16 Three Articles of Agreement

Three Rules Outside the Labor Contract

First: Nothing has ever happened between you and me, and it will never happen again, remember that.

Second: Please maintain a sense of propriety among colleagues and prohibit any language or behavior that contains any x-suggestion, x-teasing, or x-harassment.

Third: If you violate the above two items, you will be dismissed immediately.

Xu Zhiqian was lying shirtless on the small bed in the single room of the Scream Youth Hostel, savoring the remaining warmth on the sheets after the fierce physical fight. When he saw the WeChat message from the person with the green landscape avatar, his heart suddenly felt like it was hit by an ice hammer, painful and cold.

This woman... the legendary one who won't recognize anyone when she pulls up her pants?

He excitedly sat up with a somersault, but the movement was too big and the right corner of his forehead accidentally rubbed the ceiling.

"Ouch!"

He covered his head and screamed, his right forehead was burning, as if a piece of skin had been rubbed off.

I glanced down and saw another WeChat message pop up on my phone screen: Do you have any questions?

This damn feeling of oppression!

He forgot the pain, hesitated for a few seconds, and replied: No problem.

It feels both satisfying and reluctant.

Never mind, she took the initiative once, I took the initiative once, at least it's a draw, I didn't suffer any loss! He comforted himself.

But the next second, his lower lip hissed in pain. He licked it and it seemed to have a bloody taste... Damn, it seems like he still suffered a loss!

He was pulled into the WeChat group "The Best is Like Water" with no tears in his eyes.

I immediately received two friend requests from two other members of the WeChat group: one avatar was of a cute girl sitting in a white bathtub in a daze, and the other avatar was a photo of a family of three.

Xu Zhiqian accepted the friend requests one by one and sent a smiley emoji. Before he could exchange pleasantries, his new boss sent a number of files in the group, including videos, word documents, and excel spreadsheets. He then reminded them: We will pick you up at the entrance of the Smile Cafe at 3:00 p.m. sharp. You should study first while you have some free time.

He immediately replied with an "Yes, sir" expression.

The Screaming Cafe is just across the street from the Screaming Hostel, and that was where they had their first interview.

Turning the interview into sex was not part of Xu Zhiqian's original plan, and it was certainly beyond Zhang Chenling's expectations.

On the day when the two met by chance at the "Old People's Expo", Xu Zhiqian took the flyer that Zhang Chenling accidentally dropped on the ground for himself.

That night, this man who had never used Xiaohongshu specially registered an account, gave himself a two-dimensional name "Yukinoshita", and changed his two-dimensional avatar to confuse the public.

The only account he follows is "Shangshan Ruoshui - Home Bathing Help."

However, he did not rush to contact Zhang Chenling immediately. Instead, he consulted almost all the information on bathing assistance and after many days of careful consideration, he finally determined that he wanted to participate in this cause from the bottom of his heart, and then he carefully sent a private message.

Xu Zhiqian couldn't understand why he couldn't find a suitable job after losing his job. After all, he graduated from a prestigious university and was an engineer with rich work experience.

However, entering the industry early was both a blessing and a curse: he experienced the entire process of wearable devices from booming to declining.

Ten years ago, a domestic brand pioneered the release of a smart wristband, creating a sensation and attracting major manufacturers. His team expanded from fewer than ten people to over a hundred, and he was promoted from "Xiao Xu" to "General Manager Xu." However, the good times didn't last for a few years. The market quickly entered a mature stage, with fierce brand competition and severe product homogeneity. Coupled with a deteriorating environment, the industry underwent a period of volatile adjustments, and the bubble fueled by blind optimism and hype was gradually crushed. Consequently, at the end of last year, he was not spared from the drastic departmental restructuring.

After graduating from a large company, he kept sending out resumes, but was frequently rejected because he was over 35 years old. In less than half a year, he fell from the peak of his career and became a marginalized person in this society.

The word "edge" sounds good, but in fact he didn't even touch the edge.

He thought about it over and over again and felt that the job of a bath assistant would allow him to return to society, create value, and regain his sense of existence. This was more meaningful to him now than making money.

Of course, Zhang Chenling was also one of the incentives for applying for this job.

At nine o'clock in the morning, Zhang Chenling walked into the Smile Cafe on time. When she saw the interview candidate sitting in the corner, her first reaction was: Oh my god!

The second reaction was: Fortunately Ni Yue didn’t come along!

This time, she firmly established her image as a strong woman who could remain calm in the face of chaos. She did not turn around and run away when she saw her sex partner like before, nor did she show any panic or embarrassment. She took a deep breath, walked over with her chin raised, and said to Xu Zhiqian in a calm tone:

"Hi, see you again!"

…

Just like the rainy night when they first met, they exchanged pleasantries as if nothing had happened.

Xu Zhiqian formally expressed his determination to join Shangshanruoshui.

And showed his personal website to Zhang Chenling.

Zhang Chenling glanced at him and said coldly, "You are so talented, isn't it a waste of your talent to work as a bath assistant here?"

He frowned and said, "Don't get me wrong, I was afraid you would think I had no industry experience, so last night I specially added my experience of volunteering in the community and teaching in the mountainous areas to the website, and also posted a lot of photos from that time.

"Oh, so..." Zhang Chenling also frowned, and after a while she said, "Then let me think about it."

…

Her deliberate disguise of calmness was quickly seen through by Xu Zhiqian.

So, he was obsessed and moved closer and closer. Before she could refuse, he grabbed those two sparkling lips steadily, accurately and fiercely.

Xu Zhiqian quickly looked through all the bathing assistance information, and in the afternoon he rushed to take on the first order in his bathing assistance career.

The client is "Grumpy Old Deng" who lives alone in a large villa in the western suburbs.

