The Third Wheel

The first floor of Luo Mei is a large shopping mall with all kinds of appliance stores. I followed the fat man and walked directly through the center of the mall, taking the escalator to the second floor. The second floor was much more upscale, mainly selling laptops, high-end headphones, projectors, and smart home systems. The after-sales office was at the far end of the second floor.

The fat man pushed open the door. "We're here. The after-sales service office is right here."

I was speechless when I took one look around. This place was more like a repair shop than an office, with all sorts of electrical appliances, wires, and power strips in a chaotic mess. But I wasn't disappointed. From a gaming perspective, I would be perfectly at home here.

"Old Yang, you're here?"

In the office, a thin young man eating a steamed bun greeted me with a smile, then his gaze fell on me. "Who's this guy?"

"This is my brother, Ding Han."

The fat man laughed and said, "I brought him here today to start work. This is Ding Han, and this is Xu Hao, also a brother in our after-sales service department."

Just call me Haozi!

Xu Hao stood up and shook hands with me.

"Haozi, where's your brother-in-law?" the fat man asked.

"Park downstairs and come right away."

"OK."

The fat man pulled over a chair and pushed it towards me. "Sit down, wait a moment, the after-sales manager will be here soon."

"Um."

I had barely sat down when the door to the department office was pushed open again, and a middle-aged man with slightly thinning hair and an oily face walked in. He had a bag tucked under his arm, tilted his head, and was talking on the phone, seemingly dealing with a complaint, with a fawning smile on his face.

Lu Zifeng is the after-sales manager and also the head of the after-sales repair department.

A few seconds later, Lu Zifeng dismissed the customer, his gaze instantly turning serious. He said, "You're Ding Han, the one Yang Wei introduced to the company, right?"

"Right."

I nodded. "Hello, Manager Lu!"

"Um."

Lu Zifeng nodded. "Since he's Yang Wei's friend, let's get straight to the point. I'll make it clear from the start: LuoMei's after-sales service doesn't tolerate idlers. If you have no skills but want to freeload at LuoMei, there's absolutely no way. So, the onboarding process still needs to be followed."

"Manager Lu, don't worry."

The fat man chuckled, "My brother here is just like me; we both used to repair appliances. Repairing most common appliances shouldn't be a problem for him."

"That's fine."

Lu Zifeng said, "However, we still need to go through the onboarding process. Xu Hao, go and get that projector with the yellowish screen from yesterday."

"Holy crap, a projector..."

The fat man clicked his tongue and lowered his voice, saying, "Manager Lu, isn't that a bit too harsh? That projector has more problems than I do. Even I might not be able to fix it. Besides, it's a five-year-old model..."

Lu Zifeng glared at him but didn't say anything.

Shortly after, Xu Hao brought over a projector.

"Give it a try?"

Lu Zifeng said, "If you can fix it within ten minutes, or provide a repair plan for this projector, I'll hire you."

"OK."

Without saying much, I immediately plugged in the power and glanced at the projector. I saw a grayish-yellow circle in the middle of the screen, which severely affected the viewing experience. No wonder the customer returned it.

So he immediately turned off the power, found screws in the toolbox, quickly disassembled the projector, then took out a part, wiped it clean, and said, "The Color Wheel inside the Optical Engine is worn out, which is causing insufficient blue light output and a yellowish tint to parts of the image. This is easy to fix; just replace the part."

As I spoke, I looked at Xu Hao and asked, "Do you have the necessary parts?"

"Have."

Xu Hao brought over a box of projector parts. I quickly replaced the parts, then reconnected the movie. The projection was successful, and sure enough, the yellowish picture was completely restored. At the same time, a ringtone sounded in my ear.

[Congratulations! You have successfully repaired the projector. Skill Experience +750!]

The first repair yielded 750 Skill Experience points, not bad!

"Good!"

Lu Zifeng gave him an approving look and smiled, "Ding Han, congratulations! From now on, you're part of Luo Mei's after-sales maintenance team. To be honest, we're short-staffed, and the company's contract with the merchant covers all after-sales maintenance. There's no other way, so you guys will have to work a little harder. I'll give you the same treatment as Yang Wei, a monthly salary of 6,000 yuan, a one-year contract, and the company will pay for your Five Insurances and One Fund. If you think it's okay, let's prepare the contract and sign it."

As expected of a large company, so meticulous and professional!

Moreover, the salary level is not low. A monthly salary of 6,000 yuan should already exceed the current average wage in Huaining City. Indeed, having a skill means you won't go hungry anywhere.

"Sure!"

Yang Wei exclaimed with delight, "Thanks, Old Lu!"

"Don't mention it."

Lu Zifeng gave us an apologetic look and smiled, "The company rules are strict, and I can only follow them, so don't take the performance review to heart. Everyone has to go through this process."

That's it, that's it.

The fat man nodded and chuckled, then put his arm around my shoulder and whispered in my ear, "Bullshit, Haozi is his brother-in-law. He wasn't even assessed when he joined the department, otherwise, with Haozi's abilities, he might not have gotten this salary."

I laughed heartily, revealing a knowing smile.

Soon after, Lu Zifeng brought the contract, and after signing it, I became one of Luo Mei's official employees.

After signing the contract, the morning got busy.

The vendor kept sending over faulty appliances, and soon my and Yang Wei's desks were piled high with them, leaving us barely time to look up and talk.

It wasn't until noon that lunch break was over.

"Depend on..."

