Skye (1/3)

After a period of recuperation, Chloe's sallow complexion gradually returned to fair, and her gaunt cheeks began to fill out.

Chloe liked her current life. She had Grandpa Earl, she had her boss big brother, she ate well three times a day, and she could go to school... Compared to before, it was like a dream.

Chloe often prayed that, if this was a dream, she would never wake up.

Before, her father had often scolded her, saying she was a useless burden and that he would throw her away. Thus, a belief had formed in Chloe's young heart: only by being useful would she have value, and only with value would she not be abandoned.

Working made Chloe feel secure, but now, if she wanted to work, she had to finish her homework first.

Elementary school students in the United States did not have much homework. First and second graders practically had none; it was only in third grade that they started getting some, mainly math, reading, and hands-on activities.

Multiplication and division had given her the biggest headaches before, but ever since memorizing the multiplication table, Chloe no longer worried about math.

"Why doesn't school teach the multiplication table? It's obviously so useful..." Chloe muttered. She habitually wanted to bite the end of her pencil, but forcibly stopped herself.

"Hello, little sister." A gentle voice suddenly spoke. "Is the boss here?"

Chloe jumped in fright and saw a pretty older sister carrying a black hiking backpack. The pretty sister looked friendly and wore a smile, which calmed Chloe somewhat.

She timidly called out, "Grandpa Earl!"

Old Earl, who was restocking shelves, poked his head out from behind one. Seeing a young girl with Asian features, he assumed she was a supermarket customer.

Old Earl asked with a smile, "Hello. Is there anything you need?"

The young woman said, "Hello. I saw the job advertisement and came to apply."

"Apply? Do you have an appointment?"

Old Earl froze. Mike had specifically mentioned this matter. But a week had passed without a single applicant showing up, and Old Earl had nearly forgotten about it.

"No." Skye felt a little uneasy.

People in the United States were accustomed to scheduling their daily itineraries and handling things according to schedule, so they did not like work meetings without appointments.

"Oh." Old Earl had not considered that. "I'm an employee here. The boss is upstairs. Please wait a moment; I'll go get him."

"Okay, thank you for the trouble." The girl was quite polite and introduced herself. "I'm Skye."

Old Earl smiled. "Earl. Everyone calls me Old Earl."

When he learned someone had come to apply, Mike's eyes lit up. "Oh, someone finally came to apply. Damn."

Old Earl said, "The workplace is in Hell's Kitchen, and the salary is higher than normal. Most people probably instinctively assume it's a prank or a scam..."

Mike was doubtful. "Is that so?"

Old Earl said, "Probably. Besides, according to your requirements, most suitable candidates are middle-aged people who need to support their families and wouldn't dare change jobs casually. So if you want to recruit this kind of talent, it'd be best to use a headhunting website."

Mike glared. "Why didn't you say so earlier?!"

Old Earl said, "You didn't ask."

The two went downstairs.

When Mike saw Skye, two thoughts popped into his mind—

The first was: Pretty. What a pity.

The girl before him was completely Mike's type. As the saying went, men and women working together never got tired... but she was too young, barely in her early twenties, and did not look like a manager who met the requirements.

He could not hire her just because she was pretty, could he? After all, the annual salary was 180,000 US dollars.

Interesting souls were one in a million; pretty young women cost two thousand a night.

One hundred eighty thousand was too expensive!

The second thought was: Isn't this Quake?!

Skye, an Inhuman, whose real name was Daisy Johnson, was a future outstanding S.H.I.E.L.D. employee.

Could she be an undercover agent sent by S.H.I.E.L.D.?

Mike thought so, then felt it was impossible. Skye should have been recruited by Coulson after the Avengers' Battle of New York...

"Hello, Mr. Tang. My name is Skye, and I'm here to apply for the manager position." Skye did her best to look confident.

Mike considered it, but still decided to refuse. "Sorry, this position requires a manager with over five years of work experience..."

Skye wore makeup that made her look mature, making her seem twenty-five or twenty-six, but she was actually only twenty-one or twenty-two. How could she possibly have over five years of work experience?

"Mr. Tang! I carefully read your requirements for this position, and I know my qualifications are lacking. I didn't come here on an impulse or because I overestimated myself. I've prepared quite thoroughly. Mr. Tang, please give me one chance to demonstrate myself." Skye had come prepared. She took a laptop from her large backpack and said, "It won't take much of your time."

