CH 45.1

Chapter 45.1 – Sudoku Game

In the end, Shi Yuan donated the money to the Children’s Welfare Home.

Cheng Youwen left the money to him. And he thought, Isabella liked children so much and Tracy, this was probably the best place for the money to go.

Back on the tram, Shi Yuan sent a message asking Lu Tinghan if he could see Xia Fang.

Lu Tinghan replied to him that the prison did not allow visits these days, so he could only leave a message.

So Shi Yuan dialed the prison phone and left a message to Xia Fang: [I went to No.149 Maple Leaf Street, where Ms. Isabella used to live, she has been dead for eight years. I just want to tell you that the money from the troupe is not for her, but for Tracy to have surgery next year.]

He hesitated for a long time, and then added another sentence: [We didn’t have time, Tracy died of serious illness 3 months ago, she missed you very much.]

The message was sent out and would be conveyed to Xia Fang after being reviewed by the prison.

Shi Yuan didn’t know how Xia Fang would react, but he felt that Xia Fang wanted to know this.

The tram moved forward silently and soon arrived in front of a blue building.

All kinds of people were coming in and out, this was the work distribution center.

Shi Yuan walked in, and a group of people lined up in front of the counter, waiting for the call. He got the number plate and waited for more than half an hour, and finally, it was his turn.

The expressionless female staff member took away his ID card, tapped on the keyboard crackling, and asked, “Have you worked in the food distribution office before?”

“Yes,” Shi Yuan said.

The female staff checked Shi Yuan’s information.

[Name: Shi Yuan

Gender: Male

Address: Not available

Occupation: Not available

Education: Doubtful (literate)

Past place of residence: None

ID number: S600245]

She frowned slightly: “Unfortunately, this side of the distribution office is not short of people. Your personal information seems… not very good, you can’t be qualified for high-level jobs, and you don’t seem to be good at manual work. Do you have any highlights in your past work, can you introduce yourself?”

Shi Yuan thought for a while: “I cook a lot of vegetables.” He added, “Other people always turn the rice spoon a few times and shake down a lot of dishes, but I don’t, my hands are especially steady.”

Female staff: “……”

Female staff: “Uh, well, let’s not talk about cooking anymore. Do you have any other specialties?”

Shi Yuan thought for a while and summed up his advantages: “I feel that I am more…optimistic? I am very happy every day.”

The female staff member looked at him up and down: “Well, I absolutely believe this.” She still frowned and thought for a long time, “How about this, you report to the 8th floor of Tower 4.”

Tower 4 was far away, and Shi Yuan took a long tram ride to get there.

From a distance, a tall tower-like black building stood in the center of the city, surrounded by other low and small energy towers, with stars and moons, like a forest of steel. Shi Yuan walked in and took the elevator. The elevator was old and squeaked when it closed, and it moved slowly all the way to the 8th floor.

A line of large characters hung in the middle of the corridor: [Psychological Assistance]

Shi Yuan didn’t understand what that meant, so he walked to the front desk and explained his intention.

The person at the front desk yawned and said, “Turn left, go all the way, and find Mr. Lin Yeran.”

Shi Yuan followed, found the office, and knocked on the door. A man in his thirties was sitting behind his desk, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, quite elegant, and the nametag said “Lin Yeran”.

Lin Yeran looked through Shi Yuan’s personal information, frowned slightly, and asked, “Have you done psychological assistance before?”

“No,” Shi Yuan said, “I’ve only worked at the theater and the food distribution office.”

Lin Yeran: “Then why did they send you here?”

Shi Yuan said: “Because I told them, I am very happy every day.”

Lin Yeran glanced at Shi Yuan: “Indeed.” He pondered for a few seconds. “How about this, you can try here for a few days, and stay if you think it’s appropriate.”

“Okay,” Shi Yuan replied, “What should I do?”

“Follow me.” Lin Yeran stood up.

Shi Yuan followed him into another office.

That office was much larger, with fifty to sixty workstations, but only a quarter of them were filled sporadically. There was a phone at each station, and once it rang, it was answered by an operator.

Shi Yuan heard the operators talking.

“Sir please cheer up, a momentary loss is always inevitable, the most important thing is to look ahead and live in the present. If needed, I can connect you with a formal counselor and therapist on my end.”

“Regular work and rest and diet are important, and if you feel you can’t hold on anymore, you can talk to your friends and family, and the psychological assistance center will always be there for you.”

“…Well, yes, yes, my family used to have a cat, and his name was Wooly. Would you like to tell me more about your family’s fur baby?”

“Okay Miss, I hope everything goes well for you, goodbye.”

Lin Yeran took him to an empty workstation.

He said, “Simply put, this job is to answer the phone, listen to people’s complaints, and then comfort them. If you encounter a particularly emotional or negative one, report it to me and I will arrange for follow-up.”

Shi Yuan told the truth: “I’m not very good at comforting people.”

