GDRG CH12

Chapter 12: Green Tea’s Overtime Pay

One week ago.

In July, all of America entered the peak of summer. Even in M City in the north, the sun shone brightly, and the temperature rose to an unprecedented 32 degrees. Shi Xueqing broke into a sweat while climbing the hill to the library.

Fortunately, Eiffer was afraid of the heat, so the air conditioning in the rare books library was set to a very low temperature. When Shi Xueqing got to the office on the fourth floor, he put his jacket back on. Eiffer saw him arrive and greeted him with a smile, “Cyan, good morning.”

“Good morning, Mr. Eiffer. You’re here so early,” Shi Xueqing said.

He sat down at his seat and continued organizing from where he had left off yesterday. Eiffer was very satisfied with his diligent work attitude and gave him a bag of cookies before he went out. Holding the overly sweet American cookies, Shi Xueqing thought with satisfaction that after two weeks of adjustment, he had completely understood this little old man’s personality.

Eiffer was a traditional old man, a bit pedantic in his academics, but very lenient with students who had a serious attitude. For the past two weeks, Shi Xueqing had worked diligently from nine in the morning to eight at night every day. Not only did he put in his eight hours, but he also spent an extra three hours supplementing his knowledge on the related subjects. Eiffer saw it all and, in addition to his appreciation for this hard-working, all-A international student, he also felt a bit of guilt, even advising Shi Xueqing to spend more time resting at his young age. The library work wasn’t urgent and could be continued after the school year started.

Just like that, Shi Xueqing received a high evaluation that even his senior female classmate had never gotten. But he thought to himself, he would never ask for leave to rest.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t feel at ease taking this high salary of one thousand a week.

Shi Xueqing had always been very dedicated, as long as there was money. And it was foreseeable that he would be even more dedicated to his studies next semester because the international office had informed him that his application for an 8000 scholarship had been approved. If he performed well next semester, he would have the opportunity to apply for more scholarships.

Seeing this email in the morning, Shi Xueqing’s eyes lit up.

Eiffer came back from getting water outside, saw his joyful expression, and asked him what good thing had happened.

Shi Xueqing was also very direct: “A new source of income.”

Eiffer wasn’t his target for manipulation; in front of the old librarian, he certainly didn’t need to put on an act. Eiffer misunderstood the source of the income and smiled, “Oh. Your pay for the first two weeks has come in?”

What, work-study pay was issued every two weeks?

Shi Xueqing opened his banking app. This morning’s two-week salary lay quietly inside. After taxes, the salary wasn’t quite 2000, but it was still much more than what he earned making milk tea.

Two pieces of good news in one day. Shi Xueqing worked even harder, and his efficiency doubled. Eiffer had something to do in the afternoon, and seeing that he was working quickly, he simply let him get off work on time.

Shi Xueqing left the library at five o’clock. The sun’s heat was still lingering in the sky. While reminiscing about the coolness of the library, he was also glad that he didn’t have to make milk tea in such weather.

Speaking of making milk tea, the boss still hadn’t transferred his remaining 240. With a mind to show off, Shi Xueqing adjusted his appearance in front of a glass window, determined to take his revenge in style, like a returning dragon king coming to claim his salary.

He arrived at the familiar street, only to be surprised to find that the milk tea shop was being shut down for rectification.

Two weeks away, what happened?

Before he could vent his anger, Shi Xueqing started to panic a little. Don’t you dare run away, you black-hearted boss. He still had 240 to collect. That was 60 cups of matcha latte.

Fortunately, the lucky float finally favored his summer. As he was wandering in the back alley, he happened to run into the boss returning to the shop to get something. Unlike his bossy demeanor two weeks ago, the boss’s brows were deeply furrowed, he was covered in dust, and his posture was wretched.

And Shi Xueqing’s shirt was neat, his hair not a single strand out of place, and he even carried the clean, bookish scent of the library.

