Chapter 15: The Girl Hiding in the Dark

TING-A-LING!

The familiar chime of the wind bell rang out at the bookstore's entrance. Because it was Friday, the shop was a bit livelier than usual. Some people were picking out notebooks and pens by the stationery racks, while a few junior high students who had been let out of school early were huddled in the manga section, excitedly flipping through newly arrived serialized volumes.

The proprietress was sitting behind the counter as usual. Seeing her enter, she looked up. "You're here? Perfect. A new batch of books arrived this afternoon, and I haven't had time to sort them." She pointed at several sealed boxes of books stacked in the corner. "Here, carry these boxes into the back too. Put the best-selling series closer to the front. Come find me for your pay once you're done."

Lin Jianxia nodded. Avoiding the customers' gazes, she picked up a box of books and carried it into the back room.

Although the pay wasn't high and the job was purely manual labor, Lin Jianxia had always cherished it. For one, Sisyphus wasn't far from Lin Third Middle School, so she could just walk there. For another, the bookstore's location was obscure enough that students from her school rarely made the detour to visit.

More importantly, her designated work area was almost entirely confined to the small storage room in the back. Even if a familiar face occasionally wandered into the store, she had plenty of time to hide, minimizing the chances of bumping into them. It wasn't that she found working odd jobs outside of school embarrassing. Rather, if her classmates were to hear her talking to the proprietress in the shop... To her, that would be incredibly troublesome.

After lugging the boxes into the back room, Lin Jianxia realized that this delivery was much larger than usual—the boxes were practically piled up into a small mountain. Normally in this situation, the proprietress might let her come back the next day to sort them, but with the weekend looming, there was no escaping it today.

She figured she would be busy until seven or eight that evening by the time she finished sorting everything. Her only shred of comfort was that she had restocked her younger sister's snack box over the last few days, so at least she didn't have to worry about her going hungry tonight.

Looking at the mountain of books before her, Lin Jianxia pursed her lips, hung her backpack on a nearby rack, and silently set to work. Tearing open the kraft paper, stripping off the plastic wrapping, flipping through the pages to inspect them, sorting by category, shelving them one by one... she repeated these seemingly simple actions for several hours straight. Halfway through, when her back ached unbearably, Lin Jianxia would lean against the bookshelf and stand for a moment before gritting her teeth and bending down to continue.

By the time the final novel, titled *Rebirth: Why Do I Have a Childhood Sweetheart?*, was gently slid onto the shelf, the sky outside the small window had completely darkened. Inside the tiny storage room, only the dim incandescent bulb overhead provided any light.

Lin Jianxia straightened up and let out a long breath. Looking up at the wall clock by the door, she saw the hour hand glaringly pointing at eight o'clock. After taking one last look around to ensure no books were left behind, she finally shouldered her backpack and walked out of the storage room.

At eight in the evening, the bookstore was virtually empty, leaving only two or three customers quietly flipping through books. Lin Jianxia walked up to the counter, her tone finally relaxing. "Mrs. Zhao, everything's done."

The proprietress, who had been watching a drama behind the counter, glanced up at her and reached out to pause the video. She didn't say a word, merely standing up and walking toward the storage room.

Lin Jianxia froze slightly. Was she going to inspect the work? She didn't think much of it and simply stood where she was, waiting quietly. But the proprietress took much longer than she expected. Lin Jianxia couldn't help but check the wall clock several times. She watched the minute hand slowly tick from the twelve to the two before the proprietress's figure finally appeared at the storage room door.

"Mrs. Zhao—"

She had just opened her mouth when the other woman cut her off.

"I just went in and took a look." The proprietress's brow was tightly furrowed, her tone laden with obvious dissatisfaction. "Several of the new books have creases on their covers, and two have dust on their spines that you didn't wipe clean."

As she spoke, she casually pulled out a few books she had deliberately singled out just now and slammed them down in front of Lin Jianxia with a loud SMACK. "With them in this condition, how am I supposed to put them out to sell?"

Lin Jianxia was stunned. She subconsciously looked down at the books on the counter. She remembered very clearly—she had been extremely careful while sorting. The creases on those covers had been there before she even unwrapped the plastic; they were obviously caused during transit.

