pjbooks Chapter 189 A Blow from Society
Chapter 189 A Blow from Society
Chapter 189 A Blow from Society
"ah!!!"
The student's screams echoed throughout the fried chicken shop, drawing the attention of the staff and customers.
But the expected scene of blood and gore did not occur; the dagger was precisely inserted between his middle and ring fingers.
Although the other party did not suffer any physical harm, the visual and psychological pressure they felt during the process was extremely strong. Some even subconsciously believed that their fingers had been cut off.
Seeing the cold sweat on his face and the trembling caused by his racing heart, Ma Jie gave Sandy a wink, signaling her to put away the dagger before the shop assistant noticed.
Soon, a waitress came over and warned, "Hey, you can't shout in the store, it will disturb other customers."
"Madam, it's just a truth or dare game." Ma Jie gripped the other person's wrist, and no matter how much he struggled, he couldn't budge him.
The latter was already on the tip of his tongue, but when he thought of what had just happened, he was too scared to say a word. Who knew what kind of people this pair of thieves were? People who could take jobs on the AE platform were no pushovers.
Upon hearing Ma Jieke's explanation, the waitress was instantly relieved. That's how it is at American stores. Even if someone took off their pants and ran naked in the store right now, no one would think that they were coerced by anyone. Instead, they would think of it as performance art or that they lost a bet.
However, glancing at the empty table, she put her hands on her hips in an annoyed tone and said, "What would you like to eat? Our restaurant has just launched a multi-flavor fried chicken platter, which is only $19."
The reason for this attitude is that restaurant servers' income is linked to tips, which are usually 15% to 20% of the bill, and even more for large groups and upscale restaurants, reaching 25% to 30%.
Even more outrageous is that federal law allows employers to pay "tip-based minimum wage" below the minimum wage standard, which means that as long as you accept tips, your boss can pay you less than the minimum hourly wage.
The lowest this standard can be is $2.13 per hour, meaning if you work eight hours, you'll only earn $17.
You can imagine what the absence of tips means to them.
If a table of guests doesn't leave a tip, the waiter not only works for free, but also suffers additional losses.
Many restaurants are required to report estimated tipping income to the IRS based on a certain percentage (usually 8%–10%) of their sales.
Here's the important part: even if you didn't receive a tip, you still have to "pay" estimated taxes on the sales revenue of that table. This is because the IRS doesn't know whether you genuinely didn't receive it or were deliberately concealing it, so they can only assume you did receive it, making it a paid job.
Moreover, the "culture" of tipping is not only applicable to the catering industry, but is being adopted by various industries. For example, supermarket cashiers will add a tip directly to your bill when they help you pay.
Even vending machines and self-service dining on the street will rip you off when you pay the bill. After all, this is a free country, and being served by machines is also a service, isn't it?
So from the waiter's perspective, if four or five people sit here and don't order anything, what's the difference between that and taking away my livelihood?
"Then two servings, please," Ma Jie replied arrogantly. "Oh no, three servings, please."
"Okay, sir, please wait a moment."
After seeing off the waitress who had put on a smiling face, Ma Jieke looked at the student in front of him: "Hey buddy, would you like to discuss the business again?"
The other party glanced at the two dark-skinned physical education students he had brought, who were now looking away with awkward expressions, clearly having entered a "playing dumb" mode.
"Why are you looking at them? I'm asking you. Did you issue the mission? Did you set the bounty? If so, we'd better follow the rules. I'm a very reasonable person. I'm giving you one last chance. Are you going to pay $800 to buy this trophy, or stick to your original idea?"
Faced with someone's threat and oppressive gaze, the guy subconsciously swallowed and pointed to the dented spot on the trophy: "How about six hundred? It costs money to repair this damage."
*Smack!* Before the words were even finished, Ma Jie slammed the gun on the table: "Ask it if it agrees!"
"OK, OK, don't get excited, buddy. Eight hundred, eight hundred, you won't be shortchanged a single cent."
His eyes cleared instantly. Good heavens, this isn't a bounty hunter, isn't he an outlaw?
With trembling hands, he handed over a stack of cash. Sandy took it, counted it, and confirmed that the amount was correct.
