Chapter 56: Flyer Lady, stop! Robbery is illegal! ...
After the feeling of growing taller, the second thought that came to her mind was -
He is so white.
Xu Sirui was naturally fair. Zhu Yingning lacked a deep understanding of what constituted a beautiful face, but she only remembered Xu Sirui's radiant whiteness. Now, that whiteness had reached a new level, evolving from a healthy pallor into a sickly pallor, giving his already vibrant lips a vampire-like hue. His facial features had lost some of the blunt, childish roundness, gaining the firmness and bony texture of a young man's youth.
However, whether it is the transformation of height, skin color or facial features, these changes are not as great as the change in eyes.
There was a moment of surprise in his eyes when he saw her, but it was quickly covered by an expression of indifference. She opened her mouth, but before she could say hello, he brushed past her, walked into the elevator without even looking at her, and left silently. The only thing left in the air was the faint smell of laundry detergent that he had brought with him when he passed by her, and a strange, indistinguishable smell that was not sure whether it was the smell of alcohol or cigarettes.
Zhu Yingning kept her mouth slightly open, completely confused.
...Is this person really the same person who called her a few days ago?
She stood at the door, wondering for a long time, not knowing what was wrong with Xu Sirui. He had clearly called her to come over, but when he saw her, he looked like he was too lazy to talk to her.
What's wrong with him?
But now wasn't the time to dwell on that; she still hadn't secured a job. Zhu Yingning could only suppress her confusion for the moment and return home to drink two glasses of water. Although Xu Zhengkang had said she could use whatever ingredients were in the refrigerator, she felt embarrassed to eat too much from someone else's house, so she steamed two buns for herself for lunch.
After finishing lunch and washing the dishes and steaming rack, she quickly went back downstairs in the hot sun and walked further to look for work.
This time she learned her lesson. When someone asked her how old she was, she shamelessly apologized for lying in her mind and replied calmly, "Sixteen."
Unfortunately, even if she dared to answer, others had to believe her. Some shops asked for her ID, and when she couldn't produce it, they frowned and turned her away. Other shops were more lenient. When they heard she was sixteen, they didn't bother to verify it. They just shook their heads and said, "You're still too young to be looking for a regular job. I tell you, it's hard to find anyone like that. Looking for a summer job might be more reliable, but it's almost August now, and people who want to find summer jobs usually start in late June or early July. How can you find one now? The summer jobs have been snatched up long ago! Little sister, your timing for looking for a job is so awkward."
She searched for an entire afternoon under the scorching sun, sweating profusely, but still found nothing.
As the sun set and evening approached, Zhu Yingning squatted on the street, sighing with worry.
This was completely different from what she had originally planned.
Just as she was grabbing her hair and worrying, a figure suddenly passed in front of her. A sentence, spoken very quickly and without pause, "Hello, educational institution, please check out the new user trial class for free, and the master class is 15% off. Don't miss it if you pass by. Don't let yourself lose at the starting line." It drilled into her ears like a centipede. When she reacted, there were inexplicably two pages of flyers in her arms, and the young man handing out the flyers had already walked away, going to harm the next person in the distance.
She picked up the two pages of brand new flyers that smelled of ink. Her eyes lit up, and she stood up, strode after the boy handing out the flyers, and said to him, "Is your educational institution still hiring?"
The boy's eyes lit up as well—if hers could be described as a lightbulb, his was like a star exploding—and he suddenly grabbed her wrist, shaking with excitement. "Yes! Yes! Of course! Sign up now and get two free lessons. It's a steal, I tell you!"
"No, I mean, does your educational institution still recruit people to distribute flyers?"
"?"
Hearing this, the boy shrugged his lips, shook off her wrist, and performed a Sichuan Opera face-changing on the spot. He said coldly: "I don't know. I guess you don't want to recruit anymore. If you don't know, don't ask me." After that, he waved his hand and went somewhere else to attract customers.
“…”
Seeing this, Zhu Yingning had no choice but to lower his head and look at the flyer carefully. Seeing that the address of the educational institution on the flyer was not far from here, he simply went there according to the address.
The agency was newly opened, and there were two rows of flower baskets at the entrance, but the interior was deserted. She walked in and looked around, but didn't see anyone. Just as she was unsure whether to leave or wait, she saw someone emerge from the restroom with a work badge around their neck. Delighted, she strode forward and asked, "Hello, are you still hiring flyers?"
