031. Part-time Job
==============================
College seems to have a knack for clustering together.
Anyway, near Lin Nan’s school, there are a scattered seven or eight vocational and second-tier colleges, and the influx of students has boosted local businesses, even giving rise to a bustling pedestrian street.
This pedestrian street has slowly become the liveliest place near the school. The internet cafe they used to visit during power outages at the dorm is also located on this street.
The pedestrian street isn’t much different from others in the city, except the buildings aren’t very tall and the streets aren’t very wide. Various vendors are crammed on both sides of the road, turning what was supposed to be a four-lane street into a mere two lanes.
When Lin Nan and Chen Yao arrived, it was only noon.
“I arranged for a friend to get us a gig dressing up as a mascot and handing out flyers. Once we finish, we get 150 yuan, sounds good?” Chen Yao said, leading the way and chatting with Lin Nan, “We finish when the flyers are gone, and if we don’t finish, money gets deducted.”
“Got it.” Lin Nan looked a bit anxious.
Ever since his body became more feminine, he has grown to dislike being the center of attention. Although the mascot costume hides his face, he’s still very much on display.
Lin Nan considered himself fairly independent, having grown up with parents who were often absent, and after middle school, he lived alone. However, ever since becoming friends with Chen Yao, he found himself unexpectedly dependent on him.
When he’s alone, Lin Nan is fearless, whether that means going out late at night or trying something completely new or chatting with strangers. But whenever he’s with Chen Yao, he finds himself preferring to follow behind and watch Chen Yao handle everything smoothly.
Before long, they stepped into a supermarket. After finding the person in charge, they received a thick stack of flyers and two Kumamon mascot costumes.
Lin Nan thought Kumamon was quite cute, but wearing the costume felt clunky, and the visibility was poor. Even though they were inside a mall with air conditioning, he still felt extraordinarily hot putting on the mascot costume.
The experience of wearing the costume was terrible—every time he lifted his feet or hands, he needed to exert more effort. After helping Chen Yao into his costume, just a few minutes of activity had him gasping for breath.
His stamina definitely needed work.
Lin Nan pouted and asked Chen Yao in a muffled voice from within the Kumamon costume, “Is this part-time job available every week, or just for today?”
“The mall does promotions every week, so they usually need people,” Chen Yao replied while moving around, kicking his legs and waving his arms, “But it seems like there are quite a few students doing gigs like this. If you want to do it long-term, I can ask around for you.”
Without much thought, Lin Nan immediately agreed, “Of course, I want to. Earning 300 yuan over the weekend means 1,200 a month, which is more than my living expenses.”
“Hold on before we head out to hand out flyers. Let’s finish today’s work and then think about it? It’s super hot; I’m afraid you’ll pass out from overheating,” Chen Yao remarked, worried Lin Nan might think handing out flyers was a piece of cake.
If it were winter, it might have been easier—just selling cuteness on the street and handing out flyers to any passerby willing to grab one. But it’s summer, and being stuck in a mascot suit for a long time, even standing in the shade would likely be unbearable.
Before heading out, Chen Yao even took some refreshing medicine from Xiong Da’s drawer, just in case Lin Nan started having heat issues.
“If you feel dizzy, take off the headpiece immediately and rest, okay?” Chen Yao advised with concern, “Don’t just push through it; it could be dangerous.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Lin Nan nodded repeatedly, but his mind was busy searching for any memory of Lilith.
Is there any magic that can lower body temperature?
Although he wasn’t really keen on using magic—for instance, he didn’t use it to boost his stamina when he was drained from delivering food—this time… the rewards were just too tempting!
Earn 150 yuan in just a few hours one afternoon? If this part-time gig is available every day, that’s like a monthly income of over 4,000! Even if it were only two days a week, he’d still be making over 1,000 a month. Even if he didn’t win the competition, he could pay off his debt in two months with just sixteen days of work, plus a little leftover for a nice meal.
Compare that to delivering food — two hours at noon, two hours at night. He’d always have to worry about being late after class, and by the end of the day, it felt like he had zero free time from Monday to Friday for entertainment. And that monthly salary? Not even a thousand!
But now, this part-time job only requires using his free weekends for one afternoon of work, leaving him ample time for fun in the mornings and evenings.
The best job would be tutoring—either for a training class or private lessons. But Lin Nan’s grades have never been stellar, he doesn’t attend a prestigious university, and he has no connections.
Plus, he absolutely hates kids.
After wandering around the mall and gradually getting used to the Kumamon suit, Lin Nan and Chen Yao trudged out of the shopping center.
As soon as they stepped outside, the relentless heat hit them like a punch to the gut, and the temperature inside the mascot suit began to skyrocket. Lin Nan nearly gasped for air, and soon beads of sweat started rolling down his forehead.
He hadn’t walked far before his bangs were drenched, sweat dripping from his hair onto his face, yet he couldn’t even wipe it away.
“Isn’t it… thirty-seven degrees today?” Lin Nan muttered, instantly regretting taking on this part-time job.
But with a huge debt to Tu Junhui hanging over his head, he couldn’t shake the feeling of discomfort until he paid it off.
“I’ll go hand out flyers by that traffic light,” Chen Yao said, pointing to a corner behind them, “If you start feeling unwell, find a shop to get some cool air and call me, okay?”
Lin Nan waddled like a penguin, stumbling around to look at the traffic light, then nodded, “Alright, I’ll go to the next one.”
From within the confines of the mascot costume, he glimpsed the street. He occasionally pulled out a flyer to hand to passersby, but, as usual, most ignored him altogether and walked straight past.
No clue if he would even finish handing them out.
By the time he reached the intersection, his back was completely soaked.
The mascot suit was stifling and hot, like being stuffed into a closed microwave, and Lin Nan felt like a particular kind of meal inside.
Today the sun was especially brutal. He quickly scanned his surroundings and dashed to the shade of a parasol at the traffic light, standing beside a middle-aged traffic assistant.
Seeing that the assistant didn’t seem to have a problem with him standing there, Lin Nan took a deep breath, mustering some courage to start promoting to the people waiting for the light to change.
“Hello! Special discounts at Yonghui Supermarket today, take a look!”
