Free Web NovelChapter 778: Chapter 736: Unlucky
The reason he is still working overtime in the office isn’t because he’s not tired, but because he somehow managed to take a photo of someone eating a banana today, and come what may, he has to publish it.
Although the editor-in-chief doesn’t think much of this news, at least he was given a small inconspicuous spot, and the website could have an unobtrusive link.
He could have gone home to write the draft, but unfortunately, a few days ago, he fell asleep while typing at home and knocked over a coffee cup, burning out the computer motherboard, and hasn’t had time to fix it since.
The core issue is that he’s out of money; he needs to pay rent, eat, buy cigarettes and alcohol, and doesn’t have the extra funds to buy computer parts. He’s just counting on this news piece to get some clicks, hoping the editor-in-chief might give him a bonus of a few dozen US Dollars.
Thinking about this, he pressed the final key, submitted the news to the backend, and waited for his colleague to handle it when they took over.
He sighed in the quiet, dark office; the deep night was only punctuated by the reflection of the orange lights from other buildings outside the window, appearing both distant and faint.
He straightened his tie, rubbed his sore eyes, and downed the cold coffee.
He turned off the computer, cut the power, locked the office door, and walked out of the office building.
He was like tens of thousands of wandering souls, numbly drifting in this city, heading towards the place called home.
Fortunately, the season was good; even though the night was deep in the summer, it was still warm, allowing him to slowly drive back.
Su Ming felt complicated about the editor-in-chief, both hating his snobbishness and foul mouth, yet being grateful that he hadn’t really fired him, as at least he still had a basic salary to live on each month.
But will there be a day when things get better like this? This city is too big; ordinary people are merely numbers on a statistical chart.
Su Ming drove through the empty street, accompanied only by the dim streetlights, as he looked at the vibrant nightlife spots on the other side of the road, with people dressed in fancy clothes laughing loudly, he could only sigh with a tinge of envy.
He continued driving with his head down, heading home to sleep.
"Pfft... Pfft..."
"Faker!"
The more anxious he was to get home, the worse his luck got; his vehicle, a second-hand old Ford, suddenly released two odd fart-like sounds and then broke down by the roadside.
Su Ming was so angry that he fiercely struck the steering wheel and cursed out.
But this isn’t some vending machine that restores to normal after a few hits or kicks.
Moreover, not knowing what’s wrong, thick smoke started to billow out of the air conditioning vent, instantly filling the whole cabin.
"Cough cough cough... Cough cough..."
Su Ming struggled for a while, finally managed to unbuckle his seatbelt and push the door open, collapsing by the roadside and coughing. His eyes, nasal passages, and airways were burning with pain; he felt dizzy, like he was going to die.
"Hahaha..."
On the other side of the road, those people standing at the entrance of the luxurious nightclub burst into laughter; they were the first to see the old car filled with smoke, like a fish tank filled with white mist.
Soon after, someone emerged, covered in smoke, falling onto the roadside and coughing incessantly.
It was amusing, adding a topic of discussion to the boring night life.
No one intended to help him, everyone was just bystanders watching the spectacle, a person driving such a broken car was clearly a pauper, and the misfortune of such a miserable person added a comedic effect.
They not only watched but took out their phones to capture and share it on Twitter, earning a wave of likes from friends was the most important thing.
At that moment, flames suddenly rose from under the car’s hood, illuminating everyone’s faces instantly.
"Wow~~~!"
The crowd spectating grew even more excited, more people whipped out their phones, and many who heard the news rushed out from various nightlife spots.
Su Ming felt the heat wave behind him, quickly crawled forward a bit, turned around, stood up, watching his car burn more fiercely, his heart aching immensely.
"Faker!... Fa-Faker!" Every time he took a step, the flames forced him back.
This was his only means of transportation; it was due to financial constraints and prolonged neglect that led to this fate.
But he had to retrieve his livelihood tools from the car, such as the DSLR camera and the full set of lenses borrowed from the paper; those items weren’t cheap.
Yet the fire grew bigger, the car’s hood was charred, the rolling heat wave made it impossible for him to get close, even the onlookers instinctively retreated in a circle to avoid being caught by a potential explosion.
For some reason, Su Ming was very afraid of fire, his girlfriend at home often mocked him for not even daring to use the oven.
In this situation, besides pacing anxiously by the roadside and loudly asking for help, there was nothing he could do.
No one helped him, Metropolis, the United States’ largest city, was also exceptionally cold, no one would mind others’ business.
Perhaps older individuals might, possessing virtues from an earlier era, but this street was an entertainment hub, what good person would still linger here in the middle of the night?
Besides the drunk and drugged-out rich second generations, there are gangsters collecting protection fees, hoping for these people to enthusiastically help is less reliable than kneeling down to pray and see if God is willing to send down some rain?
Just when Su Ming was about to despair, two people suddenly rushed in from outside the crowd. A man with glasses started using a fire extinguisher to help put out the fire on Su Ming’s car.
