"Ding dong! East Wind Road has arrived. Passengers heading to the Youth Palace, please exit from the rear door in order. Be careful..."
Qin Shi stepped off the platform with his backpack and crossed the street, immediately seeing a red-brick and white-wall building.
The gilded characters at the entrance were very eye-catching, reading "Tai'an Metropolitan Youth Palace".
The high-end cars parked like a long dragon on both sides of the street made the spacious road seem slightly crowded.
Obviously, they were all parents picking up their kids.
"Xiao Qin, you finally made it! The Martial Arts class just finished. Hurry and take the kids to do some activities during the break!"
Qin Shi had just changed into the Youth Palace uniform—a black T-shirt and casual pants, with a baseball cap—when he was pulled into the indoor training space.
His part-time job that paid three hundred a day mainly involved watching over these energetic kids, playing games, and singing songs with them.
"Okay, Brother Zhang."
Qin Shi glanced around; the bright and spacious indoor area was divided into several sections,
Aside from the elementary school kids all dressed in white training uniforms, there were quite a few older middle and high school students hitting punching bags and practicing kicks.
The intermingled sounds of shouts and hits filled the venue with vibrant energy.
A trace of envy flashed in Qin Shi's eyes.
Currently, the most universal way to develop vitality is still physical training.
This is also why various Martial Arts classes are so popular.
"Even the most basic content is expensive, starting at five hundred..."
Qin Shi silently sighed; one class at the Youth Palace's Martial Arts program could cover his meals for several days.
He really couldn't afford it!
He clapped his hands, dispelling his thoughts, and put on an enthusiastic smile full of affinity:
"Kids, let's play the train game! I'll be the train engine..."
...
...
At five-thirty in the afternoon, the sun gradually drifted away, and the dusky rays shone through the skylight.
"Alright, today's class ends here."
Upon the teacher's command, the kids lined up, led by Qin Shi to the outdoor entrance.
"Thank you, Teacher Qin!"
"Xuan Xuan, say goodbye to Teacher Qin..."
After the bustling Youth Palace returned to quietness, Qin Shi continued to work, putting the sweat-soaked training uniforms into a bamboo basket for the cleaning lady to wash, and then swept the training area floor.
Only then did his part-time job end.
"Xiao Qin, come here."
The person in charge of the Youth Palace was a balding middle-aged man with goji berries soaking in his thermos.
"I remember you're studying at New No. 1 High, right? How's your physical test?"
Qin Shi answered truthfully:
"Eight points, passing level."
The balding man smoothed his sparse hair:
"For your age, that's not bad. Our Youth Palace is expecting a new teacher soon to start advanced classes for the Martial Arts program. We need an assistant.
Xiao Qin, you've been diligent and hardworking; I've noticed.
So, what do you think? Can you handle it?"
A new teacher?
Teaching advanced classes?
Qin Shi was slightly stunned.
The primary audience of the Youth Palace mostly consisted of middle-class families in the Urban Circle.
These parents were eager for their children to succeed and believed in winning at the starting line, often enrolling their kids in various tutoring programs.
The Youth Palace's Martial Arts classes were relatively affordable and suitable for building a foundation at a young age.
Naturally, the enrollment was enthusiastic.
But advanced classes...
Do we have the faculty for that?
"As an assistant, I definitely have no problem! Director, to be honest, I used to be the sports committee member at my old school, often leading classmates in exercises..."
Qin Shi put aside his thoughts and quickly agreed.
As long as the pay was right, he was up for anything.
As long as it's legal, he could do any job!
"Good. As an assistant, the monthly pay is fifteen hundred, and you can eat at the cafeteria."
The balding man thought to himself, hiring a part-timer with decent vitality these days would start at least two thousand.
It's much more cost-effective to hire a student.
"All right!"
Qin Shi calculated; the front desk job at the Silver Horse Gym paid twelve hundred a month, the daily pay at the Youth Palace could reach a thousand, plus the fifteen hundred as an assistant.
In two months of summer vacation, he could save up to more than seven thousand.
"When school starts, I'll be halfway to ten thousand yuan, even after paying the tuition, there will be some left."
...
...
Beep!
Student card!
At seven-twenty in the evening, Qin Shi left the Youth Palace and boarded the 145 bus right on time, sitting in the back row by the window.
The dazzling neon lights reflected like a colorful floating ocean, with skyscrapers standing tall among them.
"Bustling Urban Circle..."
Qin Shi silently sighed, thinking that being born into a good family is really a skill.
Though Tai'an Metropolitan Area and the Old Town District are only separated by a few dozen kilometers on the map, there's a huge gap between them.
"The top coaches at the gym are too expensive and not cost-effective. To enhance vitality, I might have to approach it from other angles."
Qin Shi pondered, as text information popped up in his vision again—
[Total steps walked today: 17,240]
[Growth +2]
"Where exactly did I grow?"
Looking at the floating box, Qin Shi scratched his head, wanting to ask a soulful question.
But to others, such behavior undoubtedly looked like he was talking to the air.
It could easily get him mistaken for a schizophrenic lunatic and sent to Qingshan Mental Hospital in the North Suburb.
As the bus passed one station after another, the bustling scenes were left behind, replaced by large areas of abandoned factories.
It was as if two completely different new and old worlds.
Soon, the bus arrived at the last stop.
Outside the window, the night was dark as ink, and the streetlights were dim.
The rear door opened and closed again.
Qin Shi stood firm as he landed with his backpack.
He looked up at the stone archway bearing the marks of time.