第一章 招聘广告

On Sunday afternoon, Lucas lay on his bed in the dormitory, looking at his phone. In the class group, his classmates were discussing their summer vacation study tour plans.

Someone posted a photo of Yunnan, saying the weather in Dali was neither cold nor hot; someone said they wanted to go to Xi'an to see the Terracotta Warriors; others even calculated the ticket prices for several cities and posted them in the group.

Lucas read through the messages one by one. He had been in China for two years, and apart from the school and a few streets around it, he had been nowhere. He really wanted to go with everyone.

He opened the budgeting app on his phone and checked his money. It was enough for food and books, but for the study tour, he was still short of quite a bit.

Just then, the door opened, and his roommate Xiao Chen came in carrying two cups of milk tea.

"Lucas, I brought you one." Xiao Chen placed a cup of milk tea on his desk. Lucas sat up: "Thanks! What made you think of buying milk tea today?"

Xiao Chen smiled and said, "A new milk tea shop opened at the school gate, with a buy-one-get-one-free deal. Business is really good." "Buy-one-get-one-free?" Lucas bit on his straw. He looked at the milk tea in his hand, then at Xiao Chen, and suddenly had an idea.

"Xiao Chen, I want to find a part-time job to earn some money." Lucas said, "I want to go on the study tour with my classmates this summer, and I'm a little short of money."

"A part-time job? That's great." Xiao Chen nodded. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know. Wherever they need me, I'll go." Lucas said very seriously.

"Looking for a job like that won't work." Xiao Chen laughed. "Come on, let's go eat first, and I'll help you think on the way." The two walked toward the cafeteria. When they reached the school bulletin board, Lucas stopped.

A colorful paper was posted on the bulletin board, with large characters reading: "Milk tea shop recruiting part-time staff." Below was a line of small characters: "Flexible working hours, hourly pay, college students welcome."

"That's the shop from just now!" Lucas pointed at the paper. "The buy-one-get-one-free one! Xiao Chen, I'll go here."

"The milk tea shop is close to school and the hours are flexible. It sounds good." Xiao Chen said, "But..."

"But what?"

"You are an international student. You need to go through some procedures before working, right?"

"Procedures?" Lucas was stunned for a moment. "What procedures? Can't I just go to the interview directly?"

"I heard that international students need the school's permission, and it has to be noted on the residence permit before you can work." Xiao Chen scratched his head. "I also heard this from a senior, not too sure. But you'd better ask first, don't be confused."

Lucas looked at the job advertisement on the bulletin board, feeling a bit disappointed. He had thought finding a part-time job meant going to an interview and then starting to earn money, but it turned out there were so many things he didn't know.

"Okay." He took out his phone and took a photo of the advertisement. "Tomorrow I'll go to the school and ask clearly."

"That's right." Xiao Chen patted his shoulder. "Let's eat first. Only when you're full will you have energy to get the procedures done."

Lucas smiled. He looked up at the colorful advertisement again. Milk tea shop, wait for me. The first step of the study tour starts with this cup of milk tea.