“All right, then.” Bai Qingqing pouted, clearly unhappy.
Seeing Bai Qingqing like that, Ke Ruobing felt a little awkward too, unsure whether to say something to ease the tension.
“Bai Qingqing, stop trying to shirk your duties all the time,” Bai Yan said, his voice slightly stern. “At least keep an eye on the place during the day. We can’t keep relying on Ma Xing to run the shop all by himself, can we?”
Ma Xing chimed in teasingly, “My surname may be Ma, but that doesn’t mean I have to be a workhorse all the time. I need a couple of days off to catch my breath, too.”
“I want to work the same shift as Big Brother Xing. Then we can look after each other.” Bai Qingqing pouted, her voice carrying a hint of a coaxing whine.
Just then, Bai Yan was wiping his hands with a napkin. Hearing her, he immediately flicked her on the forehead. “Quit it.” His tone held both affection and exasperation.
After being flicked, Bai Qingqing gently rubbed her head with the back of her hand, then stuck her tongue out at Bai Yan and made a face.
Ke Ruobing watched the three of them play around in silence, an indescribable envy showing in her eyes.
Seeing this, Bai Qingqing peeled a crayfish and held it out to Ke Ruobing. “Come on, open up.”
Ke Ruobing obediently parted her lips slightly. The shrimp’s spicy, savory flavor spread through her mouth at once.
A warm feeling welled up inside Ke Ruobing, and happiness came naturally.
……
The next day, Ke Ruobing left early. She had already looked into things online and knew that, at this point, the jobs available to her were mostly tutoring or part-time work at restaurants.
But Ke Ruobing didn’t mind. As long as she could earn some money, that was enough.
Ke Ruobing wore a white short-sleeved T-shirt with denim overalls and carried a backpack. Her long, jet-black hair was neatly tied in a high ponytail, giving her a bright, energetic look.
Watching the people coming and going outside the restaurant, Ke Ruobing silently encouraged herself.
Once she had steeled herself, Ke Ruobing went straight in. “Hello, I’m looking for a job.”
The cashier gave her a cold look. Seeing that she still looked like a student, the cashier immediately assumed she was looking for a summer job. Her expression darkened, and she waved her away impatiently. “Go on, get out of here. We’re not hiring. If you’re not ordering, don’t block the entrance.”
Disappointed by the answer, Ke Ruobing politely said, “All right,” then turned and left.
Ke Ruobing tried a few more restaurants, but when she explained that she could only work for one month and would only be available on weekends once school started, every establishment gave her the same answer.
Exhausted, Ke Ruobing sat on a bench at the bus stop, feeling wave after wave of heat beneath the blazing sun. She couldn’t help feeling defeated.
A bus pulled up, and the small crowd at the stop quickly dispersed, leaving only an elderly man, perhaps in his fifties or sixties, sitting some distance away.
“Looks like it’s not easy to find a job,” Ke Ruobing said, glancing at the route map and wrinkling her nose.
“Young lady, are you looking for work?” A middle-aged woman who had just gotten off the bus heard Ke Ruobing and suddenly struck up a conversation.
“Mm.” Ke Ruobing nodded.
“I have a job opportunity for you. It might be a bit tiring—you’d have to go around the office buildings promoting something.” The woman explained enthusiastically, taking a flyer from her bag and handing it to Ke Ruobing. “This is a flyer for a newly opened beauty salon. I’m too old to run around handing these out anymore. I was just wondering how to tell them I couldn’t keep doing it, and then I heard you say you were looking for work. What a coincidence.”
Ke Ruobing took the flyer and saw that it advertised a beauty salon.
A thought occurred to her. Maybe she could give it a try.
Just then, a number 45 bus slowly approached and stopped beside the bus shelter.
Ke Ruobing hesitated for only a second before deciding not to head home just yet. She would first see whether this job opportunity really was as the woman had described.
The number 45 bus doors opened and closed. Before long, it pulled away.
“The beauty salon has launched a lucky draw to promote itself,” the woman explained eagerly. “The first prize is a year of free treatments at the salon, and the second prize is a little electric scooter. What a great deal, don’t you think? Try scanning this QR code to enter. It doesn’t cost anything to try.”
Ke Ruobing obediently took out her phone and scanned the code. A colorful prize wheel immediately appeared on the screen, with the various prizes listed on it.
“Tap the draw button in the middle and give it a try.” A glimmer of anticipation flashed in the woman’s eyes. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, and the best prize I’ve ever seen someone win was third prize—a power bank. Come on, let’s see how lucky you are.”
Following the woman’s instructions, Ke Ruobing reached out and tapped the draw button.
The wheel began to turn slowly. With each rotation, her anticipation and nerves grew.
Before long, the wheel finally stopped on the second-prize screen.
“Oh my goodness, second prize! You’re so lucky, young lady!” the woman cried in delight, her voice tinged with envy and excitement.
Ke Ruobing was a little dazed, and a hint of unease stirred within her. The woman’s words were tempting, but Ke Ruobing couldn’t shake the feeling that something about this wasn’t quite right.
“With this little electric scooter, getting around would be so much easier. You wouldn’t have to keep waiting for the bus. And Yecheng doesn’t even have a single subway line. I have to leave so early every day just to get to work.” The woman’s words revealed how much she wanted and envied the scooter.
Listening to the woman’s envious remarks, Ke Ruobing felt herself wavering a little.
It was true: having the scooter would make things much easier. Then she could look for part-time work farther away, too.
Besides, she got terribly carsick and really didn’t want to take the bus.
“Young lady, you don’t seem to want it. Why don’t you let me have it?” the woman suggested warmly.
Ke Ruobing hesitated briefly at that, but soon shook her head. “This scooter would be really useful to me. I can’t give it to you.”
The woman looked around, her voice tinged with envy. “You’re so lucky to win such a great prize. I’ve never seen anyone win something this good before. If only I could win first prize sometime!”
With the woman’s repeated expressions of envy, Ke Ruobing’s unease gradually faded. She thought that as long as she didn’t have to pay, she probably wouldn’t get cheated.
“Since you’ve decided to take the scooter, come back to the salon with me. There are some forms you’ll need to fill out, and the scooter is there, too,” the woman said with a beaming smile.
Ke Ruobing nodded in agreement.
Just as she was about to follow the woman, the elderly man sitting some distance away suddenly spoke up. “Young lady, what have you got there? Let me try, too, and see if I can win a prize.”
Before Ke Ruobing could answer him, the woman laughed. “Come now, don’t joke. The beauty products at our salon aren’t any use to you, and this prize draw isn’t suitable for you either.”