Chapter 1: The Last Train

On a deep and endless road, a bus was moving at a constant speed and ran over a speed bump, suddenly waking up the person who was dozing against the window.

The moment Qiao Song opened his eyes, he quickly regained his consciousness.

She even forgot how she fell asleep.

The lights of the last bus were dim, and there were almost no cars outside the window. There were also few pedestrians on the roadside heading to the suburbs at this time.

The buildings are getting lower and lower, and even the green belts on both sides are becoming wild. It is hard not to worry about whether there will be any safety issues if you get off work so late.

The last bus to the suburbs took more than an hour. Qiao Song thought that he might be too tired from attending classes during the day, so he fell asleep leaning against the bus.

She glanced at the front row. The driver had his back to her, one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the long lever of the manual transmission.

Next to it is a card reader, and the coin box below is covered with various stickers. Next to the driver's seat are some dolls that children would keep.

It seems that the driver has a relatively young child at home.

If dad comes home too late, my family will probably be worried.

The black silhouettes outside the window, superimposed on the pale street lights flashing by, made the car seem a little too silent.

Then, the only passenger in the car suddenly asked:

"Master, you usually get off work so late, can you catch the last bus home?"

The driver paused in his wooden driving movements and seemed to glance at Qiao Song in the rearview mirror.

There was a cold, emotionless look in the impatient dead fish eyes.

As if out of politeness, he replied: "We usually live in the company dormitory. After we drop you off, we will drive directly back to the company. It's very close."

The bus driver goes home on his own, so of course there is no need to catch the bus.

Qiao Song whispered, "So that's it."

"The bus company is in such a remote place, almost to the junction of urban and rural areas. I don't know why there is a convenience store here."

The wicked map navigation in her hand told her that there was only one bus stop away from her destination. After a one-kilometer ride and 50 meters out of the bus stop, she would reach her destination.

A 24-hour store in urgent need of night shift workers.

When she was not in school, Qiao Song basically worked part-time outside, so many shop owners had saved her contact information.

This time, Qiao Song was contacted by someone who said that their newly opened convenience store was really short of staff and asked her to work three night shifts at a high price.

Hourly wage 30, 7 hours a day, paid daily.

At this price, which college student wouldn’t be tempted?

Qiao Song, who had extensive part-time experience in convenience stores, readily agreed.

At this moment, Qiao Song's cell phone started vibrating.

It was the convenience store manager sending her messages again.

Their last message was in the morning. The other party begged her to come to work, saying that the store was too busy and short of staff. After Qiao Song agreed, he sent a location message.

At this time, the location icons on the map are constantly popping up on the message bar.

On the green map, a small red dot with an arrow flashed rapidly as if it was about to burn through the screen.

[position]

"Are you there yet?"

[position]

"Are you there yet?"

[position]

"Are you there yet?"

"Are you there yet?"

"Are you there yet?"

The few messages sent by the store manager filled her chat box like viruses, and she felt like it was visual pollution if she looked at them for more than a few seconds.

"If you send a few more messages, I will block you, do you believe it?"

Qiao Song doesn't have any respect for anyone who has not yet become his boss.

What a joke! 210 yuan a day can only buy her enthusiasm for work, not her enthusiasm for her boss.

Amid the buzzing sound, the replies continued to come in like crazy.

Most people would have felt uncomfortable after hearing this, but Qiao Song simply muted the audio with one click and quickly typed in the input bar: I won’t come if you urge me again.

There was a pause on the other side, and soon a voice came from the other side.

"You've already taken the last train here. You can't go back."

"If you don't complete your work at the convenience store, no car will dare to take you."

Hey, you're just a convenience store, and you're taking charge of the bus company?

But it’s really far here.

Qiao Song typed calmly: "You can ride a shared bike. I've even participated in a women's mountain rally."

The message from the other side stopped.

I don't know whether I was silenced by her answer or was about to say something else.

At this moment, the vehicle suddenly braked.

This new energy electric bus, which was replaced this year, suddenly made a strange creaking sound that only old-fashioned buses have.

There are many lights at the intersection, making the place as bright as day.

When Qiao Song looked up, he could even see some old stains left on the swaying orange pendant, which suddenly became clearly visible under the bright light outside the window.

It was a red palm print.

The bus seats, which were supposed to be brand new blue-gray, now seemed to have become worn out, with a yellowish-earth color appearing on the surface after years of exposure to the sun.

On the floor of the corridor, a few dark footprints could be vaguely seen, as if something had passed through here and left indelible marks.

A strange atmosphere spread on the bus. Even the driver in the front row began to glance silently at the back with malicious eyes, as if he wanted to observe her reaction.

He was soon disappointed.

Qiao Song calmly took a few photos.

By the way, I wrote down the bus company's complaint hotline on the billboard on the seat behind the driver and quietly put it into my mobile phone address book.

