Time ticked by, each second stretching out tenfold. Su Ming clenched his teeth, sweat beading on his forehead. He tried to distract himself by counting sheep and reciting texts from memory, but the pressure in his bladder and the rustling sounds behind him kept pulling him back to reality.

Five minutes... ten minutes... fifteen minutes...

Qiu Tong seemed wide awake, the light from her phone occasionally illuminating the ceiling. She turned over now and then, the sound of the sheets rustling unusually loud in the silence.

Su Ming couldn't hold it any longer. If he continued to endure, he feared he might embarrass himself by wetting the bed.

Taking a deep breath, he carefully sat up from the mat, moving as quietly as possible. Yet, the movement still disturbed the person on the bed.

"Ah!" Qiu Tong gasped, sitting up abruptly and pulling a T-shirt from the foot of the bed to cover her chest, her voice a mix of shock and annoyance. "What are you doing?"

Su Ming's face turned crimson, his awkwardness visible even in the dim light. "Cousin-in-law, I... I really need to use the bathroom..."

"You!" Qiu Tong glared at him, her chest heaving from the fright. "You didn't make a sound, trying to scare me to death!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Su Ming lowered his head, not daring to let his gaze wander. But the fleeting image was already etched in his mind: the glimpse of her waist as she pulled the shirt over herself, and her long hair cascading over her shoulders in panic, every part of her was beautiful.

His cousin-in-law's figure was truly stunning. If it weren't for his urgent need, Su Ming might have wanted to take another look.

"Still looking?" Qiu Tong's voice rose, tinged with mild anger. "Go to the bathroom already!"

"Oh... okay!" Su Ming, feeling as if he had been granted amnesty, grabbed his waistband and almost fled the bedroom, even putting on one slipper the wrong way.

"Bang!" The sound of the bathroom door closing was particularly loud in the quiet night.

Qiu Tong sat on the bed, taking a while to regain her composure. She looked down at the T-shirt in her hand, then at the tightly closed door, her anger gradually fading, replaced by a helpless smile.

She shook her head, put on the T-shirt, and covered herself with a thin blanket.

A few minutes later, Su Ming returned to the bedroom, hesitating at the door like a child who had done something wrong, his head down, stammering an explanation. "Cousin-in-law, I really didn't mean it earlier, I just..."

"Enough." Qiu Tong interrupted him, her voice calm, even carrying a hint of tiredness. "No need to explain. What's done is done."

She paused, then lay back down, turning her back to him. "Go to sleep!"

Her tone was flat, revealing no emotion.

Su Ming was stunned for a few seconds before slowly moving back to the mat to lie down. He stared at the ceiling, his mind in turmoil. What did she mean by "what's done is done"? Was she angry or indifferent? Did she think he was a pervert?

The air conditioning hummed, but Su Ming only felt hot all over. He tossed and turned, the mat rustling beneath him, unable to fall asleep.

In the darkness, Qiu Tong lay with her back to him, her eyes open, the phone screen long since dark. She sighed softly, the sound so faint, yet it drifted into Su Ming's ears.

The night was still long.

Both of them, lost in their thoughts, endured the silent darkness.

It was unclear how much time passed before Su Ming finally fell asleep and entered the realm of dreams. Soon, he dreamed of his cousin-in-law, who wore a pink cotton dress that revealed her hot, sexy figure.

She smiled as she walked towards Su Ming, opening her arms to embrace him.

"Cousin-in-law, don't..." Su Ming was enveloped in her soft body, feeling an indescribable comfort.

He wanted to gently push her away, but then saw her pucker her red lips and lean in for a kiss. Su Ming felt a tingling sensation all over, involuntarily shivering, his legs twitching slightly.

He opened his eyes to find it was just a dream. It was already broad daylight. He quickly got up, rushed to the bathroom to relieve himself, took a quick shower, changed his pants, and put on the new clothes his cousin-in-law had bought for him.

After freshening up, he peeked into the room to see his cousin-in-law still asleep. He grabbed his documents, quietly closed the door, and left alone.

Su Ming had breakfast at a nearby stall, spending one and a half yuan on rice rolls, before heading to the nearby industrial zone, full of confidence, to look for a job. However, reality soon hit him like a cold shower.

He visited several factories, only to receive the same response.

They all dismissed him for his low education and lack of work experience.

Even though he repeatedly explained that he had actually studied up to the third year of high school, only dropping out due to his father's illness, and that his grades had been good, the recruiters didn't even bother to look at his resume, waving him away.

After being rejected once more, Su Ming stood in front of an electronics factory's recruitment ad, unwilling to give up, and said to the somewhat kind-looking HR lady in front of him, "Ma'am, even though I only have a junior high school diploma, I'm not stupid, I'm strong, and I can do any dirty or tiring work. Please give me a chance!"

The HR lady, about twenty-three or twenty-four, with a neat ponytail and a sweet face, looked sympathetically at Su Ming's sunburned face and shook her head helplessly. "Rules are rules, there's nothing I can do."

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Su Ming was completely deflated, like a defeated rooster, turning to leave dejectedly. He realized his cousin-in-law was right yesterday; finding a job outside was much harder than he had imagined.

Just as he took a few steps away, he heard that crisp voice behind him.

"Hey, wait a minute!"

Su Ming turned around to see the HR lady waving at him. He quickly ran back.

"Here's the thing," the HR lady lowered her voice, "our warehouse happens to need a handyman. If you have a high school diploma, you can come for a trial tomorrow. If you do well, there's a chance to become a warehouse clerk."

"Warehouse clerk?" Su Ming's eyes lit up. The title sounded much more respectable than "handyman." He quickly asked, "What does a warehouse clerk do?"

"Just counting, bookkeeping, receiving and shipping goods, checking orders, it's easy work," the HR lady explained.

Su Ming's heart was pounding with excitement. This was exactly what he wanted! But as the excitement faded, his face fell again, and he said sadly, "But... I only completed half a semester of the third year of high school and didn't get a diploma!"

The HR lady looked at his almost tearful expression and couldn't help but laugh.

"Come here!" She beckoned Su Ming closer with her finger. Su Ming leaned in, catching a faint scent of shampoo.

She whispered in his ear, her voice as soft as a mosquito, "Go to the overpass in town, there's a place that makes fake diplomas. You can get it done for twenty yuan. Just call the number on the pillar when you get there, sometimes they also solicit under the bridge."

After speaking, she quickly stepped back, a sly smile on her face. "But you didn't hear this from me."

Su Ming nodded gratefully, asking excitedly, "Thank you so much, ma'am!"

"Oh, come on, I don't think I'm much older than you! Calling me 'ma'am' sounds so awkward!" The HR lady winked at him, smiling sweetly. "Just call me Yang Tian. Be at the factory gate at 8:30 tomorrow morning, sharp."