Chapter 16: A New Part-Time Job

The following day, Jiang Zheng arrived at the school gate to meet with Du Yu and the others. As he approached, he saw six or seven young men already gathered there, all of them standing at least 175 centimeters tall. Among them, Jiang Zheng only recognized Du Yu.

When Du Yu saw Jiang Zheng, he waved and called out, “Over here!” Jiang Zheng quickened his steps and joined them.

“Let me introduce someone—this is Jiang Zheng. He’ll be joining us for the part-time job,” Du Yu said with a smile.

Jiang Zheng greeted everyone with a friendly smile, and the others responded in turn.

“Since everyone’s here, let’s get going,” Du Yu announced.

The group opted for the subway, as the destination was quite far and taking the bus would waste too much time. Including the walk, their journey took nearly an hour. By the time they arrived, it was already nine o’clock.

Du Yu went to find the person in charge and soon someone came to lead them to change into their uniforms.

As they walked, the hotel staff member explained, “You’ll start at ten o’clock. Before that, we’ll give you a brief training session.”

Jiang Zheng and the others nodded in understanding. Training was only natural, given it was their first time doing this job; no one objected.

The uniforms were somewhat worn but not torn. Each person rummaged through the pile to find something that fit. What Jiang Zheng found difficult to endure was the indescribable odor emanating from the clothes—a complex smell, not simply unpleasant but layered in a way that defied easy description.

The scent was anything but agreeable.

It wasn’t just Jiang Zheng; the others all frowned deeply, clearly uncomfortable with the smell.

As their informal leader, Du Yu spoke up, “Brother, why do these clothes smell so weird?”

The hotel staff member replied, “How could they not? They’ve never been washed.”

The group was stunned—these clothes had never been washed?

Du Yu hesitated, clearly uneasy. They all valued cleanliness.

“Is there another set we could use? These ones…” Du Yu trailed off, hoping the staff member would understand.

“No, this is all we have,” the staffer said, shaking his head.

These uniforms had been purchased by the hotel specifically for temporary security or server staff. Such occasions were rare, so the uniforms weren’t used often. When not in use, they were simply stored away and only brought out when needed.

Seeing the students’ expressions, the staff member added, “There aren’t any other uniforms, but don’t worry. Once you’ve chosen your clothes, we’ll have them pressed and spray some perfume on them. You won’t notice any other smell.”

This was standard procedure—not for the students’ sake, but for the hotel’s image. Uniforms needed to appear neat and, above all, not carry any off-putting odors.

Even with this reassurance, Du Yu and the others didn’t look reassured. Pressing the clothes and spraying perfume would hardly mask the fact that they had never been washed.

Jiang Zheng picked out a set that fit him without complaint. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t wear them. When he’d worked part-time at the mall wearing a mascot costume, those clothes weren’t any better—unwashed and with a similarly perplexing smell. After all, many people wore the same suit. And there hadn’t even been perfume to cover up the scent back then; the smell had been impossible to ignore.

Compared to that, having the uniforms pressed and sprayed with perfume seemed a considerable improvement—Jiang Zheng wasn’t one to fuss over such things.

After a moment’s silence, Du Yu and the others resigned themselves and began picking out their uniforms. They were sensible enough to realize the uniforms were mandatory—refusing meant only one thing: going home.

They’d all woken up early on a weekend and traveled far for this part-time job; clearly, they needed the work. Quitting wasn’t an option. So, their only choice was to hold their noses and put on the uniforms.

“We’ve chosen our clothes,” Du Yu called out.

“All right, follow me. Bring your uniforms—I’ll take you to have them pressed,” the staff member said.

He led Jiang Zheng and the others to a room where clothes were pressed.

“Sister He, please press these uniforms and spray some perfume on them. They’ll be needed shortly,” he instructed the woman already working there.

She answered promptly, “No problem, I’ll do it right away.”

The staff member thanked her, then took Jiang Zheng and the others elsewhere.

“The uniforms will take a little while. In the meantime, I’ll take you for a quick training session,” he said.

Everyone responded in agreement and followed after him.

Soon, they arrived at the security chief’s office.

“Captain Wu, I’ll leave them in your hands for training and work assignments,” the staff member said with a smile.

“These are the temporary security staff for today?” Captain Wu asked.

“That’s right,” the staff member confirmed.

“Understood. You can count on me,” Captain Wu nodded.

“I’ll leave you to it, then,” the staff member said, taking his leave.

“Attention!” Captain Wu suddenly barked.

Everyone was momentarily startled but quickly snapped to attention.

“At ease… Right face… Align!” he commanded.

It felt like a return to military training, and soon, everyone was lined up neatly at his direction. Where moments before they’d been a scattered group, now they looked disciplined and focused—something Captain Wu clearly appreciated.

He continued, “You’re all university students?”

“Yes,” Du Yu replied.

“Good. Since you’re university students, I’m sure you’ve all had military training. I won’t repeat those lessons. Let me go over a few rules. Listen carefully—you must not break these rules yourselves, and if you see guests violating them, you’re to remind them. If they refuse to comply, you may need to take further measures.”

With that, Captain Wu began instructing them on security protocols. Some listened absentmindedly, but Jiang Zheng was among those who paid close attention.

Time passed as Captain Wu outlined the essential rules and then moved on to assigning duties. As the security chief, he was well within his authority.

Before long, everyone had been given their assignments and received clear explanations of their responsibilities.

Jiang Zheng was to maintain order at the entrance and exit, along with two others. The job wasn’t especially taxing; the busiest times were when customers arrived or left, with the rest of the day being relatively relaxed.