As for not wiping away the dust... Her job was to categorize and shelve the books. If she had to meticulously wipe down every single book in the storage room, she probably wouldn't finish even if she worked until midnight. Not to mention... she had been sorting to this exact standard for the past month, and Mrs. Zhao had never once brought up any issues. Why was it today of all days, right before her payday, that the woman suddenly started nitpicking these details?

A sliver of doubt had just begun to surface in Lin Jianxia's heart, but the words she heard next made her sigh in relief.

"Forget it. I won't hold it against you this time." The proprietress's tone softened as she turned around and began rummaging through the cash register. "Come get your pay."

Explanations rolled around on the tip of her tongue, but in the end, Lin Jianxia just pursed her lips and said softly, "Okay, Mrs. Zhao. I'll be more careful in the future."

The proprietress took a thin envelope from the drawer and pushed it in front of Lin Jianxia. "Here, your pay for this month. Go home early, it's already dark."

Lin Jianxia took the envelope, but just as she lifted her foot to leave, she paused. Pursing her lips, she decided to open the envelope right there, looking down to count the money by the light of the counter.

One bill, two bills... When she finished counting, her fingers froze, and her heart sank. They had originally agreed on one thousand two hundred yuan a month, but now there were only six one-hundred yuan bills in the envelope—exactly half of what she was owed.

She looked up, her voice a bit hesitant. "Mrs. Zhao, this amount... doesn't seem right?"

Upon hearing this, the proprietress's previously relaxed expression immediately vanished. She let out a sigh, her tone turning conflicted. "Lin, it's not that I'm trying to make things difficult for you on purpose. You've seen it yourself. Business hasn't been great lately. We've got backlogs of these books, and the rent has gone up... Cash flow is just too tight right now."

Lin Jianxia clutched the envelope tightly in her hand, her voice growing strained. "But Mrs. Zhao, we agreed on one thousand two hundred from the start, and I've done everything according to your requirements."

"Agreed?" The proprietress suddenly laughed. "Lin, do you really think I don't know that you've been secretly reading the books in the back storage room?

"With so many books, who can say for sure if one or two go missing? The fact that I haven't held it against you and am still paying you your wages is already generous enough."

Lin Jianxia's face instantly went pale. "I have never taken any books from the store! You can check the invoices, and I only read them after I finished my work..."

"After you finished?" The proprietress interrupted, her tone turning sharp. "I'm already doing you a favor by letting you work here, and you still want to be picky?

"Have we ever signed a contract? No, right? So I'll give you however much I want to give you." She waved her hand impatiently, as if swatting away something unlucky. "Hurry up and leave. That's all the money there is, take it or leave it. Don't bother coming in next week either. My little bookstore can't accommodate someone as high and mighty as you."

Their argument had gradually grown louder, drawing sidelong glances from the few remaining customers in the store. Lin Jianxia gripped the thin envelope, standing blankly before the counter. A sudden chill swept through her body. She opened her mouth, only to find she lacked even the strength to argue back—in the face of blatant bad faith and malice, any reasoning seemed utterly pale and powerless.

Lin Jianxia didn't know how she walked out of that bookstore. When the night wind blew, a patch of icy wetness struck her face. Only then did she belatedly raise a hand to wipe her cheeks.

She clutched the measly six hundred yuan tightly, as if it were the last fragile straw to a drowning person. But this little bit of money... it wasn't even enough to cover this month's rent. And now her job was gone. What about next month? Where would she get the money for next month's rent and living expenses?

Biting her lower lip hard, she walked down the alleyway beneath the dim yellow streetlights. Her steps grew heavier and heavier, as though her legs were filled with lead. Her vision blurred and cleared, then cleared and blurred again.

The night wind swept through the empty alley, rustling up a few dead leaves. In the distance, the occasional headlights of passing cars swept by, stretching her shadow out long, then shrinking it short. Finally, the frail figure slowly crouched down in a deserted corner, burying her face in the crook of her arms. It was as if by doing so, she could hide all her grievances, anger, and bewilderment within this small patch of darkness.