Maintaining the hygiene of public transportation is everyone's responsibility.

At this time she turned her gaze to the window.

There was only this one bus at the quiet intersection, but the driver in the front seat seemed to notice something and suddenly yelled out the window: "Go faster, the traffic light doesn't have enough time."

Qiao Song thought that it might be a blind spot, or a smaller pedestrian was crossing the road.

During the countdown of the traffic light, Qiao Song looked around. The entire intersection seemed to be a black unknown area, but he could vaguely see a huge sign at the intersection, indicating the straight ahead area: [XX Convenience Store]

Wow, this convenience store is so prestigious that it even has its store name written on the road sign. However, the name on the front of the convenience store is a bit blurry and hard to see clearly.

It doesn't seem to be one of the famous 24-hour convenience store chains in the country.

At this time, the traffic light at the intersection finally turned green, indicating traffic was allowed. The driver who had been waving impatiently immediately changed his expression, accelerated with a ferocious look, and accelerated directly towards the opposite road.

Click.

It seemed like the bus had run over something under it, and it felt brittle.

Qiao Song silently added another thing to the recorded health complaint email: the driver has poor safety awareness.

Qiao Song subconsciously looked out the window, but caught a glimpse of another light sign vaguely visible in the darkness in the distance. It seemed to be another rare building in the suburbs that was still operating at night.

She didn't take it seriously, but at this moment her phone vibrated. She flipped over the phone and saw that it was a transfer message from the convenience store owner.

[The other party transfers 210 to you]

[Payment received]

The payment was automatically collected without her clicking on the phone?

I've heard of forced buying and selling, but I've never heard of forced salary payment.

The owner of this convenience store in the middle of nowhere is definitely mentally ill.

At this time, the bus, which had become much older for some reason, finally arrived at the terminal.

The driver slowly turned around and looked at her, his face was so pale that it was a little scary.

He whispered, "Passengers please line up in an orderly manner and don't crowd. This last bus has arrived at its destination. I hope you will have a chance to ride this bus again."

The strange tone of voice made it seem as if the passengers would never come back, and as the only passenger in the car, I immediately felt unhappy.

When Qiao Song was grabbing the handrail and preparing to go down the stairs, he suddenly stopped and shook the screen in his hand.

"The hygiene in your car is too poor. I have taken photos for your reference. Please remember to clean it up before leaving get off work."

The driver, who had been trying to observe her condition, suddenly stopped looking.

When he saw the bright red complaint number on her phone that had not yet been dialed, his expression finally changed.

He said grimly, "Why can you see this?"

The people getting off the bus waved.

"I'm not illiterate or nearsighted, of course I can see."

"And why is the glass of your car broken? What's with all the blood stains on it? Do you want to report it for repair? I remember there seemed to be a maintenance phone number in the front row. Is it your company's..."

"What's your work number?"

With a creak, the door of the bus slammed shut after she got off, and then the bus sped away along the dark and bottomless road, as if sending away the god of plague.

"Why are you running so fast? Are you in a hurry to get off work?"

She muttered, "Alas, when some people get off work, others have to go to work, but I am paid before I start working. It feels like a very bad working atmosphere."

The capitalist has a change of heart and offers money voluntarily, but says nothing. He is probably up to something.

She followed the navigation on her phone and found that the convenience store was easy to find. The lonely bus stop stood on the bare road.

And there is only this one shop on this entire street.

The eye-catching white light shines onto the street through the convenience store's brand new glass windows. On the blue and white sign is written the words "Regulation Convenience Store" in large letters. Next to it is a sign with a small neon light that says "Open 24 hours."

"Rule Convenience Store? What a weird name."

She walked to the front of the convenience store, and the moment she pushed open the heavy glass door, she heard a series of wind chimes, accompanied by a cute baby voice.

"Welcome~Dear guest~Come and choose something~"

Inside the convenience store, the strangers who had already formed a circle suddenly turned around and looked at her with surprise.

"Why is there a new person?"

Qiao Song was also confused. She shook her phone and continued walking inside.

"The store manager notified me to come."

And behind the crowd, an exaggerated electronic male voice was heard.

A strange humanoid creature wearing a black and white suit and vest, with a huge color TV screen on his head, was standing next to the shelf in the convenience store, with his hands clasped together, looking at her in surprise:

"Welcome, my dear employees. Now that everyone is here, let's assign tasks. After all, the night business hours will soon begin."

A smiley face emoticon soon appeared on the electronic screen. The man's display screen scanned everyone one by one, with his crossed hands placed on his cheeks, seeming to be in distress.

“As a new store, we had to quickly gain a foothold at this intersection.”

"so--"

A smiling face with a hint of malice suddenly appeared on the absurd and bizarre color display.

"During these days at the Rules Convenience Store, please be sure to follow the rules."