Chapter 5 The Unlucky Star

They were chatting when there was a knock at the door.

"Teacher Zhang, I...I'm sorry I'm two minutes late. On the way, my...my shoelace broke."

Pei Qian subconsciously checked his watch. It was just past 4:00 PM.

The college office often arranges students to work shifts, mainly to help the counselors and other teachers run errands and do odd jobs within their capabilities.

This student must be helping out in Zhang Wei's office.

Zhang Wei didn't seem to mind, as if he was already mentally prepared. "It's okay. Don't panic if you encounter special circumstances next time. A few minutes late doesn't matter, the main thing is to ensure your own safety."

Pei Qian turned his head and saw a tall girl wearing a thick winter school uniform entering from outside the door. She looked to be just under 1.7 meters tall, wearing faded jeans and sneakers, one of which had a broken shoelace.

Many universities don't have school uniforms, and neither does Handong University.

The school uniform the girl was wearing was obviously from high school. It was already nearly December, and winter was setting in. Many people had already started wearing light down jackets, making the warmth provided by this school uniform rather worrying.

The girl's hands and cheeks were indeed red from the cold, but she seemed to be used to it.

"Oh, right, Yi Shu, this is the senior who put 500 yuan into your meal card."

The girl seemed a bit flustered and hurriedly bowed slightly. "Thank you, Senior!"

While saying "You're welcome," Pei Qian looked at Zhang Wei in confusion.

Zhang Wei introduced, "This is a freshman in our college named Tang Yi Shu. She's also in your aid program. Hey, hey, no need to water the plants, no need to water the plants..."

Tang Yi Shu had picked up a watering can next to her to water the plants, but Zhang Wei stopped her.

Tang Yi Shu was a little at a loss, fidgeting with her fingers as she asked, "Then, Teacher Zhang, is there anything else I can help with..."

Zhang Wei handed her a document from the table. "Run an errand for me, take these to get stamped. Be careful on the way."

Tang Yi Shu nodded, took the document, glanced at it, and then left with her head lowered.

Pei Qian was a little puzzled. "Why emphasize being careful?"

Zhang Wei smiled helplessly. "Didn't you hear what she said? Her shoelace broke on the way here. Who knows what kind of trouble she'll get into running errands."

Pei Qian: "?"

Zhang Wei said, "The first day she came to work, she watered a pot of pothos on my desk, and I don't know why, but the leaves turned yellow the next day. I went to a lot of trouble adding nutrient soil and putting it in the sun before it finally came back to life."

"I don't know what's wrong with this child, but very inexplicable things always happen to her, like tripping over a stone and falling, or having her clothes blown away by the wind when she hangs them out to dry. These are common occurrences."

"The most outrageous thing was when she called the restaurant to make a reservation for the class reunion. We all clearly heard the waiter say it was booked, but when we got there, we found that the waiter had forgotten about it. Although the restaurant compensated us with a fruit platter, we never dared to let her do something like that again."

"But she's very serious about her work and studies hard."

"Her family's financial situation isn't very good, so I arranged for her to work shifts here so she can earn a little money. However, I don't dare let her do too much work now. I'm worried she'll get hurt just running errands."

Pei Qian looked shocked. "There's such a thing?"

Zhang Wei nodded. "Yes, some classmates even jokingly call her Tang Yi Shu (Lying Down and Losing), although it sounds a bit much, from a scientific point of view, it's really hard to explain all of this..."

Pei Qian said righteously, "Teacher Zhang, we are all highly educated people, how can we believe in this kind of metaphysics!"

"Ahem, if you don't mind, I can consider giving her a part-time job."

Zhang Wei was pleasantly surprised. "Really? That would be great! Actually, she doesn't earn much working shifts for me. I wanted to secretly give her some money, but she refused to take it."

"If you have a suitable part-time job for her, that would be great. Don't worry, she just has a little bad luck. Whether it's her studies or her character, she's one of the most reliable freshmen in our college."

Pei Qian wasn't interested in the latter part, but he was very interested in the part about luck.

As they were talking, Tang Yi Shu came back with the stamped document.

However, a small red bump had inexplicably appeared on her forehead.

Zhang Wei took the document. "What happened to your forehead?"

Tang Yi Shu said a little embarrassedly, "I was running...running a little fast and accidentally bumped into the glass door..."

"Teacher Zhang, don't worry, the door is fine, and I'm fine too."

Zhang Wei didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Who cares if the door is okay, as long as you're okay. What are you holding in your hand?"

Tang Yi Shu was also holding a paper bag, which she handed to Pei Qian with both hands. "Senior, this is for...for you. Thank you."

Pei Qian took it in confusion and found that it was a scarf.

Although it was a solid color, it was obviously hand-knitted, which was very different from the scarves sold in malls.

Pei Qian looked down at the turtleneck sweater he was wearing, the thick down jacket he had opened because the office was too hot, and then thought of the business car waiting for him outside the west gate of the school.

Then he looked at Tang Yi Shu, who was still wearing a thick school uniform and whose cheeks were still red from the cold...

Pei Qian said sincerely, "I think you need this scarf more..."

Tang Yi Shu quickly waved her hands. "No, no, no, Senior, please keep it. I'll knit another one in a couple of days."

Zhang Wei smiled. "Pei Qian, just accept it. That's just her personality, she doesn't like receiving favors from others."

"Yi Shu, you don't have to work shifts for me anymore. Your senior will find you a part-time job, and you'll be able to earn more."

"Ah?" Tang Yi Shu's big eyes were full of confusion.

"What are you still standing there for? Go on, listen to your senior arrange work for you. You don't have to work shifts for me anymore." Zhang Wei waved his hand and continued to work on his own tasks.

