The next morning, the village office was unusually crowded. Rian stood behind a simple wooden table with a notebook in his hands. Around thirty people sat across from him, waiting for their turn to be interviewed. Some looked nervous, some looked serious, and a few looked so relaxed that Rian wondered whether they had come for a job interview or a free morning gathering. Beside him, Pak Darto checked the list of applicants. "Are you really planning to hire up to twenty people?" he asked. Rian nodded. "The farm is three hectares, Pak. If I keep doing everything myself, I might turn into organic fertilizer before the first harvest." Several people nearby burst out laughing. Rian smiled along with them, but he knew the situation was becoming serious. Until now, everything had been handled by him and Jojo. Planting, watering, harvesting, packing, transporting vegetables, and delivering orders had all fallen on Rian's shoulders. His body was stronger than ever, thanks to the serum he carefully consumed once a week, but even extraordinary strength had its limits. He still had only two hands. "All right," Pak Darto said, handing him the first application. "Let's begin." --- The first applicant was a thin man wearing a faded baseball cap. "Name?" "Joko, Sir." "Any farming experience?" Joko thought for several seconds. "I've planted chili before." Rian smiled. "Good. How long did you grow it?" "Three days." Rian stopped writing. "Three days?" "Yes." "And what happened after that?" "The goats ate it." Several applicants behind him immediately laughed. Joko scratched his head. "But I learned something from the experience." Rian raised an eyebrow. "What did you learn?" "Never plant chili next to a goat pen." Rian stared at him for a moment. The answer was ridiculous. Yet somehow, it made perfect sense. "Fine," Rian said. "You're hired." Joko's eyes widened. "Really?" "Really. But this time, keep the goats away from the farm." Joko grinned proudly as he returned to his seat. --- The next applicant was a woman named Siti. She sat straight and confidently in front of Rian. "Why do you want to work on a farm?" "I like plants." Rian nodded approvingly. "Can you identify different plants?" "Of course." "Give me an example." Siti pointed toward a patch of weeds near the office wall. "That's grass." Rian looked at the plant. "It is." Siti nodded confidently. "So I was right." Rian fell silent. Behind him, Pak Darto covered his mouth, desperately trying not to laugh. Rian finally sighed. "All right. You're hired." Siti smiled proudly. "I knew I had talent." --- The third applicant was a broad man with an impressive stomach. "Name?" "Ujang." "Work experience?" "I'm strong." Rian looked at him skeptically. "How strong?" Ujang immediately stood up and lifted the interview chair with one hand. Several people gasped. Rian stared at the chair, then at Ujang. "Can you carry fertilizer sacks?" "Of course." "How heavy?" Ujang thought about it. "As long as the sack doesn't carry me back." Rian burst out laughing. "You're hired." Ujang nodded proudly and returned to his seat. --- The interviews continued for nearly three hours. There was Hendra, a former construction worker who claimed he could build a fence out of almost anything as long as someone gave him a hammer. Lina was a young mother who had an impressive talent for keeping records. After seeing how carefully she calculated numbers, Rian immediately considered putting her in charge of harvest records. Bowo admitted that he preferred night shifts because, according to him, "I've been unable to sleep properly since I got married." There was also Tono, a former warehouse guard with unusually sharp hearing. Then came Dimas. "Why do you want this job?" Rian asked. "Because I'm hungry." Rian stared at him. It was the most honest answer he'd heard all morning. "You're hired." By the end of the interviews, Rian had selected twenty workers. They weren't professional farmers. Some had little experience. Others had never worked on a large plot of land before. But they were willing to learn. More importantly, they were willing to work. Rian stood before the twenty new workers and explained their responsibilities. "From tomorrow, we'll divide everyone into different teams. Planting, maintenance, harvesting, packing, transportation, and general field work." The workers listened carefully. "We'll also have a rotating night-watch schedule," Rian continued. "The farm is getting bigger, and our produce is valuable. I don't want anyone entering the property without permission." Several workers nodded seriously. For Rian, seeing so many people standing in front of him felt strange. Only a few months ago, he had struggled to pay his electricity bill. Now he was standing in front of twenty people who were about to work for him. He