“It’s okay, I don’t expect you to be very professional.” Lin Ye Ran said, “In the past, our requirements were very high, and we all had professional operators. There is not enough manpower now. Since the peak period, there have been so many calls every day. Where can I take care of so many? Now that the people from Gleaning City are here, one or two of them are in a bad mood, and we are simply too busy. It is enough for you to listen quietly and patiently. He pointed to the person next to him, “Daisy will tell you what to do.”

The lazy blonde woman next to him propped her head up and greeted him: “Hi!”

The phone in her hand rang, and she immediately picked it up.

Lin Yeran gave Shi Yuan a wink and motioned to Shi Yuan to sit over.

Shi Yuan moved the chair to Daisy’s side.

Lin Yeran patted him on the shoulder and whispered, “Do it well, you can do it.” Then he hurriedly left. Daisy glanced at him, turned on the phone hands-free, and the voice of a middle-aged man came out.

He said with tears in his voice that he had just escaped from Gleaning City and had no home, so he didn’t know what to do in the future.

Daisy said softly, “Sir, if you don’t mind, tell me about your worries, and I will listen.”

As a result, the man talked a lot intermittently. He said that he didn’t bring any of his belongings. He was a pauper who ate extremely bad compressed food and canned food every day; he said that he had no family, and his wife was a mutant who passed away early because of the sequelae of infection; he said that he is now in charge of repairing the windmill, climbing up and down at an altitude of 100 meters every day. If he is not careful, he may fall and be shattered to pieces.

He cried as he spoke, Daisy listened patiently.

After 20 minutes, the man finished telling the story, sniffing his nose and saying, “I don’t know what to do. Can you give me some advice?”

“Sorry, sir,” Daisy replied, “According to the regulations, I can’t give you direction and life advice. If necessary, I can contact a professional consultant in the hospital for you. I’m really sorry.”

“No, no, no, no need.” The man said, “I-I’m much better, and I feel much better after I tell it.” He smiled reluctantly and bitterly. “Thank you for listening to me so much. I was afraid when I called at first that you would think, these are small, insignificant things…”

Daisy said, “No, we won’t. Everyone’s world is different, there are no absolute big or small things, and we are willing to listen to all your worries. You are always welcome to call the counseling hotline again if you need to.”

The man thanked her again and again and hung up.

Daisy looked back at Shi Yuan: “Have you learned? It’s almost like this process.”

Shi Yuan: “Oh…”

Daisy added, “Actually, there are just one or two things to say, and it’s okay if you don’t understand them, just memorize them. But – we have two principles.”

She put up her first finger: “First, never give life advice and direction. This kind of thing has to be left to professionals. We are just listeners.”

She put up another finger: “Second, don’t be too involved, and don’t be too sincere. We have to listen to too many negative stories every day, all of which is negative energy. If you invest too much, it will only make you constantly drained internally, and end up not being able to bear it. In the past six months, 60% of my colleagues have resigned, and most of the reasons are due to too much psychological pressure. People are easy to empathize, and they can’t bear too much suffering.”

“Okay,” Shi Yuan said, “I will remember.”

Daisy looked at him and sighed, “You’re so young, I don’t understand why they let you come here. If you feel you can’t hold on anymore, make sure you get a supervisor.”

Shi Yuan: “Supervisor?”

Daisy ruffled her blonde hair, “Yes, they are responsible for guiding the work, and… enlightening us to get us out of the negativity.” She laughed, “Pretty weird right, we enlighten others and need enlightenment ourselves, like a weird circle.”

She gave Shi Yuan a booklet with a timetable and work guidelines on it.

On the 24th, he had to work the night shift, from 9pm to 5am, when he would have a permit to travel during the curfew. The day after the night shift, work would start in the afternoon and would last until the evening. Work was 6 days a week.

Shi Yuan wrote down the timetable, read the guidelines carefully, and memorized some of the words in it, such as “If necessary, we can contact the hospital professionals for you”, such as “I’m sorry, I can’t give you life advice according to the regulations”, such as “If you can’t, go for a walk, you need to see the sun”.

By the time he had almost finished reading the manual, it was time to leave work.

The phone was ringing endlessly, Daisy had been answering it all day, never taking more than 2 minutes between calls.

She was quite tired, and while packing up her things, she said to Shi Yuan: “Read it well, when you have passed the assessment in a few days, you can officially work here.” She suddenly narrowed her eyes and looked at Shi Yuan carefully. “Have I…seen you before? Why do I think you look familiar, have you ever played anything?”

“I was in the Wild Rose Troupe before,” Shi Yuan said, “I played “The Martyr”.”

“Ah yes—I remember.” Daisy suddenly realized. “I’ve seen your stills in magazines. It’s a pity that there’s such a big drop from the spotlight to here, and no one can see you anymore. You must be quite disappointed, right?”

Shi Yuan: “It’s okay, I think it’s all the same.”

Daisy shrugged her shoulders, not knowing whether she believed it or not, and walked away with her bag.