Actually, aside from pure manual labor, most part-time jobs have an unspoken rule: girls get priority.

I’ve attended more than ten interviews for part-time jobs with excellent conditions. There were always plenty of male applicants. Sometimes, they even made up a large portion of the crowd.

Yet once the interviews ended, almost everyone left was female.

Even the few remaining boys usually couldn’t make it through the short trial period. Girls had a natural advantage in non-manual part-time jobs. That was simply how the market worked.

After all, customers liked buying things from pretty girls.

There was nothing wrong with that. What truly pissed me off were the businesses posting those advertisements.

They had already decided to keep only pretty girls or exceptionally handsome guys. Yet when recruiting, they said nothing about it.

Instead, they attracted countless hopeful male applicants.

After making them handle every dirty, exhausting emergency task, the businesses would offer a token trainee wage. Then they’d throw them away like used rags.

I’d been victimized once myself, so the memory ran especially deep. I hated those unscrupulous companies with all my heart.

But when I saw this advertisement, I felt relieved.

It clearly stated that they were recruiting only pretty girls.

No deception. No hidden traps.

So I clicked on it and checked the full details—

> New store opening. Recruiting approximately five full-time staff members and ten part-time workers.
>
> The store will mainly sell ACG-related products, anime merchandise, and similar items. It will also operate arcade games, capsule toy machines, and more.
>
> Requirements: Female applicants with some understanding of otaku culture. Good looks preferred. University degree preferred. Work experience preferred.
>
> To apply, send your application to: XXXXXXXX@XX.com
>
> Note: Please state which requirements you meet, whether you have work experience, what skills you possess, and attach one makeup-free photo.

“Wow, those requirements are pretty strict.”

The side-ponytailed girl leaned over my shoulder to look at the screen with me. Her warm breath brushed against my ear.

“I wonder what the pay is like. It better be worth all those requirements, right?”

Daily wage: 200 or more.

Before I could say anything, the side-ponytailed girl clicked her tongue.

“That’s so low. Only two hundred a day? Even our club president is more generous.”

That wasn’t even comparable, okay?

“For part-time work, it’s actually very good. Many full-time jobs don’t pay that much, at least not by our city’s standards.”

I quietly defended the offer.

“And that’s only the base wage. Once you actually get paid, it’ll probably be much higher than the monthly salaries of many recent graduates.”

Of course, the actual amount could still be lower than advertised.

But with requirements this high, the benefits were probably just as good.

“Xiaoxi, you want to go?”

The side ponytail had noticed my interest.

“Do you meet the requirements? You need work experience.”

What a coincidence.

I lacked everything except work experience.

Without saying anything else, I opened a document and prepared to write my application.

The side ponytail quickly lost interest. As a young lady from a wealthy family, she’d never even considered working during summer vacation.

“If you still have to work during your vacation, can you really call it a vacation?”

“I’m hungry, Xiaoxi. Let’s go eat.”

She rubbed her stomach and looked at me.

I shook my head.

“You go ahead. I ate a little when I came back this morning, so I’m not hungry at all right now. Besides, I need to finish this first.”

“Mm, okay.”

The side ponytail left reluctantly.

I blinked and closed the document.

That excuse had been made up. I wanted lunch too.

But I still didn’t know the side ponytail’s name. People here always chatted while eating. If she noticed something wrong, that would be troublesome.

The side ponytail might be naturally airheaded, but she wasn’t stupid.

“As for the photo, I’ll have to borrow a roommate’s phone when she comes back.”

I patted my short pants.

“Let’s go downstairs first.”

Every dormitory building at Zhenzhong University had a small cafeteria beside it. There was also a larger cafeteria near the teaching buildings.

So I didn’t need to go far for lunch. I could just eat at the small cafeteria.

Since it was exclusively for this dormitory building, I didn’t bother changing clothes.

We were all girls, anyway.

