Chapter 1

"Monthly salary during the probationary period is 20,000, and they even provide an Audi A6..."

"20,000 monthly salary..."

"Audi A6..."

Even after sitting in the car, Xia Tianqi had not yet recovered from the previous surprise.

Not long ago, he had just passed the interview of a large company and signed a high-salary probationary contract.

It was called a high salary because he would earn 20,000 per month during the probationary period, and they even provided an Audi as a company car.

Such benefits and treatment were like winning a 5 million yuan lottery for Xia Tianqi, who had just graduated from his third year of college and had no work experience at all.

To put it bluntly, he had never even dreamed of such a stroke of luck.

"Since you have signed the work contract, it's time to fulfill your duties."

Just as Xia Tianqi was still savoring the moment, a slightly low voice suddenly sounded beside him.

Xia Tianqi woke up from his surprise and suddenly remembered that he was not alone in the car; there was also a middle-aged man around forty.

This middle-aged man was the one who had interviewed him, but he had spoken very little throughout the process and seemed quite impatient, giving Xia Tianqi the impression that he was just going through the motions.

In fact, the middle-aged man was quite perfunctory, as Xia Tianqi had signed the probationary contract without even knowing what kind of company it was or what his job responsibilities would be.

In short... he had signed the contract in a daze.

Despite this, Xia Tianqi was not particularly worried that it was a scam company, as the company was located in a prime office building.

If it were not a legitimate large company with connections to the government, it would not have the qualifications to be in a prime office building, let alone occupy three floors, which demonstrated its strength.

Otherwise, no matter how good the salary and benefits were, he would not have signed the contract so rashly, given the prevalence of pyramid schemes and scams.

However, Xia Tianqi actually wanted to ask the middle-aged man what he saw in him.

He remembered clearly that during the interview, the middle-aged man did not ask which university he came from, what major he studied, or even his hobbies.

He just asked him a peculiar question: whether he had the courage to face his fears and if he was afraid of ghosts.

"That... fulfilling my duties is not a problem, but... you haven't told me what my duties are."

Xia Tianqi turned to look at the middle-aged man in the passenger seat, his hands nervously tapping the steering wheel.

"Your duty is to follow the company's arrangements and complete your assigned tasks. The details will be explained after you pass the probationary period; otherwise, it would be pointless to tell you now."

The middle-aged man's tone was still impatient, but this time Xia Tianqi did not tolerate it and said directly:

"But if you don't tell me anything, I can't work!"

Although Xia Tianqi was getting anxious, the middle-aged man's attitude did not change. He pointed forward and commanded:

"Let's go to No. 34 Ping'an Street, Xinhua Grand Bookstore..."

Xinhua Grand Bookstore was the largest bookstore in Fuping City, with a total of six floors. It could be said that any book available on the market could be found here.

When Xia Tianqi drove the middle-aged man to the bookstore, it had already closed.

Xinhua Grand Bookstore only operated from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, and it was now past 7:00 PM. He wondered why they were still coming here.

"Get out of the car."

After Xia Tianqi parked the car, the middle-aged man opened the door and got out. Despite his confusion, Xia Tianqi obediently followed.

As soon as he got out of the car, the sticky heat enveloped him, making it difficult to breathe:

"This damn weather, it's almost like a sauna!"

Xia Tianqi muttered to himself and followed the middle-aged man quickly to the front of the bookstore. What made Xia Tianqi feel strange was that the entire building was completely covered by curtains, giving it a somewhat eerie feel.

"Is it being renovated? Or am I supposed to supervise the renovation?"

Xia Tianqi looked at the middle-aged man uncertainly.

The middle-aged man did not immediately answer Xia Tianqi. Instead, he took a key from his pocket and threw it to him, saying:

"You will be working here for a while. How long you will work here depends on you.

Your job is simple: you just need to stay in the library at night, open the door in the morning, and close it at night."

"Am I supposed to be a librarian? Oh no, this should be called a night watchman."

Although the job sounded simple and he could handle it, he was inexplicably unwilling, as if... agreeing to work in this bookstore would lead him to hell.

But he had no choice; he couldn't say he couldn't even do a night watchman's job.

"Alright, I'll just follow your instructions. But I still..."

"I know what you want to ask." The middle-aged man seemed to see through Xia Tianqi's thoughts and waved to interrupt him:

"Everything will be explained after you pass the probationary period."

"How long is my probationary period? You should at least tell me that!" Xia Tianqi was almost ready to curse.

"Wait for my notification. When I notify you to become a regular employee, you will have passed the probationary period..."

Five minutes later, the middle-aged man left, leaving Xia Tianqi alone.

Xia Tianqi looked at the bookstore building in front of him and then at the Audi parked nearby. His expression became complicated.

However, he quickly regained his composure because he felt there was no need to worry. Before driving over, he had already discussed with a few close classmates that if he did not contact them within 24 hours, they would immediately call the police.

Of course, he chose to keep the details of his salary and benefits a secret.