Tang Yi Shu was inexplicably sold off by her counselor, so she had no choice but to silently follow behind Pei Qian and leave the college's office building.

As Pei Qian walked, he considered what kind of job he should arrange for Tang Yi Shu.

Although in theory he was just bringing her back to the company as a mascot, he still had to find her something to do on the surface. She couldn't just sit in the company all day, could she?

What kind of work should he find?

Pei Qian was deep in thought when he suddenly staggered, almost falling flat on his face.

Tang Yi Shu reacted quickly and immediately helped Pei Qian, saving him from the fate of falling on flat ground.

Pei Qian was still a little shaken. "Thank you."

Tang Yi Shu's face flushed red. "You're welcome. I...I'm used to it. Senior, I'm sorry."

Pei Qian looked down and realized that the shoelace on his right foot had come undone at some point. He had stepped on it with his left foot while walking, which was why he had almost fallen.

Pei Qian couldn't help but fall silent.

Could there really be such metaphysics in this world?

A mysterious star of misfortune who is naturally unlucky and can spread the influence to those around her?

Tang Yi Shu helped Pei Qian up, and after he steadied himself, she silently moved to the side, very consciously maintaining a distance of more than one meter from Pei Qian, probably afraid that Pei Qian would be affected by her again.

Pei Qian wasn't angry at all, but rather very happy.

"Come, come, come with me."

The two of them walked towards the west gate of the school.

Outside the west gate were many small shops, one of which sold scratch-off lottery tickets, the kind that cost ten or twenty yuan each and had many prizes to scratch off.

Pei Qian took Tang Yi Shu to this small shop and took out two hundred yuan without saying a word. "Boss, give me ten."

After receiving the scratch-off tickets, Pei Qian looked at Tang Yi Shu, who was standing awkwardly at the door, and fell into a brief moment of contemplation.

After thinking about it, Pei Qian decided not to give these scratch-off tickets to Tang Yi Shu yet, but to scratch them himself first.

Luck, good or bad, also needs a point of reference.

Seeing that Pei Qian was about to start scratching, Tang Yi Shu subconsciously backed away, staying more than two meters away from Pei Qian.

Pei Qian didn't say anything and started scratching intently.

Five yuan.

Ten yuan.

Fifty.

The more Pei Qian scratched, the darker his face became.

Sure enough, I am an Emperor! (Lucky person)

He scratched out more than three hundred yuan from two hundred yuan worth of scratch-off tickets. He actually made money!

Pei Qian had long felt that there was a big problem with his luck. Why was it so difficult to lose money?

He directly handed these scratch-off tickets to the store owner. "Exchange them all for scratch-off tickets."

Prizes under 5,000 yuan can be redeemed directly at the sales outlets. If they exceed 5,000 yuan, you have to go to the welfare lottery distribution center to redeem them.

Pei Qian exchanged the money for more scratch-off tickets and then called Tang Yi Shu over.

"You scratch them."

Tang Yi Shu shook her head vigorously. "No, Senior, I...this won't work. I have very bad luck."

Pei Qian directly stuffed the scratch-off tickets into her hand. "It's okay, listen to me, just scratch them."

Tang Yi Shu pouted. "Senior, this...this is more than three hundred yuan..."

However, under Pei Qian's gaze, she could only reluctantly start scratching at the counter.

Pei Qian watched carefully from the side.

One, two, three tickets...

Ever since Tang Yi Shu started, the winning rate began to decline sharply. Often, several tickets in a row would yield nothing.

Every few tickets she scratched, Tang Yi Shu would stop and look at Pei Qian, her eyes filled with tears.

Pei Qian would then make a "keep going" gesture, signaling her to continue.

After scratching halfway, there were only a few winning tickets, and each one was only worth 10 yuan. It could be said that she was losing badly.

"Okay, stop," Pei Qian said.

Tang Yi Shu was relieved and hurriedly stopped.

Pei Qian took the remaining scratch-off tickets. Tang Yi Shu was about to retreat another three meters away from Pei Qian, but Pei Qian stopped her.

"You just stand here."

Pei Qian began scratching again in silence.

This time, he scratched seven or eight tickets in a row, and none of them were winners!

Tang Yi Shu couldn't help but want to back away, but every time she made a small movement, Pei Qian would look at her, and she wouldn't dare to move.

Finally, all the scratch-off tickets worth more than three hundred yuan were scratched. Pei Qian counted the winning tickets and found that there were a total of one hundred and twenty yuan, and most of them were scratched out after Pei Qian took over.

This luck was visibly decreasing!

After scratching this large pile of scratch-off tickets, Pei Qian was also exhausted. He handed them to the boss and redeemed the prizes.

Tang Yi Shu stood aside, fidgeting nervously with her fingers, looking very distressed.

Pei Qian didn't believe in metaphysics before, but now he did.

He spent two hundred yuan and received 120 yuan back. Although 80 yuan was contributed to the welfare lottery cause, Pei Qian was overjoyed.

"Here you go."

Pei Qian handed the remaining 120 yuan to Tang Yi Shu, but Tang Yi Shu pouted and shook her head.

"She's really stubborn, not accepting benefits from others for nothing."

Pei Qian had no choice but to put the money away and leave the small shop with Tang Yi Shu.

Five minutes after the two left.

The shop owner packed up the pile of losing scratch-off tickets, preparing to throw them away.

A student from Handong University passed by and wanted to come in to buy a bottle of water. He happened to see this large pile of discarded scratch-off tickets on the table.

"Scratch-off tickets?"

"An IQ tax."

"Someone actually bought so many..."

The guy muttered, expressing his disdain for the matter.

However, after buying water, he hesitated for a long time and still took out twenty yuan to buy a ticket.

As soon as he scratched it open, his eyes widened.

"Holy crap, a hundred thousand yuan!!"