He had nothing else to do, and listening cost nothing. Besides, she was pretty. Mike pretended to hesitate before saying, "All right, five minutes. If you can slee— persuade me, I can give you a job. Begin."

"Thank you, thank you." Skye was a little excited. "Don't worry, I definitely won't disappoint you."

Two minutes passed...

Five minutes passed...

Ten minutes...

"So... for this job, you wrote an entire set of specialized software?" Mike could not help widening his eyes. With those skills, wouldn't Microsoft be a better choice?

Mike asked, "It must have taken quite some time, right?"

If someone had successfully applied for the job before her, wouldn't all that work have been for nothing?

Skye replied, "Some modules had ready-made code online. I only needed to modify it a little to use it, so the workload wasn't as large as you might think."

It had taken some time. In that time, she could have cracked S.H.I.E.L.D.'s RSA encryption system again. Fortunately, she had hacked the job recruitment website, so no one else could even see Mike's advertisement—that was the real reason no one had applied!

The unemployment rate in the United States was high. An annual salary of 180,000 was enough to make a crowd fight like dogs over it. What did it matter if the workplace was in Hell's Kitchen?

"That's incredible!" Mike had to admit. "All right, the job is temporarily yours. There's a three-month probation period. During probation, your salary will be eighty percent. You can choose a studio apartment as free housing, though you can decline it if you want."

Skye said, "Perfect. My lease is about to end anyway, so changing places would be nice. Thank you, Boss."

Mike said, "Just call me Mike. By the way, do you need help moving?"

Skye hurriedly waved her hands. "No, no."

Mike said, "Don't be polite. Really."

Skye pointed at the hiking backpack on the floor and the laptop on the table. "That's everything I own."

"Uh... all right."

After quickly handling the onboarding paperwork, Mike suggested, "How about hot pot tonight as a welcome party for Skye?"

Old Earl raised both hands in agreement. "I agree."

Chloe said nothing, but her blinking eyes gave away what she was thinking.

Skye said, "Wouldn't that be too much trouble for everyone?"

Mike said, "No. We eat hot pot often. It's just one more set of bowls and chopsticks."

Old Earl grinned and gave a thumbs-up. "Chinese hot pot is this... super good!"

Chloe gathered her courage and said, "Yes, super good."

Mike asked, "By the way, is there anything you want to eat, or anything you can't eat?"

Skye said, "Anything is fine. I'm not picky."

Mike said, "All right."

The soup base was old stock, and the dipping sauces were ready-made. They only needed to buy some more ingredients.

Mike said, "I'll go to the supermarket and buy some ingredients. Old Earl, Chloe, take Skye upstairs to the apartment and help clean up while you're at it."

Old Earl said, "No problem."

Skye said, "No, no, there's no need. If everyone leaves, what about the supermarket?"

Mike hung the Closed sign on the door. "Problem solved. It's settled, then."

In the elevator.

"The supermarket door isn't locked. Won't that be a problem?" Skye was worried. Hell's Kitchen was famously unsafe.

"No problem." Old Earl was certain.

Skye had no idea where Old Earl got that inexplicable confidence from, and she remained half-convinced.

Skye had a natural talent for being an agent. Perhaps that was why she could always find loopholes in seemingly flawless firewalls.

Through their conversation, Skye learned that Old Earl had originally been homeless, and Mike had given him a stable life. Chloe's parents had died, and she had once been taken by gang members before Mike rescued her.

The conversation basically revolved around Mike.

The more she learned, the more curious Skye became about Mike.

A top Princeton University law graduate—why had he come to Hell's Kitchen to open a tiny supermarket?

How had he rescued Chloe from vicious gang members?

At such a young age, with the supermarket doing poorly, how did he own so much real estate?

Could he be a rich second-generation heir who did not want to inherit the family business?

When Mike returned from shopping, the three were already waiting in the supermarket.

Mike asked, "That fast?"

Skye replied, "There was only some dust. It just needed a wipe-down."

Mike said, "I used to have a housekeeping company handle the cleaning. Should we keep using that company, switch to another one, or hire two full-time cleaners? You decide."

Skye said, "Got it. I'll help chop the vegetables."

At that moment, Skye suddenly felt so safe, as though a warm current were flowing through her entire body.

So warm...

She had grown up in an orphanage and drifted between foster homes. Wasn't this simple, warm feeling exactly what she had longed for?