Starting Work

Han Qingyu and the others were preparing to go work for Boss Dao. As it happened, most of the people who had previously worked for him were dead, so their luck was quite good. After saying this, Qian Daofeng froze for a moment himself, his hand pausing on the bottle cap. With an awkward chuckle, he said, "Still, you guys came out of the Azure military. Even if a tiger comes chasing and it's a contest of who runs fastest, I'm sure you won't be the ones left at the back." It was simple, direct logic: better a fellow Daoist perish than oneself. Phrased that way, it didn't sound particularly honorable, but Qian Daofeng didn't think there was much wrong with it. This was the default ecosystem here. This was the City of Iniquity. In the daily calculations of life and death, nobody acted like a gentleman with you; gentlemen had long since gone extinct here. "Don't worry. Compared to fighting, we're actually much better at running." Wen Jifei carried over some cups. There weren't enough to go around, so he gathered a few bowls to make up the difference, arranging them in a ring along the table. *So they really are slippery rascals after all. No wonder they got into trouble in the military.* "That's good, then," Qian Daofeng said, beginning to pour the liquor. As if doling out precious drops, he tipped the bottle down and right back up, down and right back up, leaving barely a shallow sip at the bottom of each cup and bowl. Even so, because there were so many people, nearly half the bottle disappeared. Qian Daofeng screwed the cap back on while awkwardly explaining, "Just in case Boss Dao decides to come eat here one of these days, gotta save a little." "Yeah, we... we're almost out of money," Ao Yong weakly added. After roughly two seconds of silence, Han Qingyu gave a nod, stepped forward to pick up his cup, and smiled at the two brothers. Not only did he show no awareness of offering to repay them for meals, he didn't even utter a "thank you." Qian Daofeng and Ao Yong quickly picked up their cups as well, and the group stood in a circle around the table. Aside from Rusty Sister holding an empty bowl to keep up appearances, everyone raised their liquor. "Well then, welcome to the City of Iniquity... survive," Qian Daofeng said earnestly. "All right. Survive." Downing the mouthful of liquor, everyone felt left wanting more. Qian Daofeng turned to glance at the remaining half-bottle already stowed back in the cupboard and gritted his teeth. "Tsk, ah, refreshing! That's it for today, then. Everyone get to bed early. You start work tomorrow, and there's plenty to prepare." "..." The entire next day, Han Qingyu's group didn't step outside. The five men each held an English study sheet, sitting below like schoolboys. Shen Yixiu and Zhe Qiuhong were the teachers. Out of the seven of them, only the two women knew English, yet neither could go work at the bar for fear of inviting trouble. In truth, Zhe Qiuhong would likely make a fortune opening a clinic, though that depended on her willingness, and it would have to wait until they established a firm foothold here before they could even consider it. "Pay attention, all of you! You're about to go out and work!" They had been at it all day, and what on earth were they reciting?! Teacher Iron Armor was thoroughly exasperated and barked at them fiercely. Because all their identifiable weapons—including the knight broadsword, Binggu Spear, and column sword—were temporarily stashed away, she used a combat sword as a pointer, slapping it against her palm with loud clanks as she chided, "Every single one of you slacked off in school back then!" The sheet listed English phrases they might need on the job, roughly thirty or forty in all. It wasn't very many and none were complicated, but for this bunch of hopeless slackers, memorizing them was an agonizing chore. "Wu Xu," Rusty Sister called out. Wu Xu looked up. "You have to say it out loud! You've got to read it aloud for it to stick, understand? When I learned on my own with a cassette recorder back then, I always read very loudly, and I'd even talk to the recorder. When the woman spoke a line, I'd pause it, talk back to her, and then press play again like that," Shen Yixiu said. "Mm." Wu Xu looked at her. The others nearby snickered under their breath. "Then you..." Rusty Sister thought for a moment. "Forget it, Teacher gives up on you. Han Qingqing! Yes, you! What did you score on your gaokao English exam? The nerve of you laughing at others!" Han Qingyu shot back, "What was your score?!" Shen Yixiu paused, then said, "I didn't take the gaokao." "Then that's a zero," Wen Jifei stated with absolute certainty. "Same as me," He Tangtang gloated. "..." Teacher Shen looked on the verge of flying into a berserk rage. *Thud, thud, thud.