The very next morning, I woke up early, my whole body still aching from the beatdown, but my head was surprisingly clear now that the big lie was successfully built and the constant fear of school was gone. My scholarship dream was totally dead, crushed by that rich bastard Liang Xu, so I knew I couldn't waste another damn minute feeling sorry for myself. I immediately started the brutal job hunt, because my sister's future was now completely dependent on me getting some kind of pathetic paycheck to save up for her. I dressed in the least shabby clothes I owned and grabbed the local newspaper's classifieds section, feeling totally hopeless because I was just a high school dropout with no experience.
The whole day was a complete dumpster fire. I walked miles, submitting applications to every stupid minimum-wage place I could find: greasy fast-food restaurants, dirty gas stations, and even a disgusting little laundromat. I kept my head down and tried to sound confident, but every single manager looked at my lack of a diploma and my young face and just immediately shook their head, giving me the same pathetic, pitying look. The world seriously hates a loser like me, and I was rejected over and over again. My desperation was growing with every single failed application, realizing that even trying to help my family was going to be a massive, uphill fight.
By late afternoon, I was totally exhausted, physically aching, and feeling completely defeated. I stopped by a park bench to rest my throbbing feet and just stared at the ugly, cheap paper in my hands, feeling the heat of my failure burning in my cheeks. I thought about Liang Xu again—the handsome, rich prick who could probably get a high-paying job just by picking up the damn phone—and the intense, cold hatred boiled up inside me again. He didn't just take my high school; he took my only clear path to success, leaving me out here in the dirt fighting for scraps of minimum wage work.
I swore to myself, sitting on that dirty bench, that I would not quit. I would keep walking, I would keep applying, and I would take any stupid, miserable job I could find because my little sister deserved a better future than this fucking struggle. My hatred for Liang Xu was now the only thing keeping my tired, beaten ass moving, fueling my search for a paycheck.