Mr. Rat of the Steam World

Chapter 57 The Strange Medical Room

"Yawn~"

After a busy morning, Afra rubbed her aching wrists and wearily gathered up the papers she had been writing on. Just as she stood up, leaning on the table, there was a knock on the door.

"Enter."

Dane leaned in with a beaming smile, his gaze almost imperceptibly sweeping over the thick ledgers on the table. He roughly estimated the Biden girl's progress, rubbing his hands together and saying with an ingratiating smile:
"Oh dear, Miss Afra, you've worked so hard! It's already noon, how about... I arrange a place for you to have a simple meal? And while I'm at it, I can also update you on your... dog's condition?"

Afra, who had been waving her hand weakly in refusal, suddenly brightened up upon hearing this and used her hands to prop herself up on the table.

"what news?"

Dane noticed Afra's resistance, but still explained with a smile:
"I made inquiries and finally asked the workers on Copper Wire Street. They said that a very elegant and dignified detective had briefly appeared in front of a house with a big white dog. According to their description, the dog seemed to be yours."

"real!?"

Afra cried out in surprise, her mind filled with nothing but words like elegance, poise, and detective. She tried to suppress the smile, but couldn't help but let it curl upwards.

"Great!"

"What? That's wonderful!" Dane was taken aback. "Miss Afra, do you need my help to continue inquiring about this person?"

"Oh, it's nothing, it's nothing! No need!" Afra was in a great mood at the moment. The tedium and fatigue of checking the accounts seemed to have been swept away, and she felt lighter as she walked. "I have a general understanding of what's going on at the factory, so I won't bother you any longer."

As she spoke, she prepared to leave. Reaching the door, she suddenly stopped, as if remembering something, and turned back to look at Dane, who was eagerly seeing her off. She asked:

"By the way, Mr. Dane, there's a small thing I don't quite understand after looking at the accounts. The workers' medical care expenses... are they a fixed 50 pounds per month? Logically speaking, injuries and illnesses vary in severity and number, shouldn't this expense be variable?"

Dane was taken aback upon hearing this, and quickly explained apologetically, "Miss Afra, you've gone to so much trouble! Well... it's mainly because our factory has a special situation. Besides the common bumps and burns, the most troublesome thing is the dust in the workshop, which is very bad for the lungs over time."

The factory, considering the workers' health and wanting them to work with peace of mind, simply set up a medical room on-site, allocating a fixed amount of money each month to arrange a physical examination and corresponding care for everyone. This is convenient to operate and saves the workers a lot of trouble! Haha.

"Oh~"

Afra seemed to accept the explanation thoughtfully and didn't delve into it further. She then greeted everyone and walked back through the workshop along the same route.

By the time she got into the carriage, her once bright dress had become somewhat dull due to the presence of soot, causing the clean-loving Afra to sigh with some frustration.

Before setting off, the coachman asked, "Miss, it's already noon. Would you like to find a restaurant nearby to get something to eat?"

"No need, just go back..."

Just as Afra was about to refuse, Lu Ran, who had been quietly sitting on her shoulder, suddenly squeaked and quickly kicked off her shoulder with his little paws, as if he was about to jump out of the car window!

"Huh?" Afra reacted quickly, leaning forward to press down on the carriage curtain while hurriedly calling to the driver, "Wait!"

She turned her head to look at Lu Ran, who was leaning against the car window with his round, dark eyes gazing outside, and tentatively asked, "You... do you want to stay here a little longer?"

"Squeak!" Lu Ran nodded his little head vigorously.

Afra nodded, then immediately changed the subject, saying to the coachman in front of the carriage, "Let's go get something to eat first."

After saying that, he turned his gaze to Lu Ran.

"After we finish eating, I'll come back here. Remember to come back and find us, otherwise you'll have to run back to the manor from here by yourself."

"Squeak!"

Lu Ran gave a final reply before leaping away, leaving Afra looking on with curiosity.

After hesitating for a few seconds, seemingly unable to suppress her curiosity, she lifted the car curtain and got out of the car, only to find that she could not find Lu Ran anywhere when she looked around.

"Wow, you run really fast."

……

Meanwhile, Lu Ran had returned to the Black Gold Machinery Factory. He then drove through the workshop and office buildings, circling around several times before finally finding the so-called workers' medical room.

As soon as I arrived, I happened to see two workers walking in this direction, laughing as they went.

"I haven't been feeling well lately, and I haven't had my injections for this month yet, so I'm just here to get one first."

"After the last injection, did you record the body data the factory manager mentioned?" "Oh, I forgot. I've been so busy working every day that I just collapse into bed as soon as I get home. I even forgot to take my temperature."

……

"inject?"

Lu Ran was taken aback, a strange look on his face.

What kind of injection is this? Can this thing be cured with an injection?
His first thought was of some addictive substance; could it be used to drive workers to work?

But then I thought about it again, and these two people walking around were full of energy, so it didn't seem like they had taken too much.

Lu Ran followed the two workers until she watched them enter the medical room together.

The moment the door opened, Lu Ran got a quick look at the layout inside. It was simple, predominantly white, and Lu Ran's gray and black outfit was too conspicuous. He wondered how many eyes were watching him from inside, making it somewhat inconvenient for him to go in.
Lu Ran waited outside for a while, wanting to see what the workers looked like after they came out.

But after a while, instead of seeing the two workers come out, the factory manager named Dane arrived first.

"Ok?"

Lu Ran was somewhat surprised and didn't understand whether this guy had just finished his work and came to inspect the area, or if he had come specifically for this purpose.

Surely the factory manager shouldn't have to do the work of caring for the workers himself.

Otherwise, why haven't those two workers come out yet?

Lu Ran waited a while longer, and soon after Dane went in, two workers came out one after the other, muttering to themselves.

"Damn it, the factory manager yelled at me and said he wouldn't let me play again if he didn't record my body data next time."

"Haha, serves you right. We've given you this good stuff for free, but you won't even write anything down."

……

"interesting."

Lu Ran slowly withdrew from here.

After all, Afra was still waiting outside, and judging by the time, she should have finished eating by now, so it wasn't good to stay there too long.

I originally just came to take a look at what the so-called medical room looked like so I would have a general idea, but now I have an unexpected bonus.

After returning, Lu Ran planned to instruct several teams of rats to keep an eye on the infirmary and Factory Manager Dane, while he himself would investigate the situation of the resigned workers later.

Before taking over the factory, Lu Ran had to ensure that it was clean and tidy, not a ticking time bomb.

When they returned to the carriage, Afra was already waiting there.

Lu Ran jumped onto the carriage and was about to climb onto Afra when he was suddenly grabbed by the back of the neck and lifted up.

Afra blinked and scanned Lu Ran from head to toe, then suddenly asked in surprise.

"You're back at Black Gold Machinery Factory again?"

Lu Ran was startled and realized that it was the coal dust that had accumulated on his body from walking back and forth in the workshop.

Afra squinted at Lu Ran with a suspicious look until she saw him feel uneasy.

"What's so interesting about that lousy place? It made me wait for so long."

Afra casually placed Lu Ran next to the seat before calling the coachman to set off.

"drive--"

The wheel hubs made a distinctive sound as they pressed against the gravel road, and then the speed gradually increased, while the scenery outside the window became increasingly blurry.

Lu Ran had just breathed a sigh of relief after what had happened, but then he started to worry again when he thought about the troubles he would face when he got back.

You've taken care of things for me, but I still haven't figured out how to meet you.

(End of this chapter)