* The sound of banging buckets drifted over. Shen Yixiu was extremely sensitive to that sound. Of all her nicknames, the one she tolerated least was "Bucket Girl." Right now, her temper was already teetering on the edge, and she spun around on the spot, blade raised. "Who?! Who has a death wish?!" *Whoosh!* A cloud of dust billowed into their faces—the house hadn't been properly swept in ages. Qian Daofeng and Ao Yong's cheerful expressions slowly vanished, freezing at the doorway. *What's going on?! Did a sudden draft just blow in?* *An expert?! No, wait. There was zero source energy fluctuation just now.* *Did we upset her?* Qian Daofeng held two buckets in his hands. Ao Yong held three. Inside the buckets were five towels and five bars of soap. As of today, the brothers were officially, completely broke. *** "Draw your water first and stand there waiting. When the towels are dry, hang them right here on your shoulder. When you see a car pull up in front of the bar, rush over to help open the door, wipe down any dirty spots on the vehicle, and keep a sharp eye on it. Most importantly, when they come out after drinking and partying, make sure you hurry over immediately. If you're too slow, the tip might be gone, understand?" As dusk gradually settled, Qian Daofeng and Ao Yong took a detour in their truck to drop them off. In truth, the bar didn't open this early, but on their first day of work, it was better to arrive ahead of time. Ao Yong spent the entire drive rattling off various precautions. Han Qingyu and the other four nodded. "One more thing." Ao Yong hesitated, then said with deep caution, "If anything happens, remember you must endure it. Anyone who can afford to drink at a bar around here is someone we can't afford to mess with. Even if you can beat them in a fight, you still can't cross them, understand? Anyone who thrives in the City of Iniquity has backing behind them." "So what would they do?" He Tangtang asked. "Normally nothing too bad; after all, you count as bar staff," Qian Daofeng said while driving. "The real worry is if a customer gets drunk. If they shout at you or shove you around, just remember to keep your mouth shut and walk away. It's the same for us sweeping streets. If someone spits on you, just walk away and wipe it off yourself." "Actually, running into drunk customers has its perks too. They tend to be more generous with tips. Remember that story I told you about someone tipping a source energy block? That was from a customer who got drunk," Ao Yong said with a grin. As they spoke, the truck pulled up at a street corner in the Fifth District. The bar was not far ahead, clearly visible from where they stopped. "Good luck with work!" "Thanks." Han Qingyu and the other four climbed down from the truck and walked forward. Qian Daofeng and Ao Yong watched them hesitantly for a moment before driving off. "I'm not too worried about Brother Xiaoji and the Little Prince, but A-Xi..." "A-Xi really isn't anything to worry about either. You can tell at a glance he can endure anything. At worst, since he hates talking, he'll just get fewer tips. As for Old Tang, I worry he talks too much, but luckily he doesn't know English." "Yeah." In the cab, the two exchanged glances. In truth, the person they were most worried about was A-Jing. Because he was obviously the leader of the group, his pride would likely be quite strong, yet he was also the one who had picked up English best. "That scar on his face..." "Yeah, I'm worried a customer might find it repulsive and insult him." The heavy garbage truck rumbled away into the distance amidst their anxious fretting. At the same time, an old garbage truck near the brink of being scrapped rolled slowly into the shadows across from the bar in the Fifth District. Zhe Qiuhong was behind the wheel, and Rusty Sister had come along as well. Carrying all their worldly possessions in the back, they had come to watch Qingzi and the boys work their shift.