Xiao Qiu left with a lot of confidence and ease. The day before, she had said she wanted to quit; the day after her declaration, she didn"t come to work. Although Xia Wei posted recruiting announcements online, it was unlikely she could recruit anyone so quickly. The new apprentice in the salon could only do simple designs, so Xia Wei ended up working all day with the exception of meals and the restroom.

She returned home dog-tired and collapsed on the living room sofa, essentially paralyzed. She used her final iota of strength to grab her cell phone with the intentions of pouring out her grievances to her best friends in their group chat. Once she opened the chat, however, she was dumbstruck. Today seemed to be a highly inauspicious day where everything went wrong, as everyone was pouring out their grievances in the group chat one after another.

Eight Treasures Congee Female Hero: 「Do you guys remember that supervisor I mentioned who demands we AA when going out to eat? Today, he deducted from the worker"s amount of s.h.i.+fts,1 harshly deducting the other project members" hours. f.u.c.k, it"s not like I haven"t seen this before, but his way of cutting a large half by a large half, I really have never seen before 『smile』 」

Invincible Little Sweetie: 「You"re back at the construction site?」

Eight Treasures Congee Female Hero: 「Mn, returned yesterday.」  

Eight Treasures Congee Female Hero: 「He asked if the money he collected was correct and if it was too much. I begrudgingly said yes. He thinks that if he cannot find the problem, he can just deduct a large half of the other"s s.h.i.+ft hours. s.h.i.+t, at that time, my expression was horrible; this is too evil.」

Invincible Little Sweetie: 「Then won"t the workers at the construction site complain? The money was all hard-earned by them; they should definitely know exactly how much they earned, right?」

Eight Treasures Congee Female Hero: 「Definitely. Either way, I told him that when he hands out the pay, he can explain it to the others himself. I"m not going to take responsibility.」

Not Losing 5kg Not Changing Name: 「Today, I also ran into a weirdo who said that he doesn"t like to talk to people, might be a little autistic, that sort of high maintenance『smile』f.u.c.k, I simply didn"t want to interact with his type of r.e.t.a.r.dness『smile』」

Eight Treasures Congee Female Hero: 「Hahahaha do you foreign exchange students have to speak English? 『smile』」

Not Losing 5kg Not Changing Name: 「It was him who said it, not me. 『smile』 He even said he wanted to write me a poem. 『smile 』」

Invincible Little Sweetie: 「&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;」   

Not Losing 5kg Not Changing Name: 「He said he previously met a girl who was an autistic genius. It"s genetic in her family. She read his writing and said it was good『smile』『smile』」

Eight Treasures Congee Female Hero: 「&h.e.l.lip;ask for a poem」  

Invincible Little Sweetie: 「Why do I think it"s even more likely he has a mental illness&h.e.l.lip;」  

Xia Wei finished scrolling through everyone"s chat history and only wanted to say that they were all truly friends—cursed by misfortune all at the same time.

Asking For Suicide At Eighteen This Year: 「I have also had very bad luck these past two days. The rent for my nail salon rose, and one of my nail artists quit too. She said she"s leaving and actually left.『goodbye』」

Eight Treasures Congee Female Hero: 「&h.e.l.lip; Then what are you going to do?」  

Asking For Suicide At Eighteen This Year: 「What can I do? I"ve given up all hope『smile』」  

Invincible Little Sweetie: 「A nail artist can"t say she"s leaving and then just leave, right? Your contract definitely must stipulate that she doesn"t get her last month"s pay if she leaves.」  

Asking For Suicide At Eighteen This Year: 「I certainly won"t give her pay『goodbye 』」  

Not Losing 5kg Not Changing Name: 「Why did she want to quit? Was your pay too low?」

Asking For Suicide At Eighteen This Year: 「In all honesty, my pay was already very high. According to high grade nail artists, I still had to give a base pay『goodbye』Today, I questioned the little apprentice for the truth, and she said that the nail salon over at Graceful General Merchandise came over to steal people.」  

Invincible Little Sweetie: 「Then you"re hiring?」  

Asking For Suicide At Eighteen This Year: 「Hiring, but good nail artists aren"t easy to find. Fortunately, I know how to do nail art. Otherwise, my nail salon might as well close down for good :)」

Eight Treasures Congee Female Hero: 「Therefore all of our rivers are running backwards&h.e.l.lip;?」[2. Figure of speech referring to bad luck」

Not Losing 5kg Not Changing Name: 「Sweetie seems to be doing all right&h.e.l.lip;」  

Invincible Little Sweetie: 「&h.e.l.lip; Continually working overtime, never surpa.s.sed :)」

Asking For Suicide At Eighteen This Year: 「『facepalm』」

Maybe she should go to the temple tomorrow to pay her respects.