On the way to the western suburbs, Ni Yue explained to her new teammates: Although the client's nickname is "Grumpy Old Deng", he is actually very kind-hearted and considerate. He was the first to discover that Xiao Ma Ge was sick, and even they and Xiao Ma Ge's wife didn't notice it. So, she decided to change his nickname to "Considerate Old Deng"!

Ni Yue immediately took out his mobile phone and opened the Excel spreadsheet.

"Hey, hey, hey, those nicknames like Lao Deng were all given by you, an educator. I had no involvement!" Zhang Chenling was eager to distance herself from her cousin, not forgetting to play dirty tricks on her. "We've always respectfully called him Mr. Wang!"

The sisters' description of Mr. Wang made Xu Zhiqian extremely curious.

But after the bathing was completed, he couldn't help but complain in his heart that Lao Deng should be called Dad!

The daddy flavor is too strong!

Mr. Wang always likes to treat newcomers with respect. When he saw Xu Zhiqian, he immediately started the microphone and said, "Are you new here? How can you be so dejected and hold your chest like a woman?"

Xu Zhiqian's ears turned red and he quickly puffed out his chest muscles.

"...Xiao Xu, how can your hands be so soft? Use force! Do you understand? Where has the masculinity of men gone?!" Mr. Wang scolded him again just as the bathing had begun.

Zhang Chenling almost burst out laughing when she heard this. Afraid that Xu Zhiqian would be embarrassed, she pretended to cough to cover it up.

Ni Yue didn't care and laughed so hard that he almost choked.

Xu Zhiqian was so embarrassed that his face turned red and his neck became thick. He immediately increased the strength, rubbing Mr. Wang so hard that he screamed in pain... So, the two men jumped back and forth between "harder" and "gentler".

However, despite being annoying, Mr. Wang became more and more considerate to them. When his son hired a new nanny, he asked her to wait on him while he was bathing. He kept ordering her around, asking her to wipe the sweat off the three children, serve them tea and water, and even feed them strawberries with a fork.

"I can't tire my children out, or they won't come again!"

…

After taking a shower, he arranged for everyone to stay for afternoon tea as usual, and asked them if they had time to play poker with him.

Zhang Chenling joked, "Of course, but we have to charge by the hour."

Mr. Wang was quite happy: "No problem, I'll ask those two stupid Xiao Nings to pay and say that the shower time was extended!"

With the gathering of three more people, the two sisters finally felt relieved.

Unexpectedly, good times come after bad times, and good things come in pairs.

In the evening, as soon as Zhang Chenling walked into the house, she received a call from Mr. Wang.

"Chen Ling, I've got an opportunity to appear on a CCTV talk show, and I've also got interviews with two major media outlets, but they're probably going to be scheduled for two weeks from now!"

"Oh my God! For such a wait, I can wait for two months or even two years, let alone two weeks!" Zhang Chenling was so happy that she almost jumped up and expressed her gratitude profusely.

"Don't thank me yet," Mr. Wang said politely. "When people heard you were in the bathing business, they all expressed strong interest. This shows that your project has great social significance."

Zhang Chenling smiled and said, "I'm not sure what the social significance is, but it's definitely a topic of discussion. After all, the bathing dilemma faced by the elderly, the weak, the sick and the disabled is a problem that every Chinese person may face."

Mr. Wang sighed and agreed. "Elderly care is really a sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of the Chinese people. It's hard to say when it will fall. I didn't tell you the last time we met, but my family's been in trouble lately. My parents have been sick one after another. My sister is in Beijing and can't help, so my wife and I have to take turns running to the hospital. It's been quite stressful these past few days. Yesterday, my dad went to the hospital for a follow-up checkup, and we couldn't get away, so we found a young woman to accompany him. In less than half an hour, we lost 500 yuan."

"Five hundred yuan?" Zhang Chenling's jaw dropped. "Why is a medical attendant so expensive?"

"How would I know?" Mr. Wang chuckled on the other end of the phone. "My wife found it. She didn't do her homework beforehand, so she probably didn't realize she was overpaying. Anyway, the girl asked for 500, so she paid obediently."

Zhang Chenling immediately counted on her fingers. This little girl made a net profit of 500 yuan after running around the hospital for half a day, which was much higher than the profit of bathing assistance! The three of them ran around doing big baths, doing at most five or six baths a day. At 400 yuan per order, the total income was only a little over 2,000 yuan. After deducting 200 to 300 yuan for supplies and gas, the remaining money was divided equally among the three of them, and each person only got 600 to 700 yuan. It was far less than the easy and pleasant income earned by the accompanying doctor running two trips to the hospital.

Mr. Wang also sighed, "So, it's hard for you to make a lot of money by working so hard at taking showers. Once your business matures, you will definitely want to franchise and sell products to expand your income sources."

"Oh, let's talk about it later," Zhang Chenling curled her lips. These all sounded like distant things to her. Right now, Shangshanruoshui only had an average of two orders per day, and that had to be rounded off, so there was a serious overcapacity.

"Don't worry, after the official media promotion, your popularity will definitely increase greatly, and your orders will increase. By then, you might have to make reservations long in advance to have a bath with you!"

"Thanks for your good wishes!" Zhang Chenling said with a smile, and then wished his parents a speedy recovery, and offered to help them bathe for free in the future.

"How can that be? Your business is so difficult!" Mr. Wang declined.

…

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Chenling turned to find Ni Yue, wanting to share the good news with her, but found that she was in her room.

The door was closed and she seemed to be on the phone.

Zhang Chenling had no intention of eavesdropping, but the old house had poor sound insulation. Even though Ni Yue had covered herself with the quilt, her voice still leaked out through the crack in the door:

"Does it matter to you how much I earn for taking a bath?"

"I don't have enough money. Can you give me some?"

"What's the point of asking this question?"

…