The fat man sat up straight, rubbed his wrists, and said, "This is fucking inhuman work, it's too tiring. Ding Han, how are you?"

I packed up the newly repaired laptop and said, "If I were you, I wouldn't have been so loud about all that Skill Experience."

"Haha, that's right!"

Where's the Haozi?

I looked around but couldn't find that "connected person".

"That kid spends more time on the toilet than at work; he's probably already in the bathroom playing King of Glory."

"Damn it..."

I was speechless.

Just then, there was a knock at the door, and a pretty girl wearing a Luo Mei work skirt and a name tag walked in. She was carrying a stack of lunchboxes and tiptoed in. She glanced at me and smiled, "You must be Ding Han?"

"Huh? You..."

I looked at her, speechless.

"Ding Han."

The fat guy nudged me with his shoulder and laughed, "Aren't you going to call her sister-in-law?"

"Ah?!"

I was even more astonished.

Fatty was born in the same month and year as me, but luckily he was born two days earlier, so he always considered himself the older brother. But what I didn't expect was that he already had a girlfriend in this world, and she seemed pretty good-looking.

"Tsk tsk, you're something else. Let Ding Han get used to it."

The girl squinted and smiled, "Ding Han, my name is Shen Yue. I work in the marketing department upstairs, and I'm currently dating Old Yang."

Hello, sister-in-law.

My greatest strength is that I readily accept good advice.

Shen Yue's smile widened, and she said, "Knowing you're starting work today, I prepared food for three people. It's just been heated up. Let's eat together?"

"Okay, thank you, sister-in-law!"

I grinned.

So, Shen Yue gave me a lunchbox filled with rice, and then placed several lunchboxes filled with dishes on the table. They were all home-style dishes, including my favorite braised pork with green beans. It was fragrant and went perfectly with rice.

"Your sister-in-law's cooking is pretty good, isn't it?" the fat man asked with a smile.

"Mmm, great..."

I nodded and wolfed down my food.

Shen Yue covered her mouth and smiled, then joined us for dinner.

"Oh, a get-together is underway?"

Outside, Xu Hao walked in carrying a lunchbox, craned his neck to take a look, and exclaimed, "It smells so good..."

"Haozi."

The fat man kicked a chair over to him. "Sit down and eat with me."

"Is it alright, sister-in-law?"

Xu Hao looked at Shen Yue with a pitiful expression.

Shen Yue rolled her eyes at him. "If I force you not to eat, you really won't eat?"

"No, I absolutely must try your sister-in-law's cooking."

"Hurry up and eat, you talk too much!"

"Haha, Xie Xie the food, sister-in-law!"

After finishing her meal, Shen Yue packed up her lunchbox and said, "Ding Han, why don't you have dinner with me and Old Yang after work? After you finish eating, you can go home, and Old Yang and I will go see a movie."

"Okay, sure!"

I nodded.

"Tsk tsk..."

Beside me, Xu Hao crossed his legs and looked at me mockingly. "Ding Han, those two young lovers are so lovey-dovey, they used to sneak off on dates every day after work. Now you're here, this 400-watt third wheel. How about we go for a foot massage after work? You treat me."

Go find somewhere cool and stay there.

I gave him a look that said, "I hope you'll have some self-respect," and then leaned back in my chair to rest for a while.

The maintenance department remained busy in the afternoon, working until closing time.

Shen Yue left work on time and waited at the entrance of the after-sales department. When Fatty and I walked out, she naturally took Fatty's arm. The two of them had probably just started dating and were still in the honeymoon phase.

The intensity of this passionate love made me feel like I was in a sauna even from three meters away.

"How about we have hot pot?"

Shen Yue said, "Ding Han just started working today, it's my treat!"

"Sister-in-law, no..."

I said firmly, "This meal is on me no matter what. I also need to Xie Xie Fatty for getting me the job. It's settled then, I'll pay. I still have plenty of money in my pocket."

"Alright."

Shen Yue didn't insist, so the three of them had hot pot together.

After we finished eating, the fat man gave me the key, and the two of them walked hand in hand toward the movie theater, while I headed to the bus stop.

After a bumpy ride, we arrived at Guangming Residential Area.

Back in my room, I fell into thought.

Xu Hao might be right. The young couple is so lovey-dovey, and my presence is indeed disturbing them. Besides, what if they get too deeply in love... wouldn't my staying at Fatty's place be an obstacle to their romance?

No, I still have to find a place to live myself!

So, I closed the door, went downstairs, and arrived at the Civilization Wall at the entrance of the community. It was covered with various rental information, but after seeing the prices, I couldn't help but gasp.

That's really expensive! Much more expensive than renting in Creek City!

The cheapest one-bedroom apartment rents for as high as 1500, while slightly larger ones can cost as much as 2000!

With my monthly salary of 6,000, if I rented this kind of place, I would have to hand over a third of my monthly income to the landlord...

Answer me! Is this even reasonable???

For a moment, I was caught in a dilemma.

I do have over 10,000 yuan in my pocket, but I'd really hesitate to spend 3,000 yuan on rent. It's not that I'm stingy, but that money could buy a thousand 25mm bullets, which makes my heart ache!

After a long internal struggle, his fists were clenched until they turned red.

At this moment, I deeply felt the distress that poverty brings!

Just then, my heart skipped a beat, and I turned around abruptly to see a person standing behind me, dressed in a black and white work uniform, holding a bag in his right hand and car keys in his Left Hand, looking at me with surprise.

Lin Qingying!