tea servers, and others that could directly interact with cultivators and potentially get tipped off were not eligible for ordinary people.
Almost all of them were Sect Servants, those who reached the age for foreign assignments and were directly appointed here.
And people like Wang Zijia, the second generation of Sect Servants, were concentrated mainly in one department.
Warehouse Management Department!
Additionally, there were specialized people responsible for inventory registration.
What they did was, every hour, they went to the front store to receive the replenishment list, and replenished the stock.
They also went to the appraisal and procurement room to collect the goods purchased by various adults. After recording, they stocked them in the warehouse.
They also helped various guest elders extract relevant spiritual materials and recorded the various finished products they submitted into the warehouse, etc.
Of course, with such a large place, it wasn't possible for him alone to handle it. What he was mainly responsible for was the warehouse management of the first floor talisman and charm area.
Specifically speaking, it was akin to a warehouse worker in a mega-mall from his previous life, responsible for hauling goods.
Since he wasn't responsible for registration clerical works, and was only a porter, there was hardly any perks for him, only the fixed salary, one magic money per month.
He worked for four hours a day, on a three-shift system, changing shifts every month.
Overall, it was a very relaxed job.
After all, it wasn't a large supermarket like in his previous life, requiring him to haul rice, flour, and oil. What he needed to move were mostly ordinary or exquisite jade boxes, most of which contained sheets of talismans.
The work was easy, the hours were ample, and though there weren't any related benefits of official status, at least it was a properly organized job. It was a standard retirement job, suitable for a laid-back lifestyle.
A job you could do while laying down, till the end of the universe!
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"Morning!"
"Morning!"
Wang Zijia entered from the back door, greeted his workmates who were also on duty, and they nodded back.
Following the habits of the previous owner of his body, he began his work without any abnormality, receiving the goods for registration, then putting them in the warehouse, and going to the front hall on time, waiting for the restocking list.
This kind of no-brainer job, coupled with the memory of the previous owner, was no challenge at all for Wang Zijia.
Time flew by, and it was lunchtime. Most of the disciples in the Wanyu Pavilion ate in the cafeteria. When the seven floors were added up, there were hundreds of workers and handymen.
Therefore, very scientifically, they adopted the system of eating in batches.
When it was time, Wang Zijia and the warehouse keepers from the other areas left the warehouse and came to the cafeteria to queue for food.
For a moment, he had the feeling of slacking off at work in his previous life.
He had traveled to another world, and yet it seemed as if he hadn't!
During the food serving, everyone ignored the many windows because they could take freely.
However, there was one window that had a dedicated server, and everyone cared about the things here.
"Thank you, old man, if your hand shakes any more, I'll only have half a bowl of porridge left in my bowl!"
"You oldie, always trying to take advantage of the sect, everyone's spirit food is a fixed amount, if I give you more, someone else will get less, who do you want me to shortchange?"
"Bullshit, the cafeteria doesn't care about the quantity, they eat until grease is dripping down their mouths."
"Enough is enough, if the senior brothers inside hear you, you'll get it."
"······"
In the line, each elder, shameless or flattering, was familiar with the old man at this window. They all wanted to serve a bit more.
When it was finally Wang Zijia's turn, he silently picked up his bowl. The old man serving the food looked at him, paused for a moment, and without a word, served him an extra half spoonful.
"Thank you, old man!"
Like his predecessor, Wang Zijia blushed slightly and lowered his head to say thanks. As he walked away, none of the other warehouse elders said a word.
Wang Zijia arrived at his seat and looked at the food in front of him.
Nevermind the rest, the main food was actually this bowl of slightly yellowish pale green porridge.
This is one of the job benefits, a kind of spirit food supplied by the sect, well... kind of spirit food.
The main ingredient is the Spirit Rice Seedlings grown by the sect's Spirit Farmers. Yes, it's not Spirit Rice, that is only for Outer Sect disciples' quota.
After the harvest of Spirit Rice, the remaining rice seedlings are mostly made into feed for various beasts in the sect.
A small part is ground into powder, distributed to various service agencies as a big welfare benefit. Those posted elsewhere have fewer benefits. Like their Wanyu Pavilion, they actually have it good.
The reason why Wang Zijia could practice martial arts for several years and step into the postnatal realm, this thing also played a major reason.
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While Wang Zijia was looking at his food in a daze, a warehouse keeper colleague beside him took out a jade gourd and carefully filled it up with the porridge.
An old man of a similar age next to him saw this and jokingly said, "Old Xu, you're packing food again, it's been a while since I've seen you eat a proper meal of spiritual food!"
"Ah, there's nothing I can do, my kid's spiritual roots are not good. If I don't look after him more, it'll be tough going once he can't become a Sect Servant. After all, he can't take over my job."
The old man named Xu, named Xu Chenglin, was the warehouse keeper of the Pill area. His status was similar to Wang Zijia's, he was also the successor of the second generation of miscellaneous workers. However, unlike Wang Zijia who just started working, Xu Chenglin was confirmed to have no spiritual roots and had been working in the warehouse for decades.
It is said that he is lucky. He gave birth to a son with spiritual roots and tried to send him to the Sect's Miscellaneous Service Academy to become a proper disciple of the Wanyu Sect.
"Hey, isn't that everyone's story?" Following Xu Chenglin's words, the other warehouse keepers felt a bit low.
After all, those who got into the warehouse job, their family background was similar to Wang Zijia's, they were all about to enter the circle of ordinary people.
Wang Zijia didn't interrupt, he ate his meal silently and considered his next move.