CHAPTER 3
1085 Words
The other person was a middle-aged man in his forties. Seeing her in a hospital gown, he sneered and said, indeed she’s crazy. If you are crazy, stay in the mental hospital and don’t come out to scare people.
Get out of the way! Don’t block the road, the middle-aged man pushed Olivia hard, causing her to hit the roadside guardrail. Blood immediately gushed from her forehead, and Olivia numbly raised her thin arm to wipe her face, which was now covered in blood, making her look terrifying.
Olivia, who hadn’t eaten for a day, had no strength to get up and could only lean against the guardrail to sit up. Passerby couldn’t help but look at the woman with blood all over her face and shake their heads in pity. Some even threw her a few coins or pieces of bread.
She was really hungry and stared at the dusty bread for a long time, swallowing her own saliva. Finally, she slowly reached out and took the bread, then wolfed it down. In the insane asylum, there was hardly any non-rotten bread or meals. She either ate what others had left or ate rotten food. She even found this bread delicious.
Are you sure you can handle this job? The interviewer looked skeptically at the thin woman in front of him. He didn’t think she had the ability to do this job, as it required physical labour, lifting and moving goods in the warehouse and also helping with the cleaning.
The woman spoke softly. I can do it, sir. Please believe me.
Her eyes were pleading, she really wanted this job.
Free room and board were the best jobs she could find now. As she was now, she didn’t have the right to be picky about her work. She was no longer the proud and capable woman who could stand out in the company. There was no bright light or crowds around her now. She was just like a stray dog with nowhere to go.
She was Olivia Smith, who had been wandering the street for several days, sleeping on the streets and park benches, sometimes going hungry for days. If she didn’t find a job soon, she feared she wouldn’t be able to survive much longer. It was a harsh reality for her.
Seeing Olivia's eyes, the manager couldn’t help but feel pity for her and said, if you are willing, you can work here for a month. If it doesn’t work out, I won’t keep you. This means she had to be on probation for a month to prove herself capable enough to retain the job.
Olivia thanked him gratefully.
The manager waved his hands and said, alright it’s not like I’m doing you a favor. If you don’t perform well, I’ll let you go at any time.
Olivia didn’t think it was a difficult job. At the hospital, everyone called her to do the heavy work, and she had already gotten used to it.
Her once slender arms were now just skin and bones, but the muscles underneath were faintly visible. The manager quickly assigned Olivia to a dormitory, where three people were already living.
When she arrived with her few belongings, they had already finished work and were eating instant noodles in the dormitory, speaking in a dialect that Olivia couldn’t understand.
The manager briefly introduced Olivia and left, asking the other woman to take care of her more. Olivia bowed her back and silently took her luggage to her bed, then made her bed. The other three women were middle-aged, unfriendly, and looked at Olivia with disdain as an unwelcome guest.
One of the women spoke up. With such a small frame, did manager Dan really take notice of you? The three women laughed and talked about Olivia with a mocking tone. Olivia didn’t want to pay attention to them.
She had learned to be silent and turned a blind eye during her years in the asylum. Seeing that Olivia didn’t respond, one of the women became very angry and kicked over a steel basin on the ground, making a piercing sound. Hey, newcomer, we are talking to you. Are you deaf?
Olivia didn’t want to respond to them, but she was afraid that if she didn’t, she would suffer even more terrible abuse. She stopped her action and bent over, lowering her head and speaking softly. I'm sorry, I’m a little hard of hearing. The woman who kicked the water basin walked over fiercely and kicked Olivia's shin hard.
Stinky deaf person, don’t think that just because you have some relationship with the manager, everything will be fine. We can’t stand it. Olivia felt the pain and her shin bent slightly. Fear and terror surged up in her heart, and memories of being abused in the asylum were vivid.
She hurriedly apologized, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. She wanted to live. No matter how much she was abused, she decided to take it all. She just wanted to live.
The woman snorted coldly, they thought you were so arrogant, but just a light kick scared you like this. Go wash dishes.
Olivia didn’t dare to resist, nodded and hurriedly took her utensils to wash.
……
Olivia had been working at this high-end restaurant for almost six months. It was calm although those women occasionally bullied her, even locking the door and not letting her in, but she endured it still. After all, this kind of life was much better than the one she faced in the mental hospital.
Olivia wiped away a tear and used the mop in her hand to clean the floor.
Even if it was difficult for her own sake she had to survive.
Moreover...
The cause of her foster father's death was still unknown… she couldn’t live with the guilt for the rest of her life.
Olivia, go mop the floor in room 604
Oh coming, Olivia slowly replied, holding on to her stomach that had started to ache, squatting on the ground with a pale face. Cold sweat dripped down, she quickly took out the medicine from her work uniform pocket and swallowed it,
After resting for a while, she slowly recovered, her face no longer pale. Olivia felt as if she had been reborn, breathing heavily.
Why so slow? What are you dawdling for? The impatient voice of the lobby manager, Stella, came over. Olivia endured the pain and stood up, slowly moving with the mop in her hand.
- Writer
