Summer in Yangcheng was humid, stuffy, and scorching hot. Your body always felt sticky, and even taking three showers a day wasn’t enough.
Song Kening only dared to turn on the air conditioner at night. If she turned it on during the day, the electric meter spun like a windmill. At 0.9 yuan per kilowatt-hour, running it all day would make her heart ache for several days.
After lunch, Song Kening washed the dishes and came out to see Lu Zhiyu sitting at the computer desk, still staring at his phone screen.
A thin layer of sweat had formed on his forehead, and the back of his sleeveless shirt was damp. Yet he remained calm and composed, seemingly unaffected by the scorching weather.
The phone screen was already small, and the dense lines of code were crammed together, making them difficult to look at.
His fingers tapped and swiped across the screen. Every now and then, he would zoom in or out, his brows remaining slightly furrowed.
Song Kening only looked at it for a moment before her eyes started to hurt.
She walked over, picked up the small fan beside the bed, and pointed it toward him.
She had bought the little fan at the grocery store yesterday for 15 yuan. It had three speed settings and could either be clipped onto the headboard or placed on a desk.
A single charge could last for most of the day, making it much cheaper than running the air conditioner.
Lu Zhiyu looked up at her but said nothing, lowering his head and continuing to type.
Song Kening stood there for a while before suddenly saying, “Let’s go to the big shopping mall outside.”
“There are places to sit, free Wi-Fi, free air conditioning, and even places where we can charge our phones for free.”
“If we stay cooped up in the rental room every day and keep the air conditioner running, who knows how much the electricity bill will be? We need to save.”
Lu Zhiyu said, “We’ll have 50,000 yuan in two weeks. There’s no need to save.”
Song Kening quickly shook her head.
“But the money hasn’t arrived yet. There could always be an unexpected problem. We’d better save for now.”
“What if the project gets delayed? What if they don’t approve the work? What if something goes wrong with the platform?”
“Until the money is actually in our hands, it doesn’t count as ours.”
Lu Zhiyu listened to her string of arguments.
After two seconds of silence, he put his phone away.
“Let’s go.”
Song Kening stuffed the power bank and two charging cables from the computer desk into her canvas bag. She then took the large bottle of water from the refrigerator.
“Bring this. Water is expensive outside.”
Lu Zhiyu took it.
It was the same mineral water bottle he’d drunk from yesterday, except this time it was filled with cooled boiled water.
Song Kening would boil a large pot of water, let it cool, pour it into the mineral water bottle, and refrigerate it.
Lu Zhiyu’s lips twitched.
He hadn’t expected things to get so difficult that they even had to save money on a bottle of water.
The two went downstairs and out of the alley.
The midday sun beat down mercilessly. Heat rose from the pavement, and after walking only a few steps, the soles of their shoes felt hot.
Song Kening opened her umbrella and tilted it toward Lu Zhiyu.
She herself was 1.7 meters tall, but he was simply too tall. Holding the umbrella that high made her arm tired, and the edge of the umbrella nearly poked him in the forehead.
Lu Zhiyu immediately took the umbrella from her and tilted it toward her instead.
Song Kening looked up at where he was holding it.
“Hey, having a tall person hold the umbrella really is better!”
Across from the urban village was a large shopping center—Huacheng Plaza.
Urban villages and upscale shopping malls were often separated by nothing more than a single road.
On one side were cramped buildings, street stalls, and food stands.
On the other were glass curtain walls and luxurious high-rise buildings.
As soon as the mall doors opened, a blast of cold air hit them, as if they had stepped into another world.
Song Kening stood at the entrance and took a deep breath, feeling every pore on her body relax.
“So cool,” she couldn’t help saying.
The mall was crowded.
People filled the escalators, corridors, and central seating areas.
Song Kening glanced around.
Most of them were young people sitting in small groups, staring at their phones.
They clearly looked like people who had come to enjoy the free air conditioning over the weekend.
The benches surrounding the atrium were already completely occupied.
Song Kening pulled Lu Zhiyu toward another seating area in the atrium and found two spots.
They were actually just large marble ledges beside a flower bed, with thin cushions placed on top.
“This is a good spot.”
Song Kening plopped herself down and patted the space beside her.
“Sit.”
Lu Zhiyu sat down and took out his phone, continuing to work on his code.
