Setting the mission aside, the three of them would actually make pretty decent roommates.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t something that could be set aside. So to Jian Yue, his impression of the three had grown considerably more complicated.
Lunch passed in a hurry, and the afternoon major course arrived as scheduled.
This time he got his wish, the freedom to sit alone in a corner of the front row. But plenty of “eager students” still chose to sit beside him. When they asked one after another whether the seat next to him was taken and if they could sit there, Jian Yue would quietly glance out of the corner of his eye at the other empty seats in the front row.
His expression was perfectly calm, yet brimming with sorrow over the eyesight of today’s youth, anxiety over their brain capacity, and concern for their mental flexibility.
In the end, Jian Yue mercifully pointed out the fact that there were countless other empty seats nearby, and watched as several students, their worldviews seemingly shattered, walked away from his side, sighing inwardly.
When class ended, the young man, eyes fixed straight ahead, headed out while doing the math on his time.
In the end, he gave up on the idea of sneaking back to the dorm for a break and decided to go to the bubble tea shop early to help out.
That was classic old workhorse thinking.
No matter how much of a slacker he acted like in his heart, no matter how much he resisted in behavior and appearance, he remained the boss’s diligent, honest, and capable dear good employee. So most of the time, no one would ever guess that he too had a heart that didn’t want to work.
But when Jian Yue stepped into the shop, he saw that the owner, who was always impossible to catch had actually come to “patronize his own store” in person.
He was a typical middle-aged entrepreneur. Though since his business was a green-and-white bubble tea shop, he looked rather youthful in style.
Upon seeing Jian Yue, the man broke into a kindly smile. But Jian Yue noticed Sister Zhang’s grim expression nearby, how she kept glancing in his direction as if trying to hint at something before sighing helplessly and he knew the upcoming conversation would be somewhat out of the ordinary.
“Forgot to tell you in advance, Xiao Yue. We just updated the work schedule today, and decided to cut the evening shifts… Jian Yue, you’re still a student, right?”
Bringing up information he’d already known before the interview like this, it was probably going to be a pay cut as the main course, with firing as a side dish.
And things did indeed unfold just as Jian Yue expected.
All that talk from the man praising how few people his age could endure hardship like him… noting how plenty of customers came in during his evening shifts… round and round with the praise, all to set up that final line: “Anyway, starting today you don’t need to keep coming in, Xiao Yue. I’ll transfer your wages directly to your account. Thanks for your hard work.”
A part-time job at a bubble tea shop would never involve signing any contract, so being fired verbally meant fired on the spot.
Jian Yue’s face went silent, head lowered, as if rendered speechless by the sudden dismissal.
In reality, his mind was blooming, fireworks exploding everywhere.
Now he could use job-hunting as an excuse to loaf around outside for another stretch of days. No one was counting his money anyway, he could secretly have the system exchange some cash for him in private to buy food.
Good news. Truly good news!
The young man stood in place inside the shop for a long while.
Long lashes trembling, his lips parted and closed softly several times, as if about to say something.
In the end, his lips pressed into a pale, thin line. His eyes lowered, as if he were pondering or perhaps, after some fierce internal struggle, had already accepted this outcome.
That expression called “calm” lingered on the young man’s face for a long while. Like an oil painting, or perhaps a watercolor, colors vivid, yet restrained, standing quietly in place.
The young man always gave people a contradictory impression: fragile yet resilient, upright yet easily broken.
But it was precisely the fragility showing beneath the resilience that drew the eye, and the moment that upright posture was snapped clean through only stirred an urge to inflict cruelty.
For an instant, the boss, seeing the young man like this, couldn’t help feeling a pang of pity, lamenting how unfair the world was, that the poor kid had the bad luck to offend someone he couldn’t afford to offend. But the ease of deciding another person’s fate swiftly drowned that faint, barely-there sympathy.
Out of some condescending compassion, he paid the wages quite readily. He even paid out the few days of the month that hadn’t been worked yet, plus a full-attendance bonus.
Of course, he was only this generous because someone had instructed him to be. But that was not something Jian Yue or the other employee could ever know.
The young man, as if he had already collected himself, nodded, indicating that he naturally accepted this arrangement.
Before leaving, he turned his head to glance at Zhang Jie, the veteran employee, and waved goodbye.
When he turned away again, he left quite decisively, his steps carrying not the slightest hesitation.
Just like the person himself. Upright as green bamboo, straight and elegant. Stubborn by nature, never walking back the way he came.
‘Seeing as they accidentally did me a huge favor, I’ve decided that today, I’ll give each of them a chance at an early death and early rebirth. What do you think, System?’
Jian Yue kept his expression stiff, struggling desperately to suppress the urge to burst out laughing, while his steps turned light and brisk as he headed outside. He planned to find someplace with few people and treat himself to plenty of good food.
If he’d known he’d have a day when he was this eager to quit, he would have started working at that bubble tea shop a little later.
The trouble was, it was Shen Yu who had kindly recommended the job to him after hearing he was unemployed.
Since the hours, pay, and benefits all matched his requirements exactly, Jian Yue hadn’t been able to refuse, and could only grit his teeth and go to work.
And then there was that whole scene this morning.
Those tasteless, annoying pests had seized the chance to come take revenge on him and their idea of revenge was to get him fired…
Truly, a case of every cloud having a silver lining!
Listening to his host chattering excitedly in his head, the System said nothing, only quietly applied for additional currency to be approved for exchange, and resolved to let his host enjoy the guilty, sneaky pleasure of a shopping spree tonight.
Quite a few college students were wandering around the area at this hour, so Jian Yue could only follow the System’s directions in his head and dart toward the more affordable markets.
He took out the money the System had exchanged in advance and bought some street food to eat.
But all along the way, people kept glancing repeatedly in his direction. Annoyed by all the unwanted attention, Jian Yue ducked into a nearby shop and bought a hat to put on.
Since arriving in this mission world, Jian Yue had barely gone out to relax at all. So on this trip, eating as he walked, he seemed determined to release every ounce of frustration that days of working had built up, indulging without restraint.
There was a real risk of upsetting his stomach, but whatever.
And so Jian Yue walked along like that, one hand holding a steamed bun and grilled cold noodles, the other gripping an ice cream cone. Then his gaze became completely glued to the little boxes of sushi displayed by the roadside, and he launched into an epic internal battle with the system in his head.
The subject of their argument was, without a doubt, whether his stomach could handle a few more bites of sushi.
The result: eyes darting wildly, thoughts scattered, his way of walking ultimately met with punishment.
He crashed into a guy, nearly knocking the man straight to his knees.
Since Jian Yue refused to let go of the food in his hands, he toppled forward like a stiff corpse.
Jian Yue, defying every human instinct, willing to let himself fall flat after the collision rather than let the food in his hands spill onto the ground.
It wasn’t until a kind soul grabbed him under the arms and hauled him upright.
Even standing back up, Jian Yue still wouldn’t release the food, and his first words were an apology: “Sorry, are you okay?”
The young man he’d bumped into wore black athletic clothes and a face mask, tall and imposing.
When those sharp, piercing eyes turned toward him, Jian Yue felt an odd sense of familiarity. But looking closer, he found the man unfamiliar, just a chance meeting of gazes between two strangers.
The man’s expression barely changed. He paused for only a moment, then, once he’d processed what happened, nodded to indicate he was fine, wearing the look of someone who had no intention of pressing the matter, and brushed past Jian Yue, walking away.
The young man turned his head, frowning as he stared at this person’s back for several seconds. In the end, he looked away again as if nothing had happened.