Mom, This Is What a Real Job Looks Like

Last night, Chu Si saw a post:

Any 987 graduates want to share how badly you've struggled?

The more replies she read, the more scornful she felt. She let out a cold laugh.

You want to talk about struggling?

She looked at her current situation:

Five years after graduating from a top-two university with bachelor's and master's degrees, she drove a taxi and earned less than she paid in fines. She sang at bars until the owners tearfully begged her to leave. She'd written a few songs, but their play counts stubbornly stayed in the double digits. The balance in her bank account was inching toward three digits, but rent was deducted like clockwork every month. Her grandma rented her the old, dilapidated place, where water seeped through the ceiling and she had to set out a stainless-steel basin whenever it rained.

When her mom visited last month, she said:

“Get a proper job and start paying into social security.”

Chu Si ignored her.

As her mom left, she tossed out one last remark:

“Sweetheart, you're the biggest failure of my life.”

--

Could things get any worse?

She leaned back in her taxi and wondered.

At 6:05 p.m., the windshield wipers swung back and forth listlessly.

She was about to end her shift when the rear door suddenly opened.

“Sorry, I'm about to clock out, ”

She looked up and saw a woman's face in the rearview mirror. She paused, then changed course. “Hello. Where to?”

The woman in the back seat slowly fastened her seat belt.

“What's it to you where I'm going?”

Chu Si: “...?”

Woman: “Do you always ask so many questions?”

Chu Si: “...?”

An hour later, her phone buzzed. A friend urgently asked, “Where are you? Are you still going to end your shift?”

Chu Si replied with one hand: “In a bit. I have a problem to deal with first.”

--

Chu Si: Once a genius and a mama's girl, now middle-aged and suddenly rebellious. She only wants to love music, driving, and women ()

Lin Yi'an: A top-tier star on the run from overseas entertainment, taking on the domestic industry. A workaholic from the bottom of the ladder, all about her career, and not interested in romance ()

Reading guide:

A mostly all-female world;

The romance is extremely slow burn. No kissing until the tension is there;

Caregiving, though I can't promise they'll spend equal time lying on their backs;

Theme: A life lived differently