Ordinary observers in fast time travel

Chapter 1093 Hitting a wall
"Could you give me a chance? I can start as a teaching assistant," Shi Jia pleaded humbly with the art studio owner.

The studio owner didn't say anything, he just kept pushing him out.

Shi Jia sighed, turned and left. This was the 500th art training institution he had inquired about in the past two weeks.

Yes, he asked around, not interviewed. With his qualifications, he couldn't possibly qualify for an interview. But he didn't want to give up the opportunity to work in an art studio, so he went from studio to studio asking around, hoping to gain the sympathy of kind-hearted employers.

Unfortunately, he thought too much.

He walked to a flower bed and sat down, his eyes vacant, as if he had lost his soul. The sun overhead was scorching, turning his skin red, but he seemed oblivious to it.

He was a little tired and needed to rest first. Once he was rested, he would think about his next step.

Suddenly, a shadow drifted overhead, and he instinctively reached out and grabbed it.

Yes, it's a piece of paper.

He looked down, his eyes stinging, and all he could see was a white blur. Oh, I must have been seeing things by looking at the sun. He closed his eyes, trying to ease the sting.

"The master of empty promises is calling!"

The old-fashioned mobile phone made a loud noise, instantly waking the small animals that were basking in the cool shade of the flower bed. A screech came from behind, startling Shi Jia so much that he jumped up from the stone slab.

He quickly moved away from the flower bed, wary of it, and answered the phone!
"Little Sun, when are you going to pay this month's rent?" It was the landlord's voice.

Upon hearing this, Shi Jia's heart skipped a beat. Oh no, she had forgotten to pay the rent! "Um, Uncle Zhou, I'm a little short on cash right now. Could I pay it in a few days?"

The rent is not high, only 500 yuan, but Shi Jia only has a little over 300 yuan left in his pocket.

“Little Sun, it’s not that your uncle is unreasonable, but you all keep asking for a few more days, which makes things very difficult for me. You’re having a hard time, and so is I. I have a whole family to support, and I have to pay the property management fees, water and electricity bills, and security fees. Where am I supposed to find the money…” Landlord Uncle Zhou kept rambling on, making Shi Jia feel very guilty.

"Uncle Zhou, I'm sorry, I really don't have any money right now," Shi Jia said tearfully.

"Sigh, I know you've had a tough time. Here's what we'll do: I'll give you three more days. If you can't pay the rent after three days, don't blame me for renting the house to someone else," Uncle Zhou said.

Shi Jia breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, "Thank you, Uncle. I will definitely do my best to earn money in the next three days."

"Okay, I'll wait for your good news."

After hanging up the phone, Shi Jia tensed up again. She couldn't afford to wait any longer; she had to find a job to support herself. If all else failed, she'd take any odd jobs!

He clenched his fist, put his phone and the piece of paper he had just grabbed into his bag, looked around to get his bearings, and then ran towards the place he remembered. For the past two weeks, he had practically traversed the entire Red Eighth District. Although he hadn't found work, he had subconsciously memorized a few places where he could do odd jobs.

The temporary jobs were basically manual labor, and in fact, given Sun Yu's physical condition, he wasn't even qualified for manual labor. But Shi Jia couldn't think of any other way to make money right now. She could only try it out and at least earn this month's rent.

His eagerness to make money made him run very fast, and twenty minutes later he arrived at a factory logistics distribution center, panting heavily.

It's very lively here, with large vehicles coming and going, and groups of shirtless men carrying big bags.

After making some inquiries, Shi Jia finally found out the location of the person in charge. "Hello, supervisor, I'd like to do some short-term work."

The person in charge glanced at Shi Jia and said, "You can't do it."

Upon hearing this, Shi Jia felt somewhat unconvinced. They hadn't even started yet, so how could they not be able to do it? However, he remained calm, after all, he had come to ask for a job.

"Please, I really need the money. I can't pay my rent anymore. I'll work hard." Shi Jia's eyes reddened as she spoke.

Having never encountered such an embarrassing situation before, he inevitably lost control of his emotions.

The person in charge frowned, turned his face away in disgust, and thought to himself, "What a grown man acting like a woman."

"Manager, could you let me try? Please, just give it a shot. Don't let my skinny appearance fool you, I'm actually quite strong." Shi Jia raised her arms, trying to prove her strength.

But when he saw the bone beneath his soft skin, he quickly lowered his arm and gave an awkward laugh.

The manager scoffed, "No need to try. With your build, you can't move any of my goods." He pointed outside the warehouse to a man carrying a huge package, his back almost bent at a ninety-degree angle, moving like a tortoise. Shi Jia shuddered instinctively when he saw the large package.

"Of course, if you insist, giving you a chance is not out of the question." The person in charge changed his attitude slightly, looking at Shi Jia as if he were looking at a funny clown.

"Try! Why not try!" Shi Jia swallowed hard, trying to bolster his courage.

A minute later, he walked out of the park gate dejectedly.

The "Selling Labor" plan failed less than an hour after it went live.

Walking down the street, Shi Jia looked miserable. "Am I going to end up on the streets?"

Suddenly, a commotion reached Shi Jia's ears. He instinctively looked around and soon saw a group of people arguing about something in a courtyard that was fenced off not far away.

He rushed over, only to find the gate open. He peeked inside and saw no one guarding it, or perhaps the guards had all gone to watch the commotion.

He hesitated. Was it really appropriate to just go into someone else's house like this?

Suddenly, a clear voice came.

"The color of this batch of ore is indeed quite pure, meeting the requirements from above, but the quantity is too small. It's less than half of the expected delivery volume."

After these words were spoken, everyone fell silent.

“But all the blue minerals on the market are already here,” someone said.

“Then keep collecting! Money is not a problem. The important thing is to deliver enough paint on time,” the man said again.

"This..." Apart from the person who spoke, everyone else looked embarrassed.

"What? You can't do it?"

"Mr. Xu, as you know, the Awakening Day is approaching, and all the spirit painter families are collecting mineral pigments. Your request is probably..."

"What are you looking at!"

Suddenly, Shi Jia felt a darkness before his eyes. A fierce aura approached him. He quickly looked up and saw a tall man with an unfriendly gaze.

Shi Jia quickly waved her hand, "No, no, I was just curious. It wasn't intentional."

The man's eyes were sharp, and Shi Jia felt her breathing quicken, as if her whole body was being pricked by needles.

"Get out!" the man said, slamming the door shut.

"Huff... huff..." Shi Jia felt like a drowning person who had just been rescued. Looking at the tightly closed door, a hint of fear flashed in her eyes!
So this is what it feels like for the weak to face the strong.

Just then, voices came from inside the door again, "Mr. Cang? What happened?"

“It’s nothing, just an ordinary person,” Mr. Cang said. “President Xu, you must speed up the collection of ore. Don’t be limited by color, as long as the purity meets the standard.”

"Yes!"

……

Ore? Mineral pigment?
Shi Jia had heard of mineral pigments; in her previous life, those healers who used painting as a medium all used mineral pigments.

Furthermore, paintings made with mineral pigments are vibrant in color and can be preserved for a long time. The energy that a healer attaches to them is also not easily dissipated.

But what would a spirit painter need mineral pigments for? Do painters even need pigments to paint? Don't they all use their own spiritual power as ink?

Shi Jia tried hard to search Sun Yu's memories, but unfortunately, he had no such memories at all.

However, judging from how seriously they took it, this mineral pigment must be very important. Could I find some pigment to sell to them?