I was scrubbing down the floors at the laundromat, trying to erase the memory of Marcus's smug face, when Mr. Lee, the manager, called me over to the counter. He looked worried and really annoyed, which immediately made my cold dread return. "Song Liu, did you upset some rich kids at your old school?" he asked me, not looking happy at all. I stayed calm, forcing my voice to be completely neutral, but my heart was starting to pound in my chest; I knew exactly what was happening.
Mr. Lee told me that about an hour ago, he got a call from a super aggressive guy who sounded really important and wealthy, demanding to know why he had hired me. The guy—who was obviously Liang Xu or one of his powerful, scary adult connections—had started talking about "problem employees" and how I was a "known thief and vandal." He didn't even yell; he just made very serious, cold accusations that Mr. Lee had a "criminal" working late nights around his customers' valuable clothes.
Mr. Lee looked at me with this terrible, pitying expression. "I told him I've never seen you steal anything, but... he said that if I didn't fire you immediately, he'd call the health department and report every violation he could find and have my business shut down." My job, my one source of income and escape, was gone, just like that. Liang Xu was literally destroying my life, one step at a time, making sure I had no way to save my family.
I didn't argue or plead. I just nodded slowly, the humiliation and the betrayal cutting me deep, but I kept my face absolutely blank and cold. "I understand, sir," I said quietly, handing him my cleaning rag. There was no point in telling him the truth; I was just a poor kid with no power against that rich monster. I walked out of the laundromat for the last time, the cold night air hitting my face, realizing that the tyrant wasn't going to stop until I was totally desperate and broken.