"It's a pleasure working with you, buddy." Ma Jie then stood up, patted him on the shoulder, and instructed, "Remember to give me a five-star review, or I'll treat you to peanuts all you want. Don't think I can't find you; the license plate number of that hatchback you parked by the door is easy to remember. Also, next time you go out, remember to bring bodyguards, not two sissies."
"What are you looking at, you black guy? I'm talking to you!"
The two dark-skinned physical education students hung their heads, not daring to even breathe loudly. After all, school and society are two different worlds, and this was a good early experience of being beaten up.
Ellie, who was the last to get up, squinted and made a face at the three of them with her tongue sticking out, as if she were borrowing their power.
Watching the other person swagger away, the student slammed his fist on the table, venting his anger on his companion: "Did I call you two over here just to watch a show? Why didn't you help me?"
One of the black men shrugged and said stiffly, "Bro, how do you expect me to help you? Do you think I'm the King of Wakanda? My physical condition is alright, but I'm not strong enough to withstand bullets."
"Exactly, you were such a coward just now, so let's not criticize each other."
"Useless piece of trash!" the student cursed angrily, clutching the trophy and preparing to leave alone.
But as soon as he sat down, he turned around and was greeted by the waitress from before. She showed him a printed bill and smiled as she served him: "Sir, your total bill is $69. Please pay."
Perhaps because he got it for free, Ma Jieke found the fried chicken at this shop particularly delicious. Sitting on a park bench, he munched on spicy chicken wings while asking Sandy, "It seems this AE platform really can make money. Send me the download link later, I'll register an account and try it out."
"No problem." Sandy leaned against him, sipping her iced cola through a straw. "But it's in the beta testing phase right now. Even if you register and log in, you can only post bounty missions, not accept orders like I can, unless you can get an internal invitation code."
How do I get an invitation code?
"Simple. Once I pass the novice trial, the platform will automatically reward me with one. I'll give you mine then."
"So what do you need to do to pass the beginner's trial?"
"Just complete one more beginner task assigned by the platform."
After listening to Sandy's explanation, Ma Jieke had to admit that the designer of this platform was indeed quite capable.
Since the person who posts the job commission is the patron, there is no need to restrict them. However, the bounty hunters who accept the task are different. After all, this is not food delivery. If the invitee does not have some skills, it is easy to mess things up. If they are caught by the uncle, the memory restoration technique is no joke and will seriously hinder the development of the platform.
Therefore, a testing threshold has been set for bounty hunters. If you can pass the test, you can become a full member. If you don't pass the test, then you can stay away from the platform. The platform does not support idle people.
"Hey Sandy, can I also take on tasks on this platform?"
Hearing the adults' conversation, Ellie licked the seasoning powder off her fingers, her eyes filled with anticipation.
"What do you think?" Sandy shook his head helplessly. "To be honest, your performance today was terrible. You even managed to fall down from that low window. When the security guards came, you were as nervous as prey under a hunter's gun, unable to even keep quiet. And during the negotiation just now, who told you to interrupt? As a newbie, you should learn to observe and learn more, and watch your mouth. In short, I'm very disappointed in you, and I don't think we can be partners. At least for now, you're still far from being good enough. But as agreed beforehand, I will still give you $100. You can rest assured about that."
Hearing the negative comments from the camp's seniors, Ellie suddenly lost interest in the chicken leg in her hand. She buried her head in shame, and if no one had helped her summarize, she would have really thought she had performed quite well.
"Look at you, you're already feeling down after just a little setback."
At Sandy's prompting, MaJack smiled and played the good cop: "I admit you're really talented at managing kids, but now that you're in the adult world, you'll have to start from scratch. How about this, if you're willing, I can put in a word with Jimmy and get you into the camp's special scavenging team so you can train there for a few months first."
"Alright, sir, whatever you say, I'll do." This girl wouldn't dare say a word against Ma Jieke.
Moreover, the special scavenging team is composed of elites from the camp. Their main business is to infiltrate various upscale residential areas to open treasure chests. Putting aside everything else, those who are selected must have good physical strength, sharp eyes, and be fast enough. After all, they have to outwit and outmaneuver the security guards, and it's not as simple as just picking up trash.