Their eyes met. Shi Xueqing smiled elegantly and, without saying anything else, directly asked for his money.

“Money? You want to die… I don’t know who I’ve offended recently, the shop got reported and has been shut down for rectification…”

“Wow. Boss, I heard that a person’s character and their luck are conserved. There’s an old Chinese saying that goes, if you do too many bad things, you’re prone to bad luck,” Shi Xueqing said without a trace of sympathy.

He thought to himself, which American lord of justice came and finally took care of this shady shop. Even if it was only closed for a week, he felt his anger subside.

The boss fell silent. He looked at Shi Xueqing suspiciously, and after a while, he actually lowered his head and transferred the money.

He even rounded it up, giving him an extra 160.

“Why did you give me an extra 160?”

“Overtime pay. Take it or leave it.”

Shi Xueqing thought, has the sun risen from the west? The boss suddenly had a conscience. But if the boss was giving money, he might as well take it.

He left happily with the money. The boss was left alone, watching Shi Xueqing’s back with suspicion and vigilance.

Shi Xueqing’s unintentional words just now had indeed sparked a certain association in the boss’s mind. If he had offended anyone recently, it could only be Shi Xueqing.

Could the milk tea shop being shut down for rectification have something to do with Shi Xueqing?

People like the boss were the type to bully the weak and fear the strong. Don’t be fooled by his usual bossiness; when he was really being dealt with, he wouldn’t dare to retaliate. Instead, he became cautious, even giving Shi Xueqing an extra 160.

After returning, the more he thought about it, the more this idea seemed plausible. Although Shi Xueqing was an international student with no power or influence, international students knew how to deal with official institutions better than old Chinese immigrants like him. Besides, an international student was still a student. Who knew if one of his classmates was a big shot whose family had connections with local institutions.

In the future, he really couldn’t casually bully these international students anymore.

With this thought, he got up again, transferred another two hundred and fifty to Shi Xueqing’s account, and gave him a call: “I’ll give you another 250. Our grievances are settled. From now on, let’s not bother each other!”

After speaking, he hurriedly hung up the phone.

Shi Xueqing, who was eating in a restaurant: …Why did he suddenly give me money again?

He paid the ten-dollar bill for his meal, staring blankly at the 650 dollars he had received from the milk tea shop boss today.

Slowly, the confusion turned into happiness.

American lord of justice!

Shi Xueqing had no idea that the person who had indirectly brought this about was a Chinese lord of justice, and one who looked at him with utter disdain, Xing Jun. He walked downhill towards home, the wind whistling into his shirt, giving him the feeling that he could fly if he just jumped.

“Look, the sky smiled.”*

“The light is expanding. Is summer coming soon?”*

This sentence flashed through his mind. He went to the supermarket and bought a bag of yellow lemons.

When Shi Xueqing returned to his studio, it was a rare occasion that he posted on his social media not to bait someone. He poured fresh lemon slices into cold water, photographed a book of poetry, and placed it next to his scholarship approval notice, posting an update.

“Summer belongs to prose and lemons.
To the eternal idleness of imagining a return”*

His fingers tapped lightly to post. He leaned against the balcony, pressing the glass of lemonade to his face, and in the coolness that reached his skin, he looked at the small city in the distant night.

The night was so peaceful, so beautiful.

At this moment, he looked down at his notifications. Xing Wei had liked his post. Before Shi Xueqing could smile, the next like made his expression freeze.

The glass tilted, and lemonade dripped, dampening the floor.

The person who liked his post was his stepfather.

—This post, born of genuine joy, was sent too quickly. He had forgotten to block him.

Very occasionally, Shi Xueqing would post a “pity me” post visible only to his stepfather, so he hadn’t completely blocked him.

…

“America is really a good place to make a fortune. That scholarship of yours, how much is it in RMB? Fifty or sixty thousand?”

“I’ve already paid your tuition for next semester. As a student, you don’t need much money, do you?”