Xia Wei sighed and sent a new Moment. 「A toast to this d.a.m.ned life~(￣▽￣)~*」

Everyone in the chat sent likes and toasted with her.

「What"s going on?」  

A new message suddenly appeared, stunning Xia Wei. Tao Yu—a name that had not been mentioned in a very long time.

She still remembered back when she had thought this name was very beautifully written.

Xia Wei: 「In regards to the nail salon, I might not be able to continue running it『facepalm』」  

Tao Yu: 「What"s the matter?」  

Xia Wei: 「Rent increased, nail artist quit, now the salon only has me to support it orz」

Tao Yu replied after a while, 「Working alone outside is hard and very exhausting. If you truly can"t continue persevering, then go home.」

Go home.

Xia Wei stared at these two words, her emotions seemingly touched by them.

Tao Yu was her senior high school cla.s.smate. He had very good grades and wore gla.s.ses, giving him a refined appearance. And while he was not the most handsome guy in her grade, he definitely had the best temperament. Although the majority of the girls in her grade had liked handsome, tall, and basketball-playing athletic committee members at that time, Xia Wei had always paid attention to him.

Because his grades were so good, Xia Wei liked asking him physics questions that she could have never made sense of in a lifetime whenever she needed help. He was always especially patient when helping her, even if it delayed his own studying. Xia Wei loved to gaze at his profile back when he had tutored her, always so gentle and conscientious. When he raised his head to ask her if she understood, she would become very embarra.s.sed.

Twiggy and all of them knew that she secretly liked Tao Yu—only Tao Yu did not. During those three anxious years of high school, she didn"t even think of confessing to him; she felt that this course of action was very good. Perhaps it was because she had frequently sought out Tao Yu about questions, but their relations.h.i.+p had been better than that of normal cla.s.smates; they would occasionally feed the stray cats around school together.
 

Speaking of the stray cats around school, the amount then could rival the amount in her neighborhood right now. They were completely unafraid of humans and normally liked reclining in the school"s knowledge-seeking pavilion to bask in the sun. Probably having been nurtured by the aura of the school"s literary reputation for a long time, each cat was unquestionably intelligent.

The school"s head instructor despised these stray cats. Every time during late-night study, the meows of stray cats could be heard—all the students were well aware that this meant that the head instructor once again went to catch cats!

When summer had began, Xia Wei and Tao Yu had been very worried the cats would be captured by the head instructor. They were unable to study at ease in the evenings, until they gradually realized that the head instructor was no match for these cats. She not only couldn"t catch a single cat, she had been fooled by all of them as well.

Later in the year, the students all pet.i.tioned for the school not to drive out the stray cats. The headmaster deliberately declared during a morning a.s.sembly that if the stray cats didn"t disturb everyone"s studying, then they would not be driven out.

The entire sports field had exploded into thunderous applause.

In the blink of an eye, a decade pa.s.sed. Senior year of high school remained vivid in her mind, but they had all changed into adults who now worked for a living and were constantly on the move.

A decade ago, could she have imagined that life would be so d.a.m.ned difficult?

Her gaze fell onto the two words, "Go home," on the screen. When surveyed about their aspirations in senior high school, her group of best friends filled in A City without any second thoughts. Twiggy even left the country directly afterwards. That time, they had only wanted to leave home and be as far away as possible.

Tao Yu was different from them. He had pa.s.sed the university entrance exam without any suspense and entered a top university, returning to teach their alma mater after he had graduated. Xia Wei used to not understand why he chose to return to D City, but now, she seemed to have gained some understanding.

