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One night of memories and reflections, Ziya lazily propped herself up to glance out at the hazy scenery outside, realizing that it was already bright outside. It seemed that her roommate had not yet stirred. Leaning over to take a look, she found the bed empty, with only the neatly folded blankets resting on the mattress. A smile crept onto her face as she knew her friend must have gone to make breakfast for herself. With a heavy thud, she flopped back down onto the bed.
The dormitory door creaked open, and immediately Sun Meng's loud voice rang out, "Hey! You lazy pig, get up! Look what we bought you!"
Leaning over again, Ziya saw Sun Meng holding two plastic bags filled with steaming food—was that her favorite steamed dumplings? She quickly jumped out of bed, hair tousled, reaching out to grab them. "Honey, go wash up first; don’t let your mouth water... Would you dare do this at home?" Sun Meng playfully dodged Ziya's hand and flashed a cheeky smile.
"Ugh, you sound just like Anqing," Ziya muttered as she reluctantly went to wash up, grabbing a face towel and basin before stepping out. Sun Meng placed the bags on the table and popped a char siu bun into her mouth before climbing onto Ziya's bed to tidy up the blankets.
"Honey, you're so good to me," Ziya said as she returned with the basin, smearing her face with a honeyed grin towards Sun Meng. Sun Meng quickly raised her hand to block Ziya's advances and replied with mock annoyance, "Honey, I have a boyfriend; save that for your future him!"
"Uh..." The weight of those words seemed to strike a nerve in Ziya, causing her smile to vanish instantly as she silently picked up a dumpling from the table. Realizing she might have gone too far with her joke, Sun Meng hurriedly offered her a carton of milk with a sheepish grin. "Hey now, don’t be so petty! Is it really that serious? If you keep pouting like that, I might just change my mind about going with you."
Ziya chewed on her dumpling and took a sip of the milk handed to her, casually wiping her mouth. "You wouldn’t dare." Sun Meng chuckled mischievously but ignored her, devouring another bun.
Autumn is seen as a passerby in everyone's eyes; its arrival leaves behind beautiful memories and daydreams. Orange leaves flutter down with the wind. Ziya picked up a leaf that had fallen beside her foot and gazed at it—so transparent now that it had lost its green color, revealing only clear veins and an inconspicuous insect hole. Looking up at the branches above, which were now bare of leaves, she realized this was the last one…
"Honey, are you daydreaming again? It's perfectly normal for leaves to fall in autumn! If they didn’t fall, how would new leaves grow next year?" Sun Meng said as she stomped her foot slightly, feeling a chill in the air while glancing toward the direction of the bus stop.
When they arrived at the building, staff members were bustling about at the entrance clocking in for work. Ziya stepped forward to scan her fingerprint while Sun Meng stood aside talking on the phone with Liang Chao. Afterward, they entered the lobby and noticed Liu had not yet arrived; Ziya decided to show Sun Meng around.
As they approached a restroom on the side of the first floor, they heard someone shouting loudly. They hurried over to see what was happening and found a chubby nurse arguing with what appeared to be a new cleaner.
"You worthless piece of trash! If you’re so capable, why don’t you go work in an office and show me what being a white-collar worker is like?" The nurse spat venomous words with glee.
"Hey, lady, I just said to be careful when you use the bathroom. You just messed up a place that was just cleaned," the Cleaner Aunt said, her voice sharp and clear. Ziya and her friends understood perfectly that the fat nurse must have had an upset stomach, leaving the restroom in a filthy state.
"Dammit, what's wrong with me having diarrhea? If the bathroom isn't dirty for a month, wouldn't your hundreds of dollars in wages be for nothing, you filthy cleaner?" The fat nurse shouted back, her voice booming. She felt humiliated by the presence of so many people and couldn't believe the Cleaner had the audacity to speak to her like that. Furious, she rolled up her sleeves, ready to confront the aunt.
"What kind of girl are you? Swearing like that? Why don't you take it home to your mother?" The aunt's face flushed red with anger as she retaliated.
"You old hag, I'll kill you..." The fat nurse was finally provoked and raised her hand to strike the aunt.
"What do you think you're doing?" Ziya shouted, trembling with rage as she stepped in to stop her. Sun Meng quickly grabbed the fat nurse's arm, but her strength was overwhelming. The others nearby seemed wary of the nurse's connections and quietly backed away.
"Who do you think you are? You... an intern, what right do you have to lecture me? Go find out about my background; I'm not just some nobody," the fat nurse sneered, pointing a finger at Ziya.
"Who are you calling a nobody? I don't care about your background; I'm handling this today. What are you going to do about it?" Ziya's voice quivered with anger as she clenched her fists, wanting nothing more than to smash that fat face. But she knew she was no match for her. Remembering that Sun Meng had just started and would need Liu's support later, she decided it wasn't worth escalating things further. She took a deep breath and pulled the aunt away.
"So you're related to this cleaner? No wonder you're defending her," the fat nurse continued arrogantly, misinterpreting Ziya's actions as fear.
"Your words are hurtful. What's wrong with cleaners? They earn their living through hard work, unlike some people who take shortcuts to get into this building," Sun Meng observed quietly before speaking up.
"What do you know? Just go away!" The fat nurse shot a disdainful glance at Sun Meng, her eyes twitching with irritation. Before Ziya could respond, she continued, "Oh! I see what you're about; this building has everything except cleaners. So you're here to clean the bathrooms?"
"You fat pig, listen carefully: cleaners are people too, not objects!" Ziya's pale face turned crimson as she shouted at the nurse, emphasizing each word. The aunt beside her looked bewildered and kept apologizing to Sun Meng. "It's all my fault; I came in this morning for my first cleaning job. I just finished when she barged in and made a mess without even flushing..."
"Damn it... say that again." The fat nurse pushed past Ziya and swung her fist towards the aunt's face.
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