Chapter 14: I Still Think the East District is Safer

After a five-minute, hasty, and bizarre interview, Ma Ma Zhaodi officially became a member of the Red Dragon Restaurant.

"You come to the restaurant at ten every morning to change into your uniform and start work on time; you can come earlier if you wish. Breakfast and lunch can be eaten in the restaurant's staff cafeteria. You can rest for two hours starting at two in the afternoon. Your duties include greeting guests, taking orders, serving dishes, and wiping tables. You finish work at ten at night. The hourly wage is twenty-five dollars, five days a week."

"Sometimes unexpected situations arise in the restaurant. You don't need to do anything; just stay calm, try to soothe the guests, and ensure the situation doesn't escalate. Someone specialized will arrive shortly to handle the problem."

A supervisor led Ma Ma Zhaodi on a leisurely stroll through the restaurant, familiarizing him with the rooms inside and out: "Be sharp. There are many things to learn here. You must be able to answer any questions guests ask about the menu. Even for requests outside the menu, you must try your best to fulfill them."

"Any request?"

"That depends on who the guest is. If a 'Roman' or some other big shot arrives, even if they ask you to lick their shoes, you had better do it. But if it's an upstart who doesn't know his place and wants to cause trouble here, you can shoot him after he leaves the door—but remember, don't let the blood splash onto the side of the shop."

"That shouldn't be necessary."

Hearing this, the supervisor looked at the new employee with a smirk: "The boss asked me to give you a few more words of advice, so I'll give you a few more. Remember to practice your shooting. In Gotham, those without beastly nature cannot survive."

With that, he pulled out a card and handed it to Ma Ma Zhaodi: "Call this number. Our restaurant staff gets a fifty-percent discount on shooting practice here. Of course, if you have the guts or connections, you can also find cheaper ways to practice shooting in the East District on your own."

Excellent. The basic employee benefit at a high-end Gotham restaurant is a shooting discount, Ma Ma Zhaodi thought to himself as he accepted the card.

"Also, as soon as you receive your first paycheck, find yourself a mode of transport immediately." He continued: "The boss asked me to tell you that if you hadn't joined the restaurant, sitting on that bus all day wouldn't be considered dangerous. But now that you are a restaurant employee, change your mode of transport as soon as possible."

Great. The second basic employee benefit is an aura of mockery; those wanting to attack the restaurant might attack you first.

"Can I advance one month's salary?"

The supervisor frowned: "Have you never lived here before? Pay is issued every two weeks here. The boss allows you to advance the base salary for the first two pay periods, which is four weeks, five thousand dollars pre-tax. Do you have your own account?"

"Yes."

"Once the registration is done in a moment, the money will be transferred to you, but it will be post-tax—or you can have cash instead; the choice is yours."

Awesome. He thought this way; his stereotype of Gotham was indeed true. It was dangerous here, but it certainly wasn't poor.

In fact, due to the monopoly of the conglomerates and the exploitation by gangs, the wealth gap in Gotham was enormous. The extreme evil in the East District was real, but the splendor of the Diamond District was also real. Judging by the overall economy of Gotham as a city, it could be ranked among the top in the entire United States.

And the four thousand-plus remaining after deducting taxes from this five thousand was not the entirety of his salary. As a restaurant waiter, his salary consisted of a base wage plus tips from customers' meals. The tips usually accounted for the bulk of a waiter's income, and since they were cash, tips did not require tax payment.

Besides having to stay in the restaurant for twelve hours a day, working ten hours, and facing the safety issues of the night road when returning home at ten with tips, this job could basically be called perfect.

At least that was how it seemed for now.

Ma Ma Zhaodi also considered the problem that after Drake left, he seemed to have nowhere to live, so he asked the supervisor if he could stay at the restaurant at night.

The supervisor's expression was quite intriguing. He looked at Ma Ma Zhaodi with a half-smile and replied: "The restaurant does have a night shift, but you are not yet qualified to stay in the night shift."

It was obvious that the guests received during the restaurant's night shift were definitely the type of people Ma Ma Zhaodi did not want to contact, so he didn't ask any more questions.

Since work started tomorrow, Drake simply took Ma Ma Zhaodi away from the Red Dragon Restaurant. The immediate priority was to get a vehicle or find a house to rent that was relatively close, after all, taking the bus from the East District to the Red Dragon was no longer an option.

Regarding the rental situation near Arkham Asylum, Drake actually knew quite a bit. After all, this place was originally the cooperation site between Mr. Freeze and the pharmaceutical company, and when he first arrived in Gotham, he settled here as well.

However, since he needed to simultaneously take care of his wife, search for Dr. Victor, and maintain his livelihood, the jobs he could find did not offer ideal salaries. In the long term without seeing Dr. Victor, the rental prices in Arkham Asylum soon became a bit unbearable for him.

Although he thought that given Ma Ma Zhaodi's current situation, he could completely find a small house to rent near the Red Dragon, ensuring safety and commute, Ma Ma Zhaodi was not very keen on this.

He and Drake calculated the cost of living together. Americans mostly got used to living on credit card debt, but he had absolutely no such habit. Renting a house here would spend most of that four thousand-plus, and daily life would probably require borrowing money.

If the matter of money was acceptable in the face of safety, then the abandoned Ferris wheel here and the pharmaceutical company that harmed Mr. Freeze made him feel a bit terrified. He specifically asked about this chemical plant and confirmed that the factory had once reported an accident where someone fell into a chemical barrel.

Plus, he also knew there was a botanical garden here. He immediately sighed, "Awesome." The Joker, Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, plus the local gang bosses suspected of dining at the Red Dragon; he didn't know if the Penguin or Falcone were around either. Anyway, this place was not suitable for a long stay. Usually nothing happened, but if something happened, it would be a damn explosion, and an unsolvable one at that.

He had already seen it; the System Mall had purchase options for shooting skills and one-time save files. These things might be instantly wiped out against psychopaths in tight suits and psychopaths who commit arson and murder, but they should be fine against ordinary people in the East District, right?

"Anyway, I have thought it over carefully. The addicts, enforcers, prostitutes, gangs, and thieves in the East District are still more in line with my pursuit of a living environment." Ma Ma Zhaodi waved his hand at Drake with a determined face: "I would rather die than live in Arkham Asylum. Let's go."

Drake had no choice either. Since Ma Ma Zhaodi had made up his mind, he couldn't say much more. Seeing that it was still early, the two didn't wait for the bus and simply went to pick a vehicle for Ma Ma Zhaodi.

(End of Chapter)