Chương 26: The Person Who Refused to Be a Staff Member

"And the customers are willing to do it."

"Because what he said is true. The panel costs three thousand, and the lock cylinder has four pins. It's true."

Lin Zhou squatted down and took out a new lock cylinder from his toolbox.

It's bronze-yellow, a size larger than the original, and feels heavy in your hand.

He aligned the new lock cylinder, pushed it in, and tightened the two screws.

Then snap the panel back on.

The ribbon cable was connected, and the clips were pressed back in one by one, click, click, click.

The panel was fitted tightly to the door panel, the touch screen lit up again, flashed blue light once, and then entered standby mode.

He took out two new keys and handed them over.

"Give it a try."

The young man took the keys. I went inside and took a look around.

The latch popped out and then retracted.

Smooth.

He turned the key twice more, as if to confirm that the lock was indeed obeying his commands. Then he took out the key and held it in his palm.

Lin Zhou wrapped the old lock cylinder in oil paper and put it in the compartment of his tool bag.

Zip it up and sling it over your shoulder.

The young man, clutching the keys, suddenly spoke.

"Master, you repair locks every day, have you ever thought about—" He paused, as if considering his words, "Who exactly are locks meant to keep out of?"

Lin Zhou stood in the corridor and slowly spoke.

"It's impossible to stop people who want to get in."

He said, "The goal is to make those who want to get in spend more time."

He turned and walked toward the stairs.

I was mentally calculating how many orders I had completed today.

Lin Zhou's phone vibrated as he walked out of the residential compound.

He pulled it out of his pocket; it was Old Zhou.

"Feed?"

"Where are you."

Old Zhou's voice came through the receiver, with the background noise of traffic.

"North of the city. Just finished repairing a combination lock."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

Old Zhou's voice came through again, half a tone lower than before, as if he had pressed the phone closer to his ear.

"The chief is asking if you'd like to come work for us. You'll be an auxiliary police officer, but you'll be promoted to a regular officer later."

Lin Zhou stopped in his tracks.

He stood by the flower bed at the entrance of the residential area, his phone pressed against his ear.

The afternoon sun shone on his face, and his pupils contracted slightly.

It wasn't because of the light, it was because of those words.

The live chat exploded instantly.

"Auxiliary police officer? Becoming a full-fledged officer?"

"Police station invites 'Three-Second King' to join the force"

"The Locksmith King is Going to Be a Policeman"

"A position within the municipal bureau—a dream for countless people."

"He's been to the police station five times in three days, and now the police want to recruit him."

"From a target of a prostitution raid to a colleague, it only took three days."

"From now on, Brother Zhou should call him Officer Lin."

"Locksmith King, will you agree?"

"Of course I'd say yes, no question about it."

"Employment status, stable job, five social insurances and one housing fund" Lin Zhou held his phone.

The holly leaves in the flower bed shone brightly in the sun, and the wind blowing in from the entrance of the community made the collar of his down jacket stand up.

His Adam's apple bobbed.

Something is swirling in my mind.

It wasn't hesitation, it was calculation.

Auxiliary police officer.

The base salary is a little over three thousand, and with subsidies, the take-home pay is around four thousand.

After becoming a full-time employee, the salary can reach 6, 000.

Earning 70, 000 to 80, 000 a year is stable, respectable, and guaranteed regardless of drought or flood.

But I received three orders this morning, totaling 500.

Including the 300 yuan for replacing the lock cylinder at Yuebanwan, today's total is 800 yuan.

On average, it's a little over a thousand a day.

Thirty thousand a month.

He was quick to make his plans.

Within seconds, I went through all the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

Going to the police station is a safe and secure experience.

However, they cannot accept private orders.

When they can't come to unlock doors, they take the opportunity to sell lock cylinders.

You can't do a job that costs 200 as if it costs 500.

You can't turn a fifty-year-old job into a thousand and fifty.