The man was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said concisely: "Recruit."
"Great! Do you think I can do it?" She pointed at herself vigorously and promoted herself, "I have dark skin, which is resistant to the sun, and I have good physical strength and can withstand wear and tear. I also have a loud voice and can attract people. Listen, listen, ah-ah-ah-" She channeled her energy into her dantian and exerted force in her abdominal cavity, uttering a series of loud and meaningless interjections.
"?"
The staff member's mouth twitched, and he didn't know what to do with her overly enthusiastic reaction. He scratched his head and face, and finally said, "Then... let's give it a try." Then he went back to the counter and began to register her name and contact information, and asked her when she could come to work.
Zhu Yingning didn't have a cell phone, so she could only give Xu Sirui's home phone number and promised, "It will be available tomorrow morning."
"Then come over tomorrow morning at eight o'clock, and I'll introduce the specific work to you then."
"Okay!" she said excitedly.
**
Handing out flyers is both easy and difficult. The base salary is two yuan a day, plus ten yuan for each new hire, and three yuan for each phone number. Without a labor contract, you're not officially employed, not to mention the five social insurances and one housing fund. Salaries are paid daily. If you can do it, you work; if you can't, you don't. Those are the staff's exact words.
"Walk around crowded places like supermarkets, shopping malls, the Children's Palace, or even intersections. Remember, your target audience is parents and students."
As for how to recruit people, it depends on your ability.
After Zhu Yingning understood, she received a work badge from the staff, carried a bag of flyers, and started her first job in Beijing.
To describe it in one word, it is gloomy and gloomy.
Through this field work, she quickly learned a truth: the saying "don't hit a smiling face" was of little use when it came to handing out flyers. Those sturdy older men and women didn't care how warm your smile was; they simply refused. Some of them even asked for flyers, not because they were interested, but simply wanted a few free sheets to use as park cushions. The experienced men and women in their thirties and forties, still pressed for work, didn't bother to pay much attention. Children accompanied by their parents might be curious, but would immediately wilt if their parents said, "Don't take it!" or "Hurry up! You're in a hurry to get to class at the Children's Palace." Only young people in their twenties, naive and enthusiastic, could be easily deceived by smiles, usually accepting the flyers with a dry smile. However, their age was awkward: too old for students and too young for parents, they were stuck in a limbo, no longer a target audience. Their only purpose was to reduce the weight of the flyers in her bag.
After working for a day, she only managed to get two phone numbers, one of which was later verified by the staff and turned out to be an invalid number.
She finally understood why the boy was so excited after hearing her question yesterday, "Are you hiring?" This was such a timely relief after a long drought.
But Zhu Yingning didn't give up. She persevered for five days. Each day, she could only manage a pitiful two or three phone numbers, and as for contacting no one, she couldn't even get a single one. The store manager's gaze grew increasingly profound, and Zhu Yingning, fearing he might fire her, made a determined decision on the sixth day to seek out advice from a fellow trader.
The people she distributed flyers with were extremely fluid, with only three remaining members: the young man and an auntie named Xiao. Of the three of them, Auntie Xiao was the top seller, while she and the boy were often in a close competition. She secretly observed Auntie Xiao, hoping to learn from her, and eventually discovered that she was the top seller because she loved square dancing, which led to her connecting with many elderly friends. Through these friends, word spread, from one to ten, from ten to a hundred, and from one to a hundred, and finally, she attracted new customers.
Zhu Yingning first discovered square dancing, a team-building activity for middle-aged and older women, after arriving in Beijing. She didn't find the music tacky; instead, she found it incredibly vibrant. After careful consideration, she decided to join a square dance group.
"…Are you serious?"
After spending a few days together, although Zhu Yingning was still not very familiar with the young boy, she already knew his name was Li Jianyu. They would occasionally get together and sigh when they couldn't distribute flyers.
After hearing her decision, Li Jianyu's mouth moved for a long time before he changed the words "You don't have a fever, do you?" to "Are you serious?"
"Right." She didn't catch the underlying meaning of Li Jianyu's words at all, and answered seriously, "When three people walk together, there must be one who can teach me. I choose the best and follow their advice. I think Aunt Xiao's experience is worth learning from."