Xia Wei: 「We"ll see. Are there still a lot of stray cats at school?」

Tao Yu: 「Mn, for some reason, every generation of stray cats like going to the pavilion.」  

Xia Wei: 「hahahahahaha, probably in order to absorb all that knowledge 2333」

Tao Yu: 「The cafeteria still sells lamb kebabs also. I remember you used to love eating this.」

Xia Wei: 「&h.e.l.lip; Why are you mentioning lamb kebabs so late at night?」   

Tao Yu: 「『laughs up his sleeve』」

Tao Yu: 「Do you want to come back to visit the school?」  

Xia Wei: 「We"ll see」

Still those two words.

Actually, it isn"t like I love that area much, but the place still has a cat I still like very much.

After saying goodnight to Tao Yu, Xia Wei rubbed her belly. She was&h.e.l.lip;somewhat craving lamb kebabs. There was a new mutton rice noodle shop that had opened up outside the neighborhood. Business was pretty good, and when Xia Wei had pa.s.sed by before, she had seen that they sold lamb kebabs.

She checked the time—almost 10:00PM. Since her lamb kebab craving was unwilling to cease, she crawled off the sofa, with some light struggling, and grabbed her keys and some change before das.h.i.+ng downstairs.

The rice noodle shop hadn"t closed yet, but the lamb kebabs were already sold out. The boss told her to come back tomorrow for breakfast. Xia Wei, unable to do anything, was forced to return empty-handed.

She was determined to come tomorrow in the morning!

Probably because the pressure these past few days have been too high, Xia Wei had a dream about painting Thousand-Hand Guanyin"s nails, causing her to wake up in fright. After getting out of bed and brus.h.i.+ng her teeth, Xia Wei patted her face, smiling as she looked at herself in the mirror. "Jia you, a new day in this d.a.m.ned life begins again."

While it was still busy at work in the morning, Xia Wei used the thought of the lamb kebabs and endured. At noon, she drove back with a purpose. Thinking how she had come early today, surely the lamb kebabs should not have been sold out yet!

And they hadn"t been sold out today. They hadn"t even begun to be sold yet. The boss said that lamb kebabs were sold in the evenings only.

Xia Wei: "&h.e.l.lip;"

Boss, can"t you understand my despair?

So, she ate a bowl of rice noodles inside the shop and awkwardly drove back to work. There were more guests in the afternoon than in the morning, so Xia Wei and the little apprentice were kept busy without any chance to rest. Hearing the little bell ding, Xia Wei"s heart tensed.

A madam who was at least thirty-years-old entered the store. A frequent visitor, she had, in the past, requested Xiao Qiu every time. This time was no exception. "Xiao Qiu isn"t here today? If I recall, she"s not on the holiday roster for today."

Xia Wei smiled apologetically at her and explained, "I apologize, Mrs. w.a.n.g. Xiao Qiu quit."

"Quit?" Mrs. w.a.n.g"s brows wrinkled. "Why did she quit? I come here specifically to get my nails done by her."

Xia Wei continued smiling tightly. "I am truly sorry for the inconvenience. How about I help you instead—if that would be alright with you?"

"You?" Mrs. w.a.n.g clearly didn"t have much trust in Xia Wei as she sized her up. "Are you capable of doing it?"

Xia Wei felt her smile tighten further. "I have also been certified as a high-level nail artist. Madam, rest a.s.sured." She took out her phone and opened up the photo alb.u.m. "These are all the nails I"ve done for clients. Take a look, Madam."

Mrs. w.a.n.g glanced at them and said, "Fine, how long will it take you?"

"I am almost done with this client; please wait a moment."

Mrs. w.a.n.g nodded and took out her phone, clicking open a photo for Xia Wei to see. "I want this one."

After Xia Wei saw the image, the corners of her lips invisibly thinned. Mrs. w.a.n.g didn"t seem to know that the nails in this picture were of an especially complicated design. Although she was certainly capable of doing it, it would take a lot of time.

"What, can"t do it?"

Xia Wei smiled. "I can. Madam, please wait on the sofa and rest."

Author"s Note:

Sorry, the trip these past two days + an accident + my great aunt happened by chance one after the other, so the updates were very unstable 『facepalm』 I also gave up all hope 『facepalm』

But today the regular updates should restart. Two days from now, it"ll become V protected at midnight. I just used life numerals. 『facepalm』

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