still wasn't completely used to it. --- With the workers hired, Rian's daily routine changed dramatically. He no longer had to carry every sack himself, but he still worked harder than most of his employees. He inspected the crops personally, measured the serum carefully, checked harvest quality, and monitored every section of the three-hectare farm. His skin became noticeably darker from spending so much time under the sun. His clothes were constantly covered in soil. His hands developed rough calluses. Yet his body rarely complained. The weekly dose of serum had changed more than just his appearance. His stamina and physical strength had reached a level far beyond what an ordinary person could achieve. Jojo, however, remained unimpressed. The orange cat spent most of his days sitting in the shade, occasionally watching the workers with the expression of a supervisor who had never touched a shovel in his life. And in public, Jojo never spoke. Not once. Whenever other people were nearby, he behaved exactly like an ordinary cat. He meowed. He stretched. He slept. He occasionally chased insects. Only when Rian was alone with him did the deep baritone voice return. One afternoon, Rian stood beside the newly purchased pickup truck. He ran his hand proudly over the hood. "We finally have our own vehicle." Jojo sat inside the truck, inspecting the seats. "Technically, you have your own vehicle." Rian frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?" "You still owe Pak Slamet for all those months of renting his three-wheeled truck." Rian's smile disappeared. "Oh." He had completely forgotten. For months, whenever he needed to transport vegetables, he had rented a three-wheeled cargo vehicle from his neighbor, Pak Slamet. The unpaid rental charges had quietly accumulated. Rian pulled out his notebook. "Right. That's another bill." Jojo's tail flicked. "Your empire is expanding beautifully." Rian sighed. "So are my expenses." --- That evening, Rian sat at the kitchen table with his financial records spread out in front of him. Land rent. Seeds. Tools. Workers' wages. Transportation. Packaging. The pickup truck. Pak Slamet's outstanding rental bill. Rian stared at the numbers for several minutes. Then he slowly opened his wallet. There wasn't much inside. He looked at the wallet. Then at the notebook. Then back at the wallet. "Jojo." The cat looked up. "Hm?" "I think we made a mistake." "How serious?" Rian swallowed. "We have a three-hectare farm." "Yes." "Twenty workers." "Yes." "A pickup truck." "Yes." "Ten years of land rental." "Yes." "And a growing list of expenses." Jojo remained silent. Rian put a hand over his stomach. "And I barely have enough money left for food." Jojo stared at him. "Then your financial management requires improvement." Rian sighed. "I know." "So what is your solution?" Rian leaned back in his chair. "I'll eat less for a while." Jojo's eyes narrowed. "That sounds like a problem for you." Rian smiled weakly. "What about you?" "My salary remains unchanged." Rian immediately frowned. "Your salary?" Jojo sat upright. "Of course." "You are a cat." "I am a business partner." Rian rubbed his forehead. "What exactly do you want?" Jojo's green eyes gleamed. "Premium salmon." Rian stared at him. "Again?" "Weekly." "You are going to bankrupt me." "Then increase your revenue." Rian wanted to argue. Unfortunately, he couldn't. Jojo had been with him from the beginning. Without the strange cat, Rian would never have discovered the serum, much less built the business that now supported twenty workers. Rian finally sighed. "Fine. Salmon." Jojo purred contentedly. "Excellent financial decision." Rian shook his head. "You're the worst business partner in history." "Yet the most well-fed." Rian couldn't help laughing. Despite the financial pressure, he felt strangely happy. For the first time in his life, his problems were no longer about whether he would have enough money to survive. Now his problems were about how to make a growing business survive. It was still difficult. But it was a completely different kind of difficulty. And Rian preferred it. He looked through the window toward the dark outline of his three-hectare farm. Rows of crops stretched across the land, illuminated faintly by the farm lights. Twenty new workers would arrive again in the morning. The orders would continue. The harvest would continue. And, hopefully, the money would continue flowing. Rian smiled. "Tomorrow, we work harder." From the corner of the room, Jojo's tail flicked lazily. "Tomorrow, you work harder." Rian looked at him. "And you?" Jojo yawned. "I'll supervise." Rian burst out laughing. The farm had grown. The business had grown. His responsibilities had grown. Unfortunately, so had Jojo's appetite.

CHAPTER 14 — Twenty Workers and a Hungry Cat