Chapter 30: Beyond Human

Linjiao Town, located on the west side of Nanjiang City, primarily focused on agriculture and secondary industries as its development targets.

Its economy was considered relatively high among the surrounding towns.

The Linjiao Swimming Base was situated in the center of Linjiao Town.

It was a place that held summer memories for nearly all the local children.

Additionally, due to the scorching heat, many athletes chose to come here for swimming patrols.

Consequently, as soon as summer arrived, the foot traffic began to increase day by day.

With the influx of people, the original number of lifeguards naturally became insufficient.

At that moment, in the vast pool, two people with excellent swimming skills were competing—a man and a woman.

The man was very sturdy, with muscles bulging like a bull, while two distinct abdominal lines were visible on the woman’s belly.

A man in a white T-shirt stood on the shore.

A badge identifying him as the HR Manager hung from his left chest.

He was the one in charge of this recruitment.

Next to the HR Manager stood a woman dressed in a business suit.

One look at her appearance made it clear she was a high-level executive of the swimming base.

“Both are pretty good… that leaves three more…”

The HR Manager held a clipboard and drew a checkmark behind both of their names.

He looked up at the domed canopy.

“Today is the third day, yet only two people have come.

Boss, if this really doesn’t work out, why don’t we just do this?

We can simply give these two safety personnel a bit more pay.”

“No, we need at least three people.”

The Female Boss shook her head.

“The recruitment ad stated there would be three shifts.

If we can’t even manage that, will future applicants believe our ads?”

“But Boss… it’s already mid-July.

If we don’t find enough lifeguards soon, it won’t be the police chatting with us, but a Lieshou coming to have tea with us.”

Clang—

Just as the HR Manager finished speaking, the wind door of the swimming base was pushed open.

Turning their gaze, they saw a somewhat dirty young girl walk into the swimming hall.

Her dead-fish eyes scanned the surroundings.

The newcomer was, naturally, Gu Lian, who had come for the interview.

Now that she only wanted to live a peaceful life, she would not miss out on such an easy job.

‘This is the place.’

Gu Lian pulled a recruitment flyer from her pocket and glanced at it.

After nodding and putting it away, she walked up to the HR Manager and the Female Boss, bowed deeply, and said, “Hello, I’m here to apply for the lifeguard position.”

The Female Boss narrowed her eyes slightly and gave the HR Manager a light kick with her toe.

The HR Manager understood instantly and immediately stepped forward.

“You’re here for the job?

Then let me ask, are you… an adult?”

The HR Manager sized Gu Lian up.

In his eyes, this girl, whose height was barely over five feet tall, was very beautiful.

Even with a dirty face, she couldn’t hide her ethereal features.

However, for some reason, he felt that this girl was a minor, at least judging by her height.

“I am an adult.”

“Are you sure?”

The HR Manager looked down and stared at her.

Gu Lian raised her eyes slightly to meet his gaze.

After a full half-minute, the HR Manager looked away, essentially acknowledging that she was an adult.

“Name.”

“Gu Lian.”

“ID card.”

“Don’t have one.”

“???”

‘And you still say you’re an adult?’

The HR Manager, who was writing down notes, froze for a moment.

He looked up at Gu Lian with a strange expression.

Hindered by his professional conduct, he suppressed the urge to complain and asked, “Phone number…”

“Don’t have one.”

“…”

The HR Manager took a deep breath to calm his mind.

He wrote “summer worker” on his clipboard while chanting in his heart that this was just a formality.

The Female Boss turned her head away.

She actually found the situation somewhat humorous.

After a moment of recovery, the HR Manager rubbed his temples with the hand holding the pen and said, “Miss… then where do you live…”

“I’m a drifter.”

“Pfft!”

The Female Boss turned away and laughed unkindly.

Forgive her, but this recruitment session was simply too much of a comedy.

“…”

The HR Manager turned to look at his boss, forcing himself to remain calm.

He crossed out “summer worker” on the clipboard and wrote “hourly worker” instead.

“Are there any other requirements?”

“Not for now… we just need to understand your swimming skills…”

Before the HR Manager could finish, a gust of wind pressure swept past him, ruffling his clothes and hair.

His expression twitched wildly.

With a splash, Gu Lian dove into the pool in a graceful leap.

The moment she entered the water, her legs began to kick, and she moved through the water at an unreasonable speed.

The man and woman who had been selected earlier climbed out of the pool.

Water dripped from their bodies as they stepped toward the HR Manager.

“We should have passed, right?”

“Yes… you passed.”

The HR Manager let out a rough breath and rubbed his forehead.

His worldview was truly being refreshed today.

“If we passed, about the compensation…”

The sturdy woman raised her hands over her head, turning her palms outward until her joints made a crisp snapping sound.

“Well… for specific compensation, you’ll need to talk to the Boss.”

The HR Manager introduced the two to the Boss and then continued to ramble on.

With a whoosh, Gu Lian lunged out of the water.

When she was about half a meter above the surface, she curled her body, spun once in the air, and landed with one hand on the ground.

“Did I pass?”

As Gu Lian stood up, she tossed her hair.

Water droplets flew from the tips of her hair in a semi-arc, splashing all over the HR Manager.

“Uh…”

The HR Manager hesitated for a moment.

Looking at this girl whose height and skills were a complete mismatch, he asked, “Are you sure you didn’t sneak out of the Shaolin Temple to play?”

‘His imagination is something else…’

Gu Lian’s mouth twitched.

Then, she put on a serious expression and said, “I’m not a monk, got it?”

“Does your Abbot know you ran away?”

The HR Manager nodded.

He was convinced; this girl was definitely a runaway.

And what a character she was.

A girl with no ID, no phone, who claimed to be a drifter but possessed incredible skills, coming out to find a job on her own…

Wasn’t this the standard setup for a comedy movie?

It could seriously be turned into a television drama—the kind that would definitely make people die of laughter.

“He knows…”

Gu Lian’s body trembled slightly as she suppressed the urge to punch the man in front of her.

“Is that so?

Well, whatever, you passed.”

The HR Manager drew a checkmark under the swimming skill category and pointed toward the Female Boss.

“You can talk to the Boss about specific compensation.

You want cash, right?”

“No, I have a bank card.”

“Cough, cough…”

The HR Manager choked on his own saliva.

Gu Lian shrugged and turned to walk toward the Female Boss.

That was her employer; the man in front of her was just a recruiter, so there was no need to be particularly polite.

“Cough… cough…”

The HR Manager coughed several more times before recovering.

Watching Gu Lian’s somewhat thin back, he became even more certain that this brat had snuck down from a mountain.

Looking down at the clipboard in his hand, the HR Manager silently wrote “Will follow all arrangements” under the job preferences.

Feeling that wasn’t enough, he frowned slightly and pondered for a moment.

Then, he looked up with a sudden realization, picked up his pen, and added a sentence after the swimming skill checkmark:

“Swimming proficiency is at least National Level Two Athlete level.”