After finishing her fried chicken, Ellie tactfully said goodbye and took the subway to Slums to find her new mentor, Jimmy, to reflect on her experience.
As soon as the two got back into the car, Sandy's phone rang. The platform sent an in-app message informing them that the task had been completed and that they had received a five-star review.
It's clear that Ma Jie's threat worked. To deal with such a despicable person, you should strike hard. If one punch isn't enough, then strike again.
"Wow, you're such a sweetheart, I love you to death, muah!"
Upon receiving the full payment and a five-star review, Sandy was as excited as if she were on drugs, and she hugged Ma Jie and kissed him passionately.
The latter was so aroused by her that he couldn't resist getting aroused and couldn't help but stand up straight. Men, after all, shouldn't laugh at each other; they're all the same.
Sandy, noticing something amiss, grinned mischievously: "Sweetheart, wanna try something exciting?"
How exciting is it?
"You'll soon find out how exciting it is, so get in your car."
After he drove the car onto the road, the girl slowly leaned down from the passenger seat.
Ma Jieke prided himself on his driving skills, but today's situation was truly unusual, so much so that he could only slow down and slow down again, eventually just crawling around the city aimlessly like a tortoise.
About ten minutes later, the car finally stopped.
Sandy licked her lips with lingering satisfaction, feeling that she had exceeded her protein intake for the day. Just as she took out a bottle of mineral water to rinse her mouth, her phone rang again at an inopportune moment.
Upon opening the app, my eyes widened in surprise: "Wow, the platform has already assigned me a new task so quickly! An anonymous user has offered me $1,000 to follow and monitor his wife. He frequently travels to various places for business and recently suspects that his wife is having an affair behind his back. If I can take some exciting photos, he is willing to add more rewards. However, this person does not accept meeting in person. He only gave me a specific email address and asked me to send him the photos I have taken. He will only pay me after he confirms them."
"This kind of work is only worth a thousand dollars?" Ma Jie frowned. In his mind, there were private investigators who specialized in marital investigations and earned a considerable income.
Sandy, on the other hand, was a natural optimist: "I'm a newbie now, so I'm lucky to have any work to do. Don't be picky. Once I finish this mission, I'll be officially promoted to bounty hunter. You want an invitation code, right? Well, you'll have to help me out. Don't leave me to fight alone."
"Alright, what about the target's personal information?" As the saying goes, "He who eats another's food is bound to do his bidding," and having just enjoyed the targeted launch service, Boss Ma couldn't find a reason to refuse.
"Let me see, Miranda, this should be a picture of his wife. She's quite pretty, 42 years old, not young anymore. She's a teacher at a private elementary school, finishing get off work at 3 PM. The address is 211 Kinclay Street, Crown District."
Number."
"Crown District?" Ma Jie raised an eyebrow. "As far as I know, that's a wealthy area. To be a private elementary school teacher there, her husband certainly isn't poor. But he's only willing to pay this little. Are all rich people this stingy these days?"
"Ugh, can you please stop arguing about the commission?" Sandy felt a headache coming on as she listened to Jack Ma's complaints. "For me, the most important thing right now isn't money, but my chance to become a full-fledged employee. As long as I pass the newbie trial, there are plenty of ways to make big money later. It's 2:35 PM now, which means we have to cross the entire city of Lonan and get to 211 Kinclay Street in the Crown District within 25 minutes. That's 17 miles. My God, I don't think we'll make it today."
"Who said that? Buckle up." Without waiting for a reply, Ma Jie turned on the map navigation and sped off.
The unassuming Ford pickup truck roared with a dull engine sound, crashing into the traffic like a blue beast.
Speeding in Los Angeles is a dangerous thing. Sandy was terrified as he watched the street scenes rushing past the car window and quickly grabbed the safety handle above the window.
17 miles is approximately 27 kilometers, meaning that on average, Majek needs to run less than 1 kilometer per minute.
It takes kilometers to reach the destination on time, not even including the time spent waiting at traffic lights.
Fortunately, it's not peak season yet, so if you perform perfectly, there's still a chance you can do it.
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