Most importantly, he has to sit in one place every day.

You can't ride an electric bike all over the city, and you can't run into any strange people.

You can't expect to see three Black men and a woman in a silk robe in the living room the moment you open the door.

The most important thing is this competition.

If we win, we'll get ten million!

The comments section was still flooded with messages.

The number of online users jumped from 20, 000 to 23, 000, and then from 23, 000 to 27, 000.

"What are you thinking, Three-Second King?"

"He's doing the math."

"The lock-picking king's expression—he's doing mental arithmetic."

His eyes were on the flowerbed, but his mind was on the abacus.

"He must be calculating the difference between the auxiliary police officer's salary and the locksmith's income."

The answer is that unlocking locks earns more money.

"Not just a lot, but far more than that."

Lin Zhou switched the phone to his other hand.

His lips moved.

"Brother Zhou."

"Um."

"I'm not going."

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

Old Zhou's breathing was still coming through the receiver, very soft, one breath at a time.

"... What?"

"I'm not going."

Lin Zhou lifted the tool bag up.

"I can't sit still. I've sat in your chairs a few times, and every time I've felt uncomfortable."

He didn't finish speaking.

He had a second thought in mind—the main problem was that he couldn't take on private jobs.

There's no way to unlock it.

Unable to win first place in this competition But he didn't say any of that.

He simply lifted his toolbox up and looked at the sycamore tree at the entrance of the residential area.

The comments section went crazy.

He refused.

"The Three-Second King Rejected a Government Position"

"Locksmith King: Not going. Brother Zhou:... Lin Zhou: The chair is uncomfortable."

His reason was that the chair was uncomfortable.

"But the real reason is the result of his calculations just now."

"One thousand a day, thirty thousand a month. Auxiliary police officers earn four thousand a month."

"It's not about the money. It's that he likes picking locks."

"He once said that he likes picking locks."

"When he rejected the proprietress of the Half Moon Inn, he also said that it wasn't about the money, but that he liked unlocking locks."

"The lock-picking king's loyalty to lock picking surpasses that of official positions."

Old Zhou's voice came through again.

"Have you thought it through?"

"I've made up my mind."

There was another moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

Then Lao Zhou said, "Okay."

There was no disappointment or anger in his tone; he simply said he understood.

"Your competition," Old Zhou suddenly asked.

"Where are you ranked now?"

Lin Zhou glanced down at the light screen on his wrist.

"eighth."

Who is number one?

"A young woman working in secretarial studies. She earns 3, 000 yuan a day."

Old Zhou didn't ask "how it came about".

Lin Zhou didn't say anything either.

How did the secretary who earns 3, 000 yuan a day manage to do it? The tens of thousands of viewers in the live stream all know the answer.

Old Zhou probably had a pretty good idea of what was going on.

"It's over," Old Zhou said.

"Um."

The phone hangs up.

The call interface on the screen switched back to the dial pad.

Lin Zhou put his phone back in his pocket.

The comments section was still flooded with messages.

"Eighth"

"The Three-Second King went from 97th to 8th in three days"

"The first is the secretary, who earns 3, 000 yuan a day."

"Secretarial job, three thousand a day. Those who know, know."

"Isn't the lock-picking king envious?"

"He's not envious. He didn't even blink when he refused the auxiliary police officer."

"He only envied those who could pick locks faster than him. But no one could pick locks faster than him."

"Three-Second King: I am only loyal to my wires."

Lin Zhou stood by the flower bed, watching the branches of the sycamore tree sway in the wind.

I mentally reviewed today's events again.

The drug deal this morning cost 50 for unlocking and 1000 for the lock cylinder, totaling 1050.

The cost of replacing the lock cylinder for the "half-moon" style lock is 300 yuan.

Just now, the combination lock cost 200 to unlock and 300 to replace the lock cylinder, totaling 500.

Today's total income is 1, 850.

Ranked eighth.