The first light of dawn broke.
The air on the Federation Main Star was as fresh as ever, and the lush greenery in Starry Sky Wander dispelled any sense of confinement.
Jiang Qiuqiu pushed open her door and stood in the yard, doing a set of calisthenics she hadnāt performed in ages to rejuvenate herself.
Tonight, she decided to bring back her rice noodle rollsāthey were easy to make. She would preorder the meat and vegetables for tomorrow around noon. As for the morning, sheād take advantage of her free time to visit the animal shelter outside her neighborhood and see if they accepted food donations.
Closing the door behind her, she broke into a jog, huffing and puffing as she dashed toward the neighborhood gate.
However, on the way, Jiang Qiuqiu noticed something strange about the area.
...
āWhy are there so few people?ā
It was a high-end neighborhood, so the houses were spaced far apart, but it was still strange that she could run all the way from her home to the gate and only see villas, without a single person in sight.
āOr maybe I just woke up too early?ā
No, after jogging a few more steps, she did spot some people.
It was just that the residents here seemed incredibly tall and large, like bodybuilders. Every one of the few she ran into fit that description.
Even the guard she saw in the guardhouse on her way out was tall and packed with lean muscle.
āIs this... a private community for gym trainers or something??ā
Completely baffled, she walked for another two or three minutes before the shelter sheād glimpsed last time came into view.
She was stopped by a staff member the moment she walked through the door.
A young man in a dark green uniform stopped her. "Maāam, can I help you with something?"
"Ah, this is the animal shelter, right?" Jiang Qiuqiu asked, her gaze sweeping past him to look inside.
She wouldnāt have known if she hadnāt looked, but one glance left her a little stunned.
She vaguely remembered from her last glance that the shelter only had dogs. But looking closely today, she realized there werenāt just dogsāthere were all sorts of animals, with felines being the most common.
There were even a few birds and some rather strange-looking creatures. With such a rich variety, it seemed less like a shelter and more like a zoo.
"Do you accept donations?"
"Donations?" The young man paused. "What is it youād like to donate, maāam?"
"Food," Jiang Qiuqiu said, clarifying her purpose for visiting.
Knowing her intentions were good, the young manās expression softened. He then looked properly at Jiang Qiuqiuās face. With the business out of the way, he was suddenly struck by her stunning beauty.
His breath hitched for a moment. He unconsciously softened his voice even more. "We only accept donations of pure, natural food here. We donāt take Nutrient Liquid."
"I know. Itās all natural food."
"In that case, we do accept them."
"Okay! Iāll bring the food over this morning, then. Will you be here?"
"Weāre always here."
Jiang Qiuqiu gave him an āOKā sign. "Iāll head back now, then."
After confirming that the shelter accepted food donations, Jiang Qiuqiu jogged back home. The temperature-controlled container held a huge amount of food, far too much for her to move by herself.
So, she enlisted the help of the houseās housekeeper robot.
The powerful robot shouldered the food that the animals could likely eat and walked ahead, while Jiang Qiuqiu followed closely at its heels.
ćThey arrived at the shelter moments later.ć
The same young man in the green uniform greeted her. When he saw the large container she had brought, he hurried over to help.
"Is this all...?"
"Yep. I sorted through it to pick out things they should be able to eat."
The food was all in a transparent, insulated container. You couldnāt smell anything, but through the clear lid, he could see it was indeed all-natural produce.
āIt looked like produce, but it was basically a pile of cash.ā
The young man froze for a second, then began thanking Jiang Qiuqiu profusely.
"You donāt have to thank me... It was no trouble at all."