When evil gods hold a meeting in my head

Richard walked out of the store and retraced his steps.

The sunlight was still so bright in the alley, and the air was filled with the aroma of roasted chestnuts. He walked along, lost in thought, his mind a jumbled mess.

There's Rosalie on the ship waiting for him to rescue, and Juliet here waiting for him to take care of her.

wrong.

He suddenly stopped.

Why should I wait for that non-existent "friend" to come for the interview?

Richard is Lauren, and Lauren is Richard.

Anyway, the ship is still at sea and won't reach Beigang anytime soon. I'll take this time to get my onboarding sorted out, so when I get back I can go to class as "Richard" and save myself the trouble of making another trip.

He turned around and walked back.

As I pushed open the door of the beauty store, the bell on the door jingled once.

Juliet was tidying up the shelves behind the counter when she heard the sound. She turned around, saw it was him, and was stunned for a moment.

"Laurent? Why are you back again?"

Richard walked over and leaned against the counter.

"I suddenly remembered something," he said. "My friend asked me to inquire about his salary. He lives far away, and it's not easy for him to travel back and forth, so he asked me to find out for him in advance so he wouldn't make a wasted trip."

Juliet's eyes lit up.

"Really? He's that thoughtful?"

Richard nodded: "He said to clarify the salary first, and if it's suitable, then we can have an interview. If it's not suitable, we won't waste everyone's time."

Juliet put down what she was holding, her face beaming with joy.

"Oh, your friend has such a great personality! Our store manager admires people who are organized and methodical." She leaned closer, resting her hands on the counter. "You know, last time there was an interviewee who didn't even know what we sell. When asked what position he wanted, he said anything was fine. The store manager let him go on the spot."

Richard smiled.

"Is your store manager here today?"

"Yes, yes, yes," Juliet nodded repeatedly. "But you'll have to wait a bit. She went to the main store this morning to learn from their experience, and she should be on her way back now. I reckon... about twenty minutes."

Richard nodded: "Okay, I'll wait."

Juliet pointed to the chair next to the counter: "Then you sit down first, I'll come and keep you company after I've finished tidying up."

Richard sat down in the chair.

The shop was quite quiet, with only the ticking of the old clock on the wall. Sunlight streamed in through the glass doors, casting dappled patterns on the floor. The shelves were neatly arranged, and the perfume bottles shimmered in the light.

Juliet busied herself behind the counter. She refolded the scarves she had just put on, then took out several perfume bottles to dust them, humming a tune as she did so. It was a rather upbeat melody that Richard hadn't heard before.

He sat for a while, then stood up and walked over.

"Do you need any help?"

Juliet looked up at him and blinked: "You can?"

"Give it a try."

Juliet handed him a rag and pointed to the top shelf: "Then could you wipe that over there for me? I can't reach it very far."

Richard took the rag and stood on tiptoe to wipe the row of bottles. A thin layer of dust covered them, but they shone brightly after wiping. As he wiped, he asked, "Are you usually the only one working in your shop?"

"There are usually two of us," Juliet said. "The other one took the day off today; her child is sick. So it's just me today, and I'm swamped with work."

She put the perfume bottle she had just cleaned back in its place and picked up the next one.

"Fortunately, there aren't many people in the afternoon. Those few people who bought scarves in the morning were considered big customers; they were ten gold coins each, and they bought two."

Richard grunted in agreement and continued wiping the bottle.

After wiping the top row, he wiped the middle row. The perfume bottles were all different sizes, some round, some square, with labels bearing various names: fruity, sea salt, rose…

He picked up a bottle and looked at it against the light. The label read in small print: Xixi Creek Beauty Store · Via Family.

The Via family.

It's that name again.

He put the bottle back and moved on to wiping the next one.

The shop was quiet for a while. The only sounds were the wiping of the glass with a cloth and the ticking of the clock.

After Richard finished wiping the shelves, he returned the rag to Juliet. Juliet took the rag, rubbed it in the basin of water, and hung it on the counter to dry.

"Is your friend a student in Tehran?" she asked.

"right."

"What's your major?"

Richard thought for a moment: "Department of Faith and Theology."

Juliet blinked, looking bewildered. "What's that major? What do you study?"

"Learn... things from all sorts of religions," Richard said, "and myths and legends and stuff."

Juliet said "Oh," and nodded as if she understood but not quite.

"Do you draw? The store manager said they want to hire people with an art background."

"Yes," Richard said. "For the history of religious art, you need to learn to draw."

Juliet laughed: "That's fine then. Actually, it doesn't have to be a great drawing. The shop manager said the main thing is to be able to draw design sketches and express your ideas. We have dedicated designers in our shop who are responsible for making the finished products."

Richard nodded.

Juliet continued, "As for the pay, it's two gold coins a month during the internship, and three gold coins after becoming a full-time employee. You get a commission on the items you sell. You get one day off a week, from nine in the morning to six in the afternoon, and lunch is provided."

Richard was taken aback for a moment.

Two gold coins a month? And meals are included?

This treatment was much better than he had expected. In Naansanho, he only received one gold coin and two silver coins a month, but here it was double that.

"How long is the internship?" he asked.

"Three months," Juliet said. "If you perform well, you can be promoted to a permanent position earlier."

Richard did the math in his head. Three months, six gold coins, enough to pay Rosalie's rent. If it's three gold coins after becoming a full-fledged employee, then he can save up quite a bit.

Juliet looked at him and suddenly smiled.

"Why are you listening so closely? It's not like you're the one who came to work."

Richard snapped out of his reverie and smiled. "I'll ask him for clarification."

Juliet nodded and didn't ask any further questions. She turned and walked behind the counter, squatted down and rummaged through something, pulling out a stack of papers.

"These are our store's employee registration forms." She handed the stack of papers to Richard. "You can take a copy for your friend to fill out first, so he won't have to fill it out when he comes."

Richard took the registration form and flipped through it. It was just two pages: name, age, address, education, work experience... quite simple.

He folded the registration form and put it in his pocket.

"When will the store manager arrive?" he asked.

Juliet looked up at the clock on the wall.

"Almost there, in about ten more minutes."

She had barely finished speaking when the bell on the door suddenly rang.

Someone pushed the door open and came in.

Richard subconsciously turned his head and looked towards the door.

The sunlight was too dazzling, so he squinted.

A tall figure stood against the light at the doorway, his silhouette somewhat familiar.

After the man took two steps forward, sunlight shone in from behind him, and Richard finally saw his face clearly.

He was stunned.

He had seen that face before. He had seen it in the eyes of the little snake, in the palace of the abyss, and downstairs in that rented room.

A thin face, a high-set aquiline nose, and eyes that are sunken in their sockets, giving him a look that is hard to describe.

Luke.

Richard's heart skipped a beat.

What is he doing here?