Chapter Nineteen: The Milk Tea Shop Part 3 (This is driving me crazy!)

Zhou Rui arrived just in time; only a few electric fans were left, and he managed to snag one. After shopping, he dashed back into the store, put on his uniform, and transformed back into a chosen worker, beginning his "wonderful" day as a wage earner.

The weather is really too hot.

Walking outside, you can feel the sweltering heat in the air, as if you were in a sauna.

As a result, a huge number of people are buying iced drinks.

Yun Xin, Zhu Lin, and Zhou Rui were extremely busy, and the queue outside was still very long, showing no signs of shortening.

Iced drinks, smoothies, ice cubes... anything with "ice" in its name is especially popular.

Zhu Lin was questioning her life choices: "Was my career path wrong back then? How did I end up so busy?"

At that moment, the next customer hurriedly asked, "Do you sell ice? Can you sell me some ice directly?"

"Huh?" Zhu Lin was taken aback by the question and paused for a moment before saying, "I'm sorry, we don't sell ice cubes separately."

"Then three cups of mung bean smoothie, with extra ice!" the customer emphasized.

Zhu Lin understood and added extra shaved ice to the guest's plate.

"Thank you!" The customer received the smoothie, but instead of opening it to drink, he pressed it directly to his face like an ice pack, and then hurriedly ran out.

"What's wrong?" Zhu Lin wondered.

But she didn't have time to think about that. Customers flooded into the store, each clamoring to buy an iced drink.

Three hours later, it finally quieted down.

Zhu Lin's hands were about to break from mixing drinks. She slumped weakly on the table and sighed from the bottom of her heart, "I shouldn't have been so greedy for drinks and started working here."

Three more female guests entered.

"A glass of iced milk tea, a glass of chilled plum juice, and a glass of chilled watermelon juice."

"Okay, just a moment." Zhou Rui stayed at his post and worked diligently.

Zhu Lin asked in a low voice, "It's working hours now, don't you guys have to work?"

A female customer laughed and said, "Going to work, but our area is experiencing a power outage and they're working on repairs."

"The air conditioning isn't working, and the desktop computers are automatically shutting down. What's the point of staying at the company? Why not come out, buy a drink, and enjoy the air conditioning to quench your thirst?" another joked. "Besides, even if we wanted to stay, the boss wouldn't. If we get heatstroke, it'll be considered a work injury."

Zhu Lin's expression became even more sorrowful.

On the same sweltering day, someone else gets paid to buy drinks, while I'm so busy I feel like collapsing. The difference is stark...

“It’s not just our area; the neighboring communities also lost power,” a female customer said earlier. “I heard that an elderly person was taking a nap with the air conditioner on when the power went out. Instead of waking up from the heat, the elderly person fainted, and their family quickly called an ambulance.”

“It’s not just that one, there are others,” his companion interjected. “There are many elderly people in the community, and some of them are in poor health and need to use ventilators. When the power goes out, the ventilators stop working.”

"I heard that the other family also made a call. When the ambulance arrived at the community, the two families were fighting over who could get in, and they almost got into a fight."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Rui's first reaction was, "Then the refrigerator won't work anymore? Won't the food in the refrigerator spoil?"

"There's nothing we can do if it's broken," the woman sighed. "What can residents do if the power company doesn't supply electricity?"

"They had assured us before that if everyone conserved electricity, we would definitely be able to get through this difficult time. But then the power went out just like that, and when we asked, they said there was a problem and they were working on repairs."

"Your drinks are ready."

Each female customer took a cup and left the shop with a smile.

Zhu Lin's worldview was completely shattered. "Is the situation really this bad?"

Yun Xin waved her phone. "Breaking news: The outdoor temperature is as high as 45 degrees Celsius. Children in the power outage area have already fainted."

Zhou Rui remained silent for a long time before muttering, "This is driving people crazy."

Zhou Rui thought he knew how serious the current situation was. But when he returned to his rented apartment, he realized he had underestimated it.

I brought the electric fan home, plugged it in, and it immediately started blowing hot air. But all it was blowing was hot air!

The room was already stuffy, and when the electric fan blew directly at me, it felt like all the heat was being blown in. Moreover, the feeling of chest tightness and shortness of breath caused by the high temperature didn't lessen at all even with the fan on.

Zhou Rui had been lying in bed forcing himself to fall asleep, but forty minutes later he was still wide awake.

"It's insane, it's really insane."

With no other option, Zhou Rui had to turn the air conditioner back on.

A cool breeze blew straight in, instantly dispelling the heat and restlessness. But the joy lasted only a few minutes before "snap—" the power went out.

Zhou Rui, “…”

Fortunately, it wasn't a regional power outage.

Zhou Rui turned the power back on and turned on the electric fan, finally getting a good night's sleep.

The next morning, he rushed to work during the morning rush hour. Just before he was about to leave, his landlady stopped him, saying, "I received a notice that the power company says the electricity bill will be raised starting next month, and it will be this much per kilowatt-hour."

The landlady made a gesture.

Zhou Rui's forehead veins throbbed. Power outages were frequent, tripping the circuit breaker whenever he used even a few appliances, and now electricity prices were going up… This was robbery!

The tenants remained silent, which did not stop the landlady from continuing, "You know, the electricity company charges me the same amount, and I charge you the same amount. You're going to be late for work, aren't you? Hurry up, or you'll get your wages docked."

