The next day, Lin Nan managed to wake up at ten o'clock with the help of his alarm clock.
However, compared to last night's late bedtime, he was still exhausted. He lingered in bed for quite a while before slowly crawling out.
"So sleepy..." Lin Nan mumbled as he grabbed his toiletries, heading to the balcony while yawning continuously.
He was still a bit dazed, almost poking his cheek with his toothbrush.
"I have an interview at twelve." Suddenly remembering why he had set his alarm to wake up early, he hurriedly gave his teeth a quick brush, washed his face, and rushed to change clothes before heading out.
The milk tea shop was located in a 3A-grade scenic area, situated on a mountain called Longfeng. Even by bus, it took two hours to reach the scenic area from school—and that was assuming no traffic jams and everything going smoothly. (TN: China has a rating system for tourist spots. It goes from 1A, the lowest, to 5A, the top-tier ones.)
Being a tourist area, one could imagine how many customers would flood in during National Day, which was why the milk tea shop was temporarily recruiting part-time servers, fearing they wouldn't be able to keep up with demand.
By the time Lin Nan arrived at the scenic area by bus, it was already 12:30 PM. Although it was only the first day of National Day, the tunnel leading to the scenic area was already congested, stretching what should have been a two-hour journey into two and a half hours.
Lin Nan was having second thoughts.
If he had to commute this long every day, forget about enjoying the holiday—he might die from exhaustion without even knowing how it happened.
But clinging to a glimmer of hope, he still wanted to talk with the milk tea shop's manager.
The milk tea shop was near the scenic area's bus stop, and he found it without much searching.
Walking up, he noticed there were three male servers inside.
"Hello, I'm here for the scheduled part-time interview," he approached the counter, looking up at the cashier. "Is the manager here?"
"I am the manager. Lin Nan, right?" The young man gave Lin Nan a once-over, finding something odd about him, and could only manage an awkward but polite smile. "Are you... male or female?"
Lin Nan was stunned for a moment but answered without hesitation: "Male."
Though he knew he had been becoming more feminine as time passed, he hadn't realized it had reached the point where others couldn't tell his gender. Was it because his hair had grown too long? But except for that poor-sighted dormitory supervisor uncle, no one had ever questioned this before.
Then again, his dormmates and classmates saw him every day, so naturally wouldn't notice the gradual changes in Lin Nan.
Understanding this point, Lin Nan forced a smile and asked, "May I ask about the wages? And working hours?"
"Let's talk inside." Seeing customers arriving, the manager led Lin Nan to the deepest seats in the milk tea shop. After briefly introducing the shop's situation, he answered the questions, "Since you're part-time, the wages won't match full-time staff. I'll give you fifteen yuan per hour, working from 9 AM to 9 PM, so that's 180 yuan per day."
"Twelve hours?"
"If there are many customers, we might work until ten when the scenic area closes."
Hearing this, Lin Nan's mouth twitched, finding the terms hard to accept.
"When there aren't customers, you can sit down and play on your phone, or take a walk around the scenic area, but you must be ready when customers arrive. Two meals are included."
No, during National Day, where would there be time to play on phones? Working until ten would probably be the norm.
He turned to look at the counter. Perhaps he had arrived at just the right moment earlier and hadn't encountered any customers, but now, just after their brief conversation, there was already a small queue of five or six people at the shop entrance.
Lin Nan frowned as he considered, feeling this part-time job was nearly impossible for him to accept.
Starting at 9 AM meant he would need to catch the bus before 7 AM, wake up around 6 AM, and finishing at 10 PM meant returning to the dorm at midnight. Even if he fell asleep immediately upon return, he'd only get six hours of sleep.
It's not like he was so poor he couldn't afford food—was there any need to enter the 996 lifestyle early? (TN: 9 AM to 9 PM, 6 days a week. Is often used when referring to China’s tech industry.)
That supermarket on the pedestrian street had also called him about three flyer distribution shifts during the National Day period, which would be much easier work for him.
"Um, sorry," Lin Nan smiled and nodded. "I'll think about it."
The young manager heard the implied meaning in his words and didn't mind, simply returning to work behind the counter.
Getting up early, taking a two-and-a-half-hour bus ride, only to get this result—Chen Yao could have at least asked about the working conditions beforehand.
Lin Nan sighed deeply as he got up to leave.
But since he was already at the scenic area, he couldn't leave empty-handed, so he decided to take a leisurely walk around by himself and grab some lunch while he was at it.
This scenic area was a small mountain, featuring various attractions from bottom to top: an amusement park, water park, outlets, and other commercial buildings, along with many developed natural scenic spots and tourist attractions. Lin Nan wasn't particularly interested in the amusement park, but as he walked out of the milk tea shop and looked up, he spotted the massive Ferris wheel in the distance.
Having grown up in a county town, Lin Nan had only seen such things on TV. His interest was immediately piqued, though his slight fear of heights made him hesitant.
"Should I... try riding it?" After all, nobody around here knew him, so even if he embarrassed himself on the Ferris wheel, it wouldn't matter much.
He took a deep breath, and after a moment's hesitation, finally gathered his courage and bought a ticket to enter the amusement park.
Though there were many tourists on the first day of National Day, it was just pleasantly lively. After passing attractions like the carousel and pirate ship, Lin Nan finally reached the Ferris wheel that many tourists were admiring.
The Ferris wheel had seemed enormous from afar, but up close, looking up made it seem to pierce the sky itself.
While there were many onlookers, the queue for the Ferris wheel wasn't very long. Lin Nan bought a ticket and waited in line for one round before his turn came.
The ticket price wasn't expensive, just thirty-one yuan per person. Following the staff's arrangement, Lin Nan entered a "cabin" with two strangers, gripping the handrail beside his seat tightly while casting curious yet fearful glances out the glass.
These two strangers were friends traveling together, sitting opposite Lin Nan. One of them, seeing his nervous demeanor, asked with a smile.
"Already scared before we've even gone up?"
"A bit afraid of heights," Lin Nan swallowed, only now taking the time to observe the two people across from him after being spoken to.
One was thin, one was fat, both with the youthful looks of students—probably university students taking advantage of the holiday to have fun.
"You came alone?" The thin one was clearly more outgoing, while the fat one just kept his head down, playing with his phone without a word.
"Looking for part-time work, thought I'd take a ride while I'm here."
"How old are you? High school student?"
Lin Nan wasn't pleased with that, looking up to glare at him: "Sophomore in college!"
First being asked about his gender, now his age being misjudged, Lin Nan was getting irritated.
However, just as he was about to retort, his cabin suddenly moved, slowly and shakily rising into the air. Lin Nan immediately forgot everything else, both hands gripping the left handrail tightly as he nervously watched various buildings gradually shrinking through the window. His heart rate quickly increased, his palms grew sweaty, and his face began to pale.
So high...
"It's about to start," said the person opposite.
Lin Nan tried to calm himself a little and looked up to ask, "Can we still get down now?"
Before getting an answer, the Ferris wheel's rotation began to gradually speed up, the cabin's swaying becoming more intense. The swaying, the feeling of weightlessness, combined with his fear of heights made Lin Nan feel like he might be thrown out at any moment. He could only grip the handrail tightly, press against the backrest, and continue enduring through gritted teeth.
Before long, he began shouting in his mind.
Let me down!!!
Damn it, I want to get down!!!
I won't do this stupid stuff again!!!
...
When the Ferris wheel stopped, Lin Nan opened his eyes like a survivor of a disaster.
Wiping his eyes, he discovered he had actually been scared to tears.