Because even if he told his classmates, no one would believe him; they would think he was being scammed.

After that, Xia Tianqi wandered around the area, bought some snacks and drinks at a convenience store, and then returned to Xinhua Grand Bookstore.

Using the key given by the middle-aged man, Xia Tianqi tried several times before finally unlocking the door and entered the bookstore with some unease.

The bookstore was pitch black, and because of the curtains, there was not even a hint of streetlight. It was completely dark.

Fortunately, Xia Tianqi had always been braver than the average person, so he was not completely terrified by the darkness.

He turned on the flashlight on his phone and struggled to lock the door, as he would be responsible for any missing books.

After doing this, Xia Tianqi did not go further inside but turned and approached a large window nearby, intending to sit and eat something.

However, before he could put down the plastic bag, he suddenly heard a series of light footsteps.

"Who is it!!!"

The footsteps startled Xia Tianqi, as he had thought he was alone.

But at that moment, it seemed as if someone had suddenly appeared, and the person might be a thief.

"Didn't you come to steal earlier? Why wait until I'm here to steal? How infuriating!"

Thinking this, Xia Tianqi felt a surge of anger, but he would not rashly confront the person. What if he was wrong, and the person was not a thief?

But to be safe, he decided to call the middle-aged man first and also to intimidate the person.

However, Xia Tianqi's phone had no signal in the bookstore, so he could only call the police.

"Can't be a staff member, right? Why not turn on the lights and sneak up on me?"

Thinking this, Xia Tianqi decisively called the police, but his phone suddenly shut down after one ring.

"Damn, this is really bizarre!"

The sudden shutdown of his phone made Xia Tianqi extremely scared, especially if the person had a knife.

The more he thought about it, the more his legs felt weak. He dared not stay where he was and hurriedly ran toward the bookstore's entrance, trying to unlock the door and escape.

However, because it was completely dark, Xia Tianqi unfortunately collided with a bookshelf during his run, causing him to feel dizzy and fall to the ground with a scream.

But the faint footsteps behind him did not disappear; instead, they seemed to be accelerating, becoming faster and faster...

Until... some glaring lights suddenly turned on in the bookstore.

Because he had already adapted to the darkness, Xia Tianqi was momentarily blinded and instinctively leaned against a bookshelf to avoid being attacked from behind.

The blinding sensation quickly disappeared, and Xia Tianqi regained his vision. Then, a young man about his age came into view.

The young man was wearing a somewhat tattered work uniform, with a somewhat gloomy expression, and said nothing as he looked at Xia Tianqi.

"Who are you? What are you doing in the bookstore?"

When Xia Tianqi saw the young man clearly, he loudly questioned him.

"Are you the new night watchman?"

The young man was not as nervous as Xia Tianqi and answered in a roundabout way.

"Yes, yes, I am." Xia Tianqi nodded in surprise and asked:

"Who are you?"

"Similar to you, I am the librarian here." The young man slowly replied.

"You really scared me! I thought you were a thief! Why didn't you turn on the lights?"

"The circuit breaker tripped, so I went to the main switch. I heard some noise here and came back, thinking it was a thief."

The young man's answer resolved Xia Tianqi's previous concerns. He had not turned on the lights because he did not know where the switch was.

After checking the young man's work ID again to ensure there were no issues, Xia Tianqi finally relaxed his guard. After all, it was always better to have someone to talk to.

However, after a brief interaction, Xia Tianqi found that the young man was not a talkative person, so he had to work hard to get some personal information from him.

The young man's name was Zhang Xiaoshun. He had been working here since he graduated from college. Because the rent in the area was too high and he had no girlfriend, he decided to live in the bookstore. This way, he could manage the books more conveniently and save a significant amount of money.

Because Zhang Xiaoshun was not talkative, Xia Tianqi did not bother to find more topics to discuss. He found it frustrating to deal with people who could not even utter a word.

From the middle-aged man to Zhang Xiaoshun, both had made him feel annoyed.

Xia Tianqi walked to the window, took out a bread and a box of milk from the plastic bag, and after some thought, threw a bottle of drink to Zhang Xiaoshun, but Zhang Xiaoshun did not even look at him.

"Damn, they are all so arrogant!"

Xia Tianqi cursed Zhang Xiaoshun in his heart but did not let it show. He tried to turn on his phone but found it would not start. He then asked Zhang Xiaoshun:

"Is there a place to charge my phone here?"

"There is a rest room on the second floor where you can charge your phone. There are chargers there."

Zhang Xiaoshun pointed to the second floor and answered very briefly.

Xia Tianqi glanced at Zhang Xiaoshun, subtly frowned, and then approached him, saying:

"I'll go upstairs to charge my phone and come back later."

Without waiting for Zhang Xiaoshun's response, Xia Tianqi quickly walked to the stairs.

(Shi Yi's new book has been uploaded. I hope everyone can support it as much as possible. Reviews, rewards, collections, and recommendations are all welcome!)

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