After saying that, she left.

Zhou Rui remained standing there, gritting his teeth.

During lunch break, the three of them took turns resting.

Zhu Lin went out to eat and came back to gossip with Yun Xin. "I heard that a nearby supermarket lost power for several hours yesterday, and when the power came back on, the refrigerated food was no longer fresh. The supermarket was planning to throw the food away, and a lot of people were scrambling to grab it."

"With the power outage in the middle of summer, can those things still be eaten?" Yunxin wondered.

"I think so," Zhu Lin said, though she wasn't entirely sure. "I saw a lot of people scrambling for it."

Zhou Rui couldn't sit still any longer. "It's my turn to rest."

He ran out as he spoke.

"Hey, don't go—" Yun Xin saw a light gray mist suddenly appear around Zhou Rui and was about to stop him when Zhou Rui had already disappeared.

This doesn't count as ignoring advice.

The person didn't hear what she said at all.

"What's wrong?" Zhu Lin asked, puzzled.

"I have a bad feeling," Yunxin said.

However, the pale gray mist only suffered minor injuries and would not be fatal, so since she couldn't stop it, she simply stopped trying.

Zhu Lin became interested, "You have a sixth sense?"

“Yes.” Yun Xin nodded. “I don’t sense it often, but when I do, it’s always pretty accurate.”

"Wow—" Zhu Lin exclaimed in surprise, then realized something was wrong. "Why did your sixth sense stop him from going out?"

Yunxin shrugged.

Zhu Lin: "...Could it be that I've been too talkative and might have gotten him into trouble?"

When Zhou Rui arrived, the supermarket was indeed discarding goods, and there were indeed many people picking and choosing nearby.

Seeing this, he joined in immediately.

Zhou Rui chose a secluded spot and focused on buying the best-looking food.

"Kid, this is our territory. Leave your stuff here and go somewhere else." Three thugs with a roguish air surrounded him, their voices filled with malice.

"With so much food, why are you eyeing other people's food?" Zhou Rui didn't want to cause trouble and planned to take the food he had just picked out and leave.

Unexpectedly, the other party refused to let him go, saying, "Didn't I say that people can leave, but things must be left behind?"

Zhou Rui replied with two words, "No."

The thugs, probably feeling humiliated, gave a signal, and two of their underlings immediately rushed towards Zhou Rui.

Zhou Rui considered himself a skilled fighter and wasn't intimidated, so he refused to back down verbally. Little did he know his opponent would be so fast and his punches so powerful. He dodged one, but was then punched in the face by the other.

Zhou Rui immediately fell to the ground.

"You little brat, you're all talk and no action, yet you dare to be so arrogant." The thugs laughed triumphantly.

At this moment, the supermarket manager ran over and shouted, "Stop fighting! Stop fighting!"

Having stopped the fight, he turned around and roared, "Don't pick them up either! These are spoiled food, you can't eat them!"

Everyone was stunned.

Someone asked in confusion, "Isn't it a little stale?"

"Huh? I heard it just expired?"

"I do know that the power went out for a few hours, so I threw the food away. But it didn't say it was rotten or spoiled..."

"The food is rotten! Eating it will send you to the hospital, so don't pick it up!!" the supermarket manager emphasized again.

"Damn it, what is this? After all that, it's inedible!" The thugs were speechless. They threw the food down and left.

Zhou Rui was speechless.

This beating was completely inexplicable.

Most importantly, it was his own fault... If he hadn't come, nothing would have happened.

Zhou Rui wiped his mouth, got up, and walked back step by step.

On the other side, Zhu Lin was a little uneasy, but she pretended to be strong and said to Yun Xin, "Could it be that your sixth sense just happened to be wrong this time?"

Yun Xin didn't say anything, she just stared at her.

Zhu Lin's face fell. "Is there really no possibility of something going wrong?"

Yunxin refused to explain.

Zhu Lin walked back and forth in the shop, glancing outside every now and then.

Just then, Zhou Rui walked in with an injured face.

Zhu Lin paused, a pang of conscience gripping her.

"How did it get like this?" Yunxin asked.

"Don't even mention it." Zhou Rui looked annoyed and recounted what had happened.

Hearing that the supermarket was throwing away spoiled food that couldn't be eaten, Zhu Lin felt a little guilty and said disdainfully, "Why would you go pick it up in this hot weather? And get into a fight with someone."

Zhou Rui chuckled self-deprecatingly, "To save money, I guess."

He mentioned the increase in electricity prices for his rented apartment, saying, "My salary is already low, and I have to send some money home every month. In this hot weather, I can't leave without air conditioning. If the electricity price goes up again, I won't have money for food."

“Speaking of which,” Yunxin took out her phone, “a water treatment plant in the city has run into some problems, and water supply in some areas may be affected. Is your rental apartment complex on that list?”

Zhou Rui was stunned when he saw it. "...Included."

What devastating news!

It's bad enough that we can't turn on the air conditioner, but now we can't even take a shower?

Zhou Rui tried to remain calm, "Is it because there's no water when you turn on the tap?"

“No,” Yun Xin said with sympathy, “it’s dirty water that’s leaked out, the kind that hasn’t been treated. People are already criticizing it online.”

Zhou Rui lost his composure.

Tired, weary, let it all end!

(End of this chapter)