The mall’s free Wi-Fi signal was pretty good, even faster than the hair salon’s Wi-Fi they had been freeloading from at their rental room.
Song Kening pulled out the power bank and charging cables from her canvas bag and charged the power bank first.
Then she took out the bottle of water, unscrewed the cap, took a sip, and handed it to Lu Zhiyu.
He took a sip and handed it back.
Song Kening screwed the cap back on and placed the bottle between them.
She leaned against the wall and looked around.
Across the atrium was a row of bubble tea shops.
Her eyes landed on one shop’s sign.
A huge electronic screen was playing advertisements for all kinds of drinks—cheese grape tea, mango pomelo sago, green grape tea, apple and wax apple drinks.
Just looking at them made her feel cooler.
She unconsciously swallowed.
Lu Zhiyu’s eyes moved from his phone screen to her face.
“If you want one, buy it.”
Song Kening snapped back to reality and quickly shook her head.
“No, no. One cup of bubble tea costs more than 15 yuan. That’s enough to buy a piece of pork ribs. Forget it. We’ll just drink the water we brought.”
The cooled boiled water slid down her throat.
It was refreshing enough, just completely tasteless.
Lu Zhiyu looked back at his phone, his fingers continuing to type.
After sitting for a while, Song Kening suddenly stood up.
“Give me the power bank. You stay here and work on your code. I’m going to ask the shops if they’re hiring.”
Lu Zhiyu looked up in surprise.
“You’re looking for a job?”
“Of course. It’ll be faster if we both make money. Your project won’t be finished for another two weeks. Even after it’s done, we can’t live off that 50,000 yuan forever.”
“If I find a job, even if it only pays two or three thousand yuan a month, I can cover the rent and living expenses. Then you can save all your money for your future startup capital.”
Lu Zhiyu’s brows furrowed slightly.
“But you’re pregnant.”
Song Kening froze.
“We haven’t even confirmed whether I am yet. Besides, even if I really am, being pregnant during the first few months won’t stop me from working.”
She said it casually, as though pregnancy were nothing serious.
“You stay here. I’ll go around and ask.”
With that, she turned and walked away, her canvas bag hanging over her shoulder and her steps light.
Lu Zhiyu watched her disappear into the crowd.
His fingers hovered above the screen.
For some reason, a warm current suddenly seemed to flow through his heart.
But he quickly came back to himself and continued typing.
Song Kening first went to the second floor, where most of the clothing stores were.
Large shopping malls usually didn’t post recruitment notices at the entrance, so she had no choice but to ask each store individually.
Unfortunately, without exception, every store in this world required at least a college diploma.
In the real world, she had genuinely graduated from a four-year university. She had only received her diploma in June, and her degree certificate was still practically fresh.
Unfortunately, that diploma hadn’t come with her when she crossed into this world.
Forget the diploma—she didn’t even have an ID card right now. She had to wait 15 working days for the replacement.
Song Kening swallowed her embarrassment and walked into another store.
She asked the young cashier, “Hello, are you still hiring?”
The girl looked at her.
“We are. Do you have a resume?”
“No. I just wanted to ask about the requirements first.”
“At least a college diploma. We have to check it through the official academic verification system on-site.”
The girl pointed at the computer beside the cashier.
“If you pass the interview, we have to verify your education. If we can’t find your records, you can’t be hired.”
Song Kening’s smile stiffened.
“Okay. Thank you.”
She turned and walked out.
Academic verification.
She didn’t even have an academic record in this world.
How could she possibly verify one?
She went to several more stores nearby.
The requirements were almost identical.
Better brands required at least a college diploma even for sales positions, and without exception, they all required academic verification.
Song Kening had no choice but to go to the restaurant area on the third floor.
She thought restaurants would have lower requirements.
But after asking several places, even servers needed a high school education, while restaurant managers needed at least a college diploma.
“If you really want to find a job, you could try some of the small privately owned shops,” one manager kindly suggested. “The ones in the alleys. Their requirements aren’t as strict.”
Song Kening thanked him.
But her heart had already sunk halfway.
She took a deep breath and turned back toward the atrium.
From a distance, she could still see Lu Zhiyu sitting beside the flower bed.
His head was lowered as he looked at his phone, fingers rapidly typing.
The sharp lines of his side profile stood out under the mall’s lighting.
The seat beside him was still empty.
The spot she’d saved with her canvas bag was still there.