And the other woman began taking pictures continuously, she even pulled out a voice recorder to interview passersby, appearing quite excited.
A few minutes later, the fire was out, and those who had come to watch the excitement dispersed. ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
The man took off his glasses, wiped the sweat off his face with his shirt sleeve, and walked over to Su Ming by the roadside, patting his shoulder.
"Slade? Is that you? Are you hurt?"
Su Ming was just afraid of the fire. Once the flames were extinguished, he calmed down a lot: "I’m fine, thank you, Clark."
"No need to thank me, we’re colleagues. Even if we weren’t, helping someone on the road is what I should do."
The strong man grabbed Su Ming’s arm, checked him over, and only after confirming everything was fine did he show a relieved expression.
"They... don’t think so." Su Ming looked at the departing crowd, each and every back almost carved from the same mold.
Clark’s smile stiffened a bit, he rubbed his hands, pulled Su Ming over to his car, and helped him retrieve the camera and lens bag from the smoke-filled cabin.
He then found the tow cable and hooked the wreck of Su Ming’s car to the back of his own. Luckily, only the front two tires were blown, it should be able to be towed back.
After doing all this, he got into the passenger seat, opened the glove box, and handed Su Ming a bottle of mineral water: "What they did was wrong, helping others is something all humans should understand."
Su Ming sighed, took the bottle of mineral water but didn’t unscrew it, instead checked whether his camera and lens were broken.
It was a lucky misfortune, maybe because of Clark and Louise’s appearance, some good fortune was indeed brought, these expensive little gadgets were unharmed.
Just the backpack was a little dirty, covered with the white foam sprayed from the extinguisher.
He unscrewed the water bottle, took a few sips, intending to talk to Clark, when the driver’s side door opened, and Louise climbed in with a smile on her face.
She suddenly saw the soot-covered Su Ming, realized that it was inappropriate to smile like that, and immediately suppressed it, her cheeks flushed red.
"Sorry, Slade, I just thought of a great news story, got a bit excited." Louise sympathetically reached over and pressed Su Ming’s hand: "I feel really sad about your loss."
Su Ming wasn’t upset over these small matters, after all, they helped save his camera. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
"It’s fine, I’m a reporter too, I understand that feeling." Clark kept staring at Louise’s hand, making Su Ming feel very awkward, he withdrew his hand and leaned back on the rear seat: "Can you tell me the news title? It wouldn’t be to mock me, would it?"
Louise shook her head, her golden-red hair spreading out: "No, I’ve got the title, it’s ’Car Catches Fire on Road, Citizens Indifferently Watch’, what do you think? I want to really criticize these apathetic people and bring society’s problems to the forefront."
Su Ming nodded, the title seemed fine: "Just not sure if the editor-in-chief will approve."
"No worries, anything I want to publish, the editor-in-chief always approves." Louise smiled, turned around, and started the car: "I’m a social news journalist, not an entertainment paparazzo..."
Clark’s face lengthened, secretly made eye contact, subtly shook his head, the entertainment paparazzo she’s talking about is Slade...
Louise shrank her neck, pursed her lips, and stopped talking.
Having encountered over a dozen news stories throughout the day, the two were busy until now, maybe having drunk too much coffee, she’s a bit too excited, just saying and doing the wrong things.
She really is muddled, huh? Aye. She tapped herself on the head with her fist, apologetically looked at Su Ming through the rearview mirror.
Su Ming just smiled, there’s no need to get angry over this, after all, she was speaking the truth, he really is an entertainment paparazzo, and one who hasn’t found a major story in years.
Getting discriminated against is something he’s long been used to, the truly successful paparazzi are those who capture big scandals of celebrities, privately negotiate and extort a huge sum of money, then immediately retire.
Never heard anyone say that someone won a Pulitzer for reporting celebrity gossip, entertainment paparazzi have always been the lowest tier in the ranks of journalists.
However, although the reputation is unappealing, the financial prospects are broad, getting rich overnight isn’t just a dream, Su Ming entered this industry for this reason.
Not to say his house lacks four walls, but at least he has no savings, and being an orphan, what else can he do besides gambling on whether he could strike it big? Any other issues have to be considered once he’s able to fill his stomach!
Clark touched his hair, due to the low-pressure atmosphere in the car, he changed the topic, asked where Su Ming lived, Louise could drive Su Ming home first.
Su Ming didn’t hold back, told them his rental address, the car turned in a different direction, the two men chatted idly about topics like football or horse racing, gradually relaxing the atmosphere.
But at this moment, driving, Louise seemed to think of something, suddenly asked: "Slade, does your car have insurance? If you don’t have insurance, being burned is..."
Clark began making eye contact again, roughly, the colleagues all knew the situation of Slade’s family, how could he afford insurance?
Su Ming said nothing, like a Buddha in a temple: "..."
And deep down, he has already given Clark and Louis a nickname, calling them the ’Heartbreaking Siblings’, indeed, lovers become siblings.
