Chapter 50: Contracting a Magical Beast Starts with Cleaning Up Its Dung!

Qian Qi did not beat around the bush and went straight to the point. "Uncle Li, I'd like to ask if you are hiring part-time employees here? For example, feeding the magical beasts, shoveling their waste, and things like that."

Hearing this, Uncle Li's eyes instantly lit up. "You want to work here?"

Qian Qi nodded, putting on the appearance of a reliable and diligent student. "Yes, I've recently been researching the relationship between magical beasts and magical plants, so I wanted to pick up a part-time job here and hopefully get some free magical beast waste for my research."

"Oh! That's wonderful!" Uncle Li clapped his hands and said happily, "I am terribly short-handed here! Especially when it comes to waste shoveling!"

Magical beasts are inherently fierce and violent. Even though the school has hired a batch of awakened individuals to help manage them, given the pride of these awakened individuals, very few are willing to feed the magical beasts or shovel their waste. As a result, almost everything has fallen on him alone.

If Qian Qi were to take on a part-time job, it would be a tremendous help to him.

"However, this work is exhausting and requires physical strength. Are you sure you can handle it, little Qian?" Uncle Li kindly reminded her, "The awakened individuals here can help you intimidate the magical beasts, but the job of shoveling waste is still very hard, you know!"

Even grown men were reluctant to do this work, let alone a young girl like her. Uncle Li did not want her to quit after just two days.

"It's fine, Uncle Li, don't you worry! I have plenty of strength and I'm well used to hard work!"

Of course Qian Qi had no problems with it. After all, she came to the magical beast storage facility with ulterior motives.

She patted her chest and promised, "As long as the pay is sufficient, I guarantee I'll shovel everything completely clean for you!"

Uncle Li couldn't help but stroke his palms and laugh heartily. "Good! Then let's head to the E-rank magical beast area first. Show me what you can do, and then we will finalize your salary!"

Qian Qi nodded decisively. "Alright!"

...

The magical beast storage facility is divided into two levels: above ground and underground. The underground level connects directly to the north gate of the Beast Taming Plaza.

The E-rank magical beast area is located on the second floor above ground. As soon as she stepped out of the elevator, Qian Qi saw that the space on this floor was divided into dozens of identical magical beast rooms.

Five sides of each room were made of the same wall material as the exterior of the magical beast storage facility, while the front was made of a special material shaped into vertical bar guard gates. The gaps between these vertical bars were wide enough for an adult to walk through, yet narrow enough to prevent bulky magical beasts from squeezing through and escaping.

Looking around, Qian Qi discovered that the rooms on this floor were entirely populated by Flame Hounds. Around the neck of every single one of them was a specially crafted black collar.

"These are E-rank Flame Hounds. Compared to other E-rank magical beasts, they are considered relatively docile."

Uncle Li pointed at a Flame Hound inside a room that was baring its fangs and growling softly, saying with a smile, "Why don't you take charge of feeding and shoveling waste on this floor first?"

With that, Uncle Li selected the Flame Hound in the first room, slipped through the gap between the vertical bars of the gate, and instructed, "Little Qian, the cleaning tools are right by the door. Pick them up and give it a try!"

Qian Qi glanced to her left and right, and sure enough, she spotted two large iron buckets, a mop, and a large iron shovel nearby. She picked them up and followed Uncle Li into the Flame Hound's room.

"Awoooo—"

With a stranger breaking into its room, the Flame Hound, possessing a strong sense of territory, instantly lowered its forequarters. Its sharp, pale-yellow fangs were fully exposed, and it emitted a low, threatening growl at Qian Qi.

Qian Qi sized up this particular Flame Hound.

Flame Hounds are considered quite attractive and relatively easy-to-tame magical beasts among E-rank creatures. A pair of orange-red canine eyes flickered with faint embers, and the fluffy fur at the tip of its long, crimson tail—graduating into a deeper shade of red—looked just like a blazing fire. It lashed the ground heavily over and over again with a dull thud, making it look intensely dangerous, majestic, and cool.

"Don't be afraid, little Qian. Usually, awakened individuals will help you intimidate them, and there is also a special punishment remote control."

Uncle Li glanced at Uncle Sun, who was watching the excitement from the doorway, and explained with a light cough, "This Flame Hound is the most well-behaved one, and it's quite familiar with me. So with me here, it won't attack you."

Qian Qi nodded understandingly, completely missing the exchange of glances between the two old men. She observed the Flame Hound—which had assumed an aggressive posture but hadn't actually attacked—then turned to put down the iron buckets and mop to inspect the canine waste scene.

It seemed this Flame Hound had not been feeling well in its stomach lately; waste was sprayed everywhere. Some were shaped like round balls, while others had the consistency of thin porridge, requiring a mop soaked in water to clean up properly.

Fortunately, there was a dedicated sewage drain here, so the cleanup wouldn't be too difficult.

Qian Qi picked up the iron shovel and began her diligent waste-shoveling labor.

[Keep it up, Qian Qi! Shoveling waste is awesome! ^_^_^] The system popped out, deliberately acting mischievous.

Qian Qi: ...

Thinking about the possibility that she might have to bite it with her teeth in the future, Qian Qi managed to restrain the urge to slap the system right into the dog waste.

The waste produced by a Flame Hound was as large as a green apple, and it would excrete dozens of them at once, making it quite heavy. Fortunately, Qian Qi possessed D-rank strength, so handling it was a breeze.

After scrubbing and mopping away the watery waste on the floor, she looked at the clean and bright magical beast room, feeling a profound sense of accomplishment.

"Not bad at all, little Qian! You cleaned it to absolute perfection!"

Uncle Li took a look and was extremely satisfied. Of course, what satisfied him most was Qian Qi's courage and physical strength; to remain completely expressionless in the face of a glaring Flame Hound already surpassed most awakened individuals.

"No, it's still missing just a little something!" Qian Qi, however, felt something was lacking. After thinking for a moment, she slapped her thigh fiercely. "I remember now!"

She was here to build a bond with the magical beasts; how could she just shovel the waste and leave?

She had to do something to leave a deep impression on this Flame Hound!

Much like going to a company interview, you have to make the interviewer deeply remember who you are in order to be successful!

Qian Qi rinsed the mop in her hand, walked straight up to the Flame Hound's rear end, and poked it right in the middle. "Doggie precious~ Keeping this area clean when you have diarrhea is very important for your health~"

The Flame Hound, stabbed when it least expected it: ???

Uncle Sun and Uncle Li: Hahahahaha—

In the end, Qian Qi successfully secured the part-time job: feeding once every noon, cleaning every room once every three days, with a monthly salary of twenty thousand.

That very day, Qian Qi cleaned all the rooms and affectionately greeted the anuses of every single Flame Hound.

Must admit, the anuses of the Flame Hounds were quite large—bigger than her face, in fact.

Meanwhile, Uncle Sun and Uncle Sun (Uncle Li) observed the entire day's spectacle of "waste-sweeping and chrysanthemum-poking." Uncle Sun even recorded a video of it and shared it with the other old fellows.

Old Zhao, Old Zhou, Old Wu, Old Zheng: Hahahahaha—

...

After leaving the magical beast storage facility, Qian Qi went to the back mountain to tend to the magical plants and answer questions for her classmates.

When she finished her busy day and returned to the dormitory, she found the pretty senior student Li Shuyun standing outside her dorm door, tidying her delicate hairstyle in a small mirror.

Seeing Qian Qi, Li Shuyun quickly put away her small mirror and waved at her. "Junior, you're finally back!"