“I don’t want to either, but business has been slow recently, and I’m tight on cash. I need some funds to keep things running…”

“Don’t give me that. My tuition was clearly my mother’s money.” Shi Xueqing’s face was ashen. When facing this person, his hands always trembled with anger. “The money you use for your business, isn’t that my mom’s money too?”

The other person chuckled, with a look of utter fearlessness. “But your mom is in a mental hospital now, isn’t she? Bipolar disorder, one of the six major mental illnesses.”

“…”

“Besides raising your mother, I’m also raising your little sister… how old is she this year, 13? You were insisting on sending her to a boarding school before. Boarding school is also quite expensive. Several tens of thousands a year.”

“…”

“How about we just bring her back? What do you think?”

“…You just want money, don’t you? I’ll send you the money,” Shi Xueqing said coldly. “My scholarship hasn’t arrived yet. I can only send you one thousand.”

“RMB?”

“You want US dollars? I don’t have that much!”

The person on the other end probably figured that Shi Xueqing had really reached his limit. He chuckled and didn’t push him further. Just as he was about to hang up, the person said, “Congratulations on the scholarship.”

“…”

“Work hard. I heard that many people in America study on full scholarships, without having to spend a penny on tuition. The economy hasn’t been good these few years. Maybe next year, there won’t be any money to pay your tuition.”

The call ended.

The night scene before him changed its appearance. The buildings spun in anger. Shi Xueqing slammed the glass, now empty of lemonade, onto the table with a “bang!”.

He looked for someone to exchange currency and transferred two thousand yuan to his stepfather via WeChat. Then, he went back to his room and took out that scarf.

The wrapping paper was still intact, unopened. He touched it through the thin paper and listed it on a second-hand app.

At first, he listed it at a low price. Soon he regretted it, feeling that there was no rush, and added 50 dollars to the low price.

Finally, he sat back down on the 9-dollar frisbee chair he had bought on sale. He didn’t turn on the lights, burying himself in a patch of shadow. He stared at the moon outside the window, the pale moonlight reflecting on his furrowed brow.

He wanted money.

Ultimately, Shi Xueqing got up from the frisbee chair. He carefully wiped his phone camera, pointed it at the moon, and took dozens of photos of the moonlit scene.

After careful selection, he finally found one that was usable.

The next day, he got up early and took a bus to a nearby temple. This small city actually had a temple, although it had crossed the ocean and was built in a style that was neither Chinese nor Western. He searched around and managed to find what he remembered, what he needed.

Returning to the library, before his nine o’clock shift, he opened Instagram and his social media. For the past few days, Xing Wei had been holed up in M City, chasing her idol. She seemed to be in a bad mood, maybe she had a fight with her brother or something. A few days ago, Shi Xueqing had heard her complaining to her best friend about her brother’s domineering ways, and she even said she wanted to organize another trip in July and find people to travel with.

Go traveling.

He carefully selected the pictures and, looking at the photo of the temple, he edited the caption.

“I am heavily in debt, utterly defeated, and bear a secret, heavy shame.”

“But when I came to pray, I trembled, afraid that my prayers would be answered.”*

His finger paused on the screen. As he was about to post it, Shi Xueqing deleted the first sentence, word by word, leaving only the second half.

Then, he deleted the second half as well and replaced it with a new caption.

“I will use every summer hereafter to trace that moon.”*

There were nine pictures. Four were completely black. The five that had images were of a long flight of stairs, a temple, the moon, and a patch of orange-red flower vines at the temple.

The last picture was not taken at the temple, but at the Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle. The iconic orange-red flower vines in the art garden were extremely similar to the flower vines in the temple—especially under Shi Xueqing’s deliberate camera angle.

He had been there with Xing Wei and her group.

Shi Xueqing looked at it over and over, very satisfied, feeling that Xing Wei would definitely understand his hint this time.

With a tap of his finger, he posted it.