“…”
Li Jianyu nodded reluctantly and made a perfunctory fighting gesture to her, "Go hard, I'll watch."
Zhu Yingning picked up the bag and planned to walk towards the open space in front of the Bank of China, which was often used by middle-aged and elderly women to dance.
It was dusk, and the road was busy, but this side street wasn't part of the main road, so there were no traffic police on duty. 2011 was still a year of widespread motorcycle use, and pedestrians were wary of displaying their wealth. Even the wealthy didn't dare wear jewelry casually, fearing a robbery motorcycle could suddenly appear from the side of the road and snatch away valuable bags or jewelry. Someone had been dragged for dozens of meters while clinging to a bag, leaving them partially paralyzed. Another had a gold earring ripped from their ear by a robber, tearing their earlobe.
Motorcycle robberies are no strangers to both mountain dwellers and city dwellers, so when Zhu Yingning heard several shrill screams behind him and saw a motorcycle as fast as the wind suddenly pass by him, he instantly realized what was happening.
Before she could think about anything, her legs moved on their own, and she shot out like an arrow, closely following the motorcycle.
“Robbery!!”
"Robbed—"
"Someone stole my bag!"
"Get out of the way!"
"Be careful! Don't kill anyone!"
The streets were in chaos, motorcycles careening through the crowds, pedestrians screaming and dodging in panic. In the chaos, only Zhu Yingning sprinted forward against the tide, following closely behind the motorcycles for five or six meters.
Li Jianyu was completely stunned at the back. Not only him, but the gangster on the motorcycle was also stunned.
Through the rearview mirror, he saw a small shadow haunting him. Its figure was as nimble as a leopard, even Liu Xiang would be outshined. That wasn't the most outrageous thing. The most outrageous thing was that she could actually run while shouting, "Stop! Stop! Robbery is illegal!"
"Damn it..."
The gangster cursed loudly, accelerated, and took an extreme turn at the corner. He was so anxious to get rid of Zhu Yingning that he drove into the lane where the traffic police were.
**
When Li Jianyu trotted over, everything was settled. The criminals had been subdued by the traffic police. Zhu Yingning, who had performed a great deed, was still holding the bag of flyers tightly in his arms. He said to the traffic police in a serious tone, "You're welcome. This is what I should do."
"You're really awesome..." Li Jianyu walked towards her and glanced at the bag the robber had robbed. "It's a Hermès bag. Oh my god, Zhu Yingning, you're really awesome. You've become rich, don't you know that?"
"Ah? Rich?" She didn't understand.
"It's a Hermès bag! Don't you recognize it? Only rich people can afford this bag! I just saw it. This bag belongs to a young woman. She is coming this way. You should seize the opportunity and extort more money from her. After you get the money, you can still hand out flyers... Oh my God, why didn't I encounter such a good thing?" Li Jianyu avoided the traffic police and whispered in Zhu Yingning's ear.
This time Zhu Yingning understood. She looked at Li Jianyu in astonishment, leaving him bewildered: "What are you looking at? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Extortion is wrong." She frowned and whispered seriously, "Li Jianyu, your concept is wrong. We should do good deeds anonymously. How can we ask for rewards from others?"
"?"
Li Jianyu was suddenly choked.
Across the street, the young woman who had been robbed was jogging towards them. Zhu Yingning wanted to swerve away, upholding her value of "doing good deeds anonymously," but a glimpse of the bag in her hand finally convinced her ideals to give way to reality. She paused and said, "But I can give her a flyer."
“…”
Li Jianyu hesitated to speak, wishing he could bang his head against his head and die. "You, ah... I... ah...! I'm really enlightened. This is the first time I've heard such a pathetic request."
The young woman was getting closer and closer to them. Zhu Yingning lowered his head and took out a new flyer from his bag. He smoothed the corners and was about to sell it to the woman, but the smile on his lips froze after he saw the appearance of the person.
The woman covered her mouth and gasped for breath. After a long time, she raised her eyes and fixed her gaze on Zhu Yingning's face. Her pupils suddenly dilated and her face turned pale.
After a long ten seconds, the young woman finally broke the silence. With a trembling voice, she whispered dreamily, "...Ningning?"
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