Hey, first of all, thanks for reading my lousy Machine Translation. To be honest, I’d really like it if you guys corrected the mistakes I made. But please speak nicely and politely. My heart is not strong enough to read your too-harsh comments. Have a nice day. π
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Chp17. part2
Before the iced watermelon juice and half-sweet original milk tea were even ready, five more customers entered the shop. “Two chocolate smoothies and three iced milk teas, please.”
Since Yun Xin was new and hadn’t been trained on most tasks, she couldn’t immediately help.
Zhu Lin reluctantly stood up and joined Zhou Rui in the flurry of activity.
No sooner had they seen off the first group of customers than more people walked in. For a solid hour and a half, the two were running in circles, without a single moment to rest.
“I can’t go on, I need to sit down for a bit.” Zhu Lin felt like her hands weren’t even her own anymore. “What’s going on today? Why are there so many people?”
When in doubt, consult the internet.
Yun Xin pulled out her phone and searched. “The internet says the power grid is overloaded due to the extreme heat, and some areas might experience outages.”
“What?” Zhu Lin stared in disbelief. “What year is this? How can we still be having power outages?”
“It’s true! It’s all over the web,” Yun Xin insisted.
“Let me check myself.” Zhu Lin, unconvinced, had to see for herself. A quick search revealed the situation was even more dire than Yun Xin had described.
The Electricity department was urging households to restrict electricity usage. Air conditioners should be avoided whenever possible, and if absolutely necessary, set to 27 degrees Celsius or higher. High-wattage appliances like washing machines and ovens should only be used when absolutely essential.
“If everyone doesn’t conserve electricity, we could face a city-wide blackout.”
“Crazy, crazy,” Zhu Lin muttered repeatedly.
“Will the power go out for shops too?” Zhou Rui asked, startled. “Our ice machine, air conditioner… We use a lot of electricity here! If the power goes out, we can’t work.”
Yun Xin replied, “Commercial and industrial electricity won’t be affected for now.”
Zhou Rui felt a bit relieved. “So, our work hours won’t be affected.”
But then he thought, “What about after work? When I get home, the place will be like an oven, and I won’t be allowed to use the air conditioner? Even cooking β the rice cooker and oven draw too much power, so I can’t use them either?”
“That’s pretty much it,” Yun Xin nodded.
“Are they forcing me to work 24/7?” Zhou Rui sank into contemplation.
“Why aren’t you worried at all?” Zhu Lin asked Yun Xin.
Yun Xin explained, “We have backup power at home β a generator.”
Hearing this, Zhu Lin had an idea. “Right, a home backup generator! I’m buying one too!”
She swiftly ordered one online, completing the purchase in one fluid motion.
Zhou Rui had also considered buying one, but after checking the price on his phone, he silently put it away. “I guess I’ll just live at the shop 24/7… Not that I’m doing it for the air conditioning, you know. I just… love my job.”
Shortly after 1 PM, the shop’s customers had thinned out considerably, finally allowing the three of them to catch their breath.
“Come on, let’s take out the trash. You can familiarize yourself with the area,” Zhu Lin said, winking at Yun Xin.
Slacking off again, Zhou Rui sighed inwardly, but instead of calling her out, he simply said, “Go early and come back early.”
“Did you hear that? Hurry up, hurry up!” Zhu Lin urged.
Yun Xin followed her out.
“This is where we usually dump the trash… Who parked here? Don’t they know they’re blocking the way?” Zhu Lin grumbled.
Yun Xin glanced inside the car.
In the back seat lay a girl, about three or four years old. Her face was flushed, her breathing rapid and shallow, and her expression clearly showed she was in distress.
At the same moment, Zhu Lin noticed something too. “What the heck? The windows are rolled up tight! In this summer heat, the car’s interior temperature will skyrocket! In just a few hours, she’ll suffocate! How could her parents be so careless? Leaving her in the car without realizing it!”
“I need to call the police right away!” she exclaimed, pulling out her phone and starting to dial.
“It’s too late,” Yun Xin said suddenly.
In her vision, a thick black mist enveloped the girl, almost completely obscuring her. Simultaneously, text flashed: Estimated time of death: 6 minutes 48 seconds.
“Huh?” Zhu Lin, still dialing, paused slightly.
She watched as Yun Xin pulled a pair of black leather gloves from her pocket and quickly put them on. Then, clenching her right hand into a fist, she slammed it against the car window.
With a loud bang, the glass shattered instantly. The car’s anti-theft system immediately blared into action, its piercing siren cutting through the air.
Ignoring the alarm, Yun Xin yanked open the car door and scooped the baby out.
The black mist gradually dissipated, the countdown ticking down its final seconds before the entire line of text vanished completely.
Once the call connected, Zhu Lin quickly recounted the events and urged the police to come immediately.
Hanging up, she pressed her icy hands against the baby’s feverish cheeks to cool them, grumbling, “Why did you act so fast? What if there were surveillance cameras nearby? You just smashed someone’s car window β won’t they sue us?”
The rapid-fire questions revealed her genuine worry.
“I didn’t have time to think then,” Yun Xin replied, glancing around. “This area doesn’t seem to have any cameras. Besides, I saved his daughter β he probably won’t make things too difficult for me, right?”
Zhu Lin considered this and agreed.
The two women stood waiting for the police to arrive. Instead, a couple rushed to the scene first.
“I heard the alarm blaring at home. Oh my! How did the car window get smashed? Who did this?”
“I did it,” Yun Xin volunteered, stepping forward. “No need to thank me.”
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