After locking the dorm room, I went downstairs and greeted the dorm supervisor.

“Good afternoon, Auntie Zhang.”

“Good afternoon, Xiaoxi.”

Auntie Zhang was watching television. She turned around with a smile.

“Going to get lunch?”

“Mm… I want to register my name first.”

I nervously twisted my fingers.

“The list for students leaving campus during the vacation.”

I had no idea what the university was thinking.

Students weren’t allowed to remain in the dorms during vacation, yet everyone still had to register on the departure list.

Auntie Zhang didn’t think much of it. She handed me a stack of rosters.

“Here. Your dorm’s page is somewhere in the middle.”

“Mm-hmm. I can find it myself.”

The reason I had to hide everything was simple.

Even if I claimed I’d lost my memory, it would cause plenty of trouble.

For example, the energetic airhead might hug me and insist on helping me remember. Or some malicious person might trick me and take the chance to bully me.

In short, amnesia was far too troublesome.

I hoped I could bluff my way through this.

Miss G’s bed was across from mine. The side ponytail’s bed was beside mine.

With three people accounted for, I now knew the names of everyone in the dorm.

Time to analyze.

Bed Four was mine—Su Xiaoxi.

The girl in Bed Two, beside me, was the side-ponytailed girl named Xu Qianqian.

The mature Miss G in Bed Three, across from me, was Qin Xue.

Wow. Her name sounded so pure and innocent?

That left one roommate I hadn’t met yet.

Bed One belonged to Chen Meier.

I focused entirely on the list. I didn’t notice a girl silently walking behind me and glancing at what I was holding.

“I’m done signing.”

I returned the roster to Auntie Zhang and headed outside.

But I wasn’t going to eat. I was going to the convenience store to buy something.

My stomach was a little hungry, but I’d just rejected Xu Qianqian. If I went to the small cafeteria and ran into her, that would be incredibly awkward.

For the sake of my dignity, I’d endure my hunger a little longer.

That was the awareness of a working adult.

After buying a pack of tissues, I returned to the dorm.

The moment I entered, I saw someone sitting on the bed by the window.

Her figure was just like Xu Qianqian’s—the standard build of a pretty girl her age.

But unlike that energetic airhead, this newcomer had a distinctly cold presence.

Her exquisite face showed no extra emotion at all.

She looked like one of those emotionless anime girls.

She wore a dark shirt, a pleated skirt, and black knee-high socks. Her sitting posture was perfectly proper.

When she saw me enter, she greeted me in an indifferent voice.

“Su Xiaoxi.”

The flattest possible greeting was simply calling someone by name.

There wasn’t even a hi or hello.

I figured the original owner probably hadn’t been very close to her. So I only nodded and replied, “Hello, Chen Meier.”

No matter what, it was always best to treat others politely.

Her features were actually very pure and delicate. They didn’t match the word “Mei” in her name very well.

Perhaps because the emotionless girl had stopped speaking, her gaze still hadn’t left me.

She stared at me for more than ten seconds.

The longer she looked, the more uneasy I felt.

I couldn’t help asking, “Um… is something wrong?”

“Yes.”

She first gave me a definite answer. Then she said, “I’m Qin Xue.”

“…?!”

Stay calm. Stay calm.

To be honest, that name did suit her better.

That Miss G should’ve been called Chen Meier.

Ahaha—

Like hell!

I’d been roommates with her for two years, and I’d called her by the wrong name.

How was I supposed to explain that?

When Qin Xue saw that I didn’t respond, she continued in the same flat, emotionless voice.

“I exchanged beds with Chen Meier at the beginning of this semester.”

“Downstairs, I saw you looking at our dormitory registration form.”

“You were using our bed numbers to figure out our names.”

She hadn’t moved from her bed, but the pressure she gave off was even stronger than when Chen Meier had been right beside my ear.

“I heard about your car accident and hospitalization, Su Xiaoxi.”

“Did you lose your memory?”