The Gate of Rebirth 09

Night fell, and rain began to pour outside the shop once more. Xiao Ming held his tablet, all the smart robots standing ready.

By eight o’clock, however, there were no customers, and neither Manager Luo nor Xiao Hong had arrived. A thousand questions raced through Xiao Ming’s mind.

Mother Chen walked to the front desk and brewed a cup of black goji berry tea for him. "I don't think there will be any work tonight."

Before Xiao Ming could ask why, Mother Chen had already left the shop, disappearing into the rainy night.

Xiao Ming gently closed the glass door, observing it carefully for a long time, yet he could not find a single thing wrong with it.

Just as he was puzzled, Xiao Hong walked into the shop through the rain. Having no umbrella, her upper body was nearly soaked through, her clothes clinging tightly to her skin, and she kept sneezing.

"I have a dry towel. Go to the staff quarters and dry off, or you'll catch a cold." This time, it was Xiao Ming’s turn to lead Xiao Hong to the quarters.

Although it was summer, being drenched in the night rain still brought a chill. Xiao Ming took his own t-shirt from the wardrobe and handed it to her. Watching her shiver, a thought occurred to him. He returned to the front desk, and when he reappeared before her, he handed her the cup of black goji berry tea Mother Chen had prepared for him. Xiao Hong did not refuse, quickly taking a few sips of the hot tea to warm herself.

Now wearing Xiao Ming’s t-shirt, Xiao Hong found his gaze drifting over her, finally settling on one spot.

"Have you seen enough!" Xiao Hong sounded a bit angry, though her tone was slightly coquettish.

Seeing her playful glare, Xiao Ming blushed from his neck to his face.

Looking at those charming eyes and her cherry lips, reddened by the hot tea, Xiao Ming couldn't resist the urge to lean in and kiss her.

His body grew tense with embarrassment, a reaction the sharp-eyed Xiao Hong noticed immediately.

Xiao Hong read his thoughts once more. With a faint smile, she did not pull away; instead, she took the initiative and kissed him lightly. Xiao Ming did not refuse.

The two lay side by side, staring blankly at the bare ceiling. Xiao Hong was the first to speak.

"Do you know where the manager and I were yesterday?"

"No," Xiao Ming replied, puzzled. "What happened?"

"Of course. We went to the main branch in District Nine for a meeting. Xiao Li reported our head office!"

"Xiao Li?! What did he report?"

"He had broken the shop's glass door earlier, and the boss ordered Manager Luo to pay fifty thousand in damages. Manager Luo tried to make Xiao Li cover forty thousand of it. Xiao Li felt the door wasn't actually broken and that Manager Luo was trying to extort him, so he reported the manager. The police saw it as a civil dispute and hoped for a settlement. Naturally, the company sided with Manager Luo—how could Xiao Li, all on his own, fight the company? So, in a fit of rage, he went straight to the court and sued the entire company."

Xiao Ming was confused. "If there was no hope in suing Manager Luo, how is suing the company any different?"

"It’s different. He accused all the Dairy KTV locations of secretly organizing illegal activities!"

"What? Does he have evidence?"

"He does. I always thought Xiao Li was just all talk, a paper tiger, but it turns out he provided quite a few recordings."

"Recordings? What kind of recordings?"

"I have one on my phone—it's the one Xiao Li submitted to the court."

"How could you possibly have evidence that Xiao Li submitted to the court?!"

"An average wage-earner suing a head office—isn't that like an ant trying to shake a tree, a laughable display of arrogance? Isn't that right, 'College Student'?"

"What will happen to Xiao Li? He won't..."

"I don't know what will happen to Xiao Li. Once he offended the big boss, it was beyond the control of ordinary people like us. The meeting last night was to inform our shop that the company has already found him. The matter of the glass door has been pinned entirely on Manager Luo; after all, he was the one who hired Xiao Li. Since Xiao Li caused so much trouble for the company, Manager Luo cannot escape responsibility. He’ll likely have to pay the fifty thousand himself—I suppose that’s the head office’s way of punishing him."

"That’s so unfair to Manager Luo!"

"Hahaha!" Xiao Hong suddenly burst into laughter. "Fairness? Are you kidding me?! The reason this world is interesting is precisely because of unfairness. Some are born tall, some short; some hold great power, while others are lowly and poor. Fairness is nothing but a joke, my dear college student!"

"But I just examined the glass door thoroughly, and I couldn't find anything wrong with it!"

"I couldn't find anything either, and neither could Manager Luo. But the company's procurement department has already inspected it. They say it’s broken, so it’s broken. Do you understand?"

"Calling a deer a horse... what does this mean?" Xiao Hong gazed blankly at Xiao Ming, her eyes drifting back to the ceiling, lost in thought.