Scholar’s Advanced Technological System

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

2014, City of Jin Ling, China

The blazing hot sun in June was heating up the ground as if it were trying to evaporate every last bit of water from the asphalt roads.

Lu Zhou listened to the sound of cars honking and looked at the busy people rushing along the streets. He stood in front of the Telecom Business Hall as he stared straight at the roads. Although cooled air occasionally blew across his back, his thick costume prevented him from experiencing the luxury of air conditioning.

Someone might ask, why was he here?

Of course, it was for survival…

Okay, let’s clarify.

Telecom Business Hall partnered with Vivo phones to do a promotion over the summer holidays. Workers were paid 60 yuan an hour to stand outside the door in a puppet costume. The pay was almost double the pay of him handing out flyers and not to mention, he did not have to suffer from people rolling their eyes at him. Additionally, because the temperature outside was over 30 degrees, he would receive a 10 yuan per hour bonus. This added up to a total of 70 yuan per hour.

After Lu Zhou heard about the salary, he did not even hesitate before accepting the job.

Analyzing it logically, if on average he worked five hours a day, that amounted to 350 yuan a day. If he worked thirty days a month, that would add up to 10,500 yuan.

Who would have thought that a six-figure job was actually located at the entrance of the Telecom Business Hall?

Of course, Lu Zhou knew that even the rich and powerful Huawei could not afford to do promotions every day, much less a company like Vivo.

However, even if he only worked for a week, he would still earn 2600 yuan.

Just as Lu Zhou got so bored that he started to count the number of leaves on a parasol tree, a fat and dark-skinned man who was wiping the sweat off his face walked towards him.

The fat man’s name was Wu Dahai, and like Lu Zhou, he also majored in mathematics at the University of Jin Ling. However, Wu Dahai was two years older. He was in his third year and would be going into his fourth year in a couple of months. He was the manager of these part-time working students. It was him that introduced Lu Zhou to this puppet costume wearing job.

“Lu Zhou, are you okay? How about we find someone to replace you? You can go rest in the Telecom Business Hall for a bit,” said Wu Dahai. His physique was not made for this kind of horrible heat. His whole body was drenched as if someone just lifted him out of the water.

Even though he really wanted to rest, Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “I’m okay, I can still maintain for a bit.”

“I said, are you really okay or not? You’ve been standing here for a whole afternoon,” said Wu Dahai with a worried expression on his face.

He was actually scared that the guy was going to get a heat stroke.

“I’m fine, honestly. You don’t need to worry about me,” said Lu Zhou. As he firmly shook his head, he added, “I’ll finish in an hour. I’ve already been here for so long, I can do an hour more. Don’t you agree?”

Wu Dahai looked at Lu Zhou and hesitantly said, “Okay… I won’t worry about you then.”

“Yeah, go and do your own stuff.”

Wu Dahai saw how firm Lu Zhou was, so he did not persist.

Actually, Wu Dahai felt lucky.

After all, it was difficult to find someone who would be willing to work in this hot weather. There were quite a lot of part-time workers, but most were not as hardworking as Lu Zhou. Otherwise, it could have resulted in Wu Dahai having to wear the “puppet costume” himself.

After the fat guy walked away, Lu Zhou turned back and continued to stare at the parasol tree outside of the Telecom Business Hall.

Suddenly, Lu Zhou felt the view in front of him was looking kind of weird.

Why are the people on the street… flying towards the sky?

His legs felt weak and his entire body fell onto the ground.

With what remaining consciousness that he had, he heard the sound of footsteps hurrying towards him and shouting coming from the Telecom Business Hall.

“The mascot at the front door is having a heatstroke!”

“Quick, take off his helmet and bring him some water!”

“F*ck me, Lu Zhou, please tell me you are okay!”

“No response, not good. Quick, send him to the hospital!”

“Use my car!”

“…”

The last ray of light vanished from his sight bringing forth endless darkness…

…