8. The shift schedule... I object!

Early the next morning, Ruan Li woke up unusually early.

She stared blankly at the time displayed on her smart device: seven o'clock. She had slept remarkably well the night before; upon waking, she had even assumed it was noon, only to find it was barely seven. After nestling in her blankets for ten minutes, she realized she had no lingering sleepiness and decided to start browsing the StarNet.

She skimmed the top trending topics.

#19-year-old Ruan Jiao poised to become the first female with Grade 9 healing abilities#
"Congratulations to the Young Miss of the Ruan family."
"Pure nonsense. Even Lan Xiang only has Grade 8 healing abilities; who does she think she is?"
"Agree with the comment above. Marketing accounts, don't be so ridiculous."
"If it were the eldest daughter of the Ruan family, who was born with Grade 5 healing abilities, it might have been possible. What a pity."
...
#White Dawn strikes again, rising from the ashes#
"What a foul organization! They should have been wiped out long ago!"
"If you ask me, male beastmen should just earn money to support their families and serve their female masters. What are they doing showing their faces in public all the time?"
"This male looks so flirtatious. No wonder he likes to seek attention—is he trying to find a good female master to marry into wealth?"

Ruan Li was stunned by the cynical, snide remarks in the comment section. Curious, she clicked on the avatars of the commenters and found that the vast majority were male beastmen. There were some females offering their opinions, but most lacked the sharp, aggressive edge of the males. In this world where the status of the sexes was inverted, she felt the advantages brought by gender in a way she never had before.

Curious, she searched for "White Dawn." It was a grassroots organization with hundreds of members, led by someone named Bo Quelai, whose beast form appeared to be some kind of bird. Police investigations had tracked his trail to a desolate planet six months ago, and there had been no news since. The organization was a voluntary collective that opposed female hegemony and sought to uphold the rights of male beastmen, promoting the ideal of "one male, one female."

Ruan Li couldn't help but think of her previous life on Blue Star, and for a moment, she felt a complex mix of emotions.

#Fierce beast evolution, perhaps an organization hiding behind the scenes#
"It's over, the apocalypse is here. Good thing the Mayans went extinct long ago."
"LOL at the comment above, maybe they just went into hiding."

"Should I hoard more food? I can't let my female master go hungry."
"Evolving again? Life is already hard enough; are they going to let ordinary male beastmen live at all?"
"To the person above: if you're weak, go kill more fierce beasts to improve your abilities. Complaining is useless if you don't put in the effort yourself."
"I agree. I strongly demand that beastmen below five-star ability should not be assigned female masters. Females are already scarce; why should those losers get a piece of the pie?"

Fierce beast evolution? Ruan Li clicked on it, curious. Animals exposed to cosmic radiation would sometimes gain supernatural abilities and evolve into human forms, while those that failed became fierce beasts. These beasts possessed "crystal cores" in their brains, with different grades of beasts yielding different cores. Beastmen relied on these cores to enhance their abilities. Because fierce beasts carried sources of contamination, the injuries they inflicted were extremely difficult to heal, forcing male beastmen to rely on the healing services of their female masters or public aid stations.

Before being assigned a female master, male beastmen had to go to aid stations. Thousands of them would wait at the doors, a scene of misery and wailing. Each planet only had one to three aid stations, and the fees were not cheap. It could be said that without the healing of a female master, a male beastman was essentially left to fend for himself.

No wonder women held such high status in this world; they controlled the resources of reproduction and healing, effectively holding the entire civilization in their hands.

A knock sounded at the door.

"Would you like to get up for breakfast, Ruan Li?"

This cold yet polite voice could only belong to Bai He. Ruan Li thought that since she wanted to change her image, she should start with the small things.

"All right, I'll wash up and be down in a moment."

Ruan Li rolled around in her blankets for a few seconds, indulging in the warmth before getting up decisively. The sink was covered with various skincare products. She chose a few at random, tied her hair into a fluffy bun, and pulled out two wisps of bangs to frame her face. Her porcelain-white skin was flawless. She looked at the beauty in the mirror—like a lotus rising from the water—and felt extremely satisfied.

For a split second, Ruan Li had the illusion that she was "Ruan Li," and "Ruan Li" was her; otherwise, how could they look exactly the same?

...What nonsense was she thinking? Perhaps it was just a coincidence.

Ruan Li quickly pushed the thought aside. She opened the wardrobe, which was filled with various pink, girly dresses—very much in line with her soft aesthetic. She picked out a peach-pink dress with slightly longer puff sleeves and huffed as she moved the bedside table she had pushed against the door.

"Uh, hi, good morning." Ruan Li flashed what she hoped was a sweet and kind smile as she greeted Tuo Ye, who happened to be leaving his bedroom at the same time.

"Morning." The man nodded, his slightly messy hair brushing against the corners of his eyes. He wore a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing strong, wheat-colored forearms. The black fabric across his chest was stretched taut, outlining his muscular build. Even in simple black, he seemed to evoke infinite imagination. He wore simple cargo pants and gray slippers... Ruan Li had already automatically imagined him in mid-calf combat boots.

Ruan Li trotted down the stairs in her pink slippers.

Bai He was sitting at the dining table, seemingly reading the latest StarNet news. Shi Jue leaned back in his chair, his gaze carrying its own spotlight and filter the moment it landed on Ruan Li. Xu Mo looked at her with a smile: "Morning, Ruan Ruan. Rare for you to be up so early. Was it my company last night that gave you such quality sleep?"

"Morning, everyone."

Ruan Li greeted them and took her seat at the head of the table. Seeing that she ignored Xu Mo, Shi Jue glared at him provocatively.

Breakfast consisted of milk, bread, and sandwiches—average in taste. Ruan Li usually had a small appetite in the morning, and since the food was barely edible, she ate a few bites, set it aside, and finished her milk. She sat in her chair, scanning the men, and waited until everyone had finished before preparing to get up.

Bai He spoke up: "Wait a moment, female—Ruan Li. Because the number of beast-husbands has increased by one, the shift schedule needs to be adjusted. Yesterday was supposed to be Shi Jue's turn, but he had something come up and asked me to help accompany you for the day. Tuo Ye just arrived yesterday, so logically, today should be Tuo Ye's turn to accompany you. Is this arrangement acceptable?"

His pale eyes watched Ruan Li quietly, as if seeking her opinion, yet they remained calm and rippleless. Ruan Li couldn't read his expression.

"I object! Yesterday Bai He helped me accompany you, so today it should be my turn." Shi Jue stated righteously, not seeing any issue with his logic.

Bai He frowned almost imperceptibly. "This matter still depends on what Ruan Li thinks."

Shi Jue snorted. "Fine. Ruan Ruan, what do you think?" His green eyes looked at her, undisguised anticipation in his gaze.

"...Can't I just stay by myself? You all have your own things to do, after all." Ruan Li had originally intended to wander around the area by herself to brush up on her knowledge of this world and avoid giving herself away.