Although they had just met Zhou Jing, her stubborn look made the netizens distressed. She was so thin, yet she endured the pain of her menstrual period and went into the cold water to act as a mermaid. It was simply inhumane.
Everyone targeted the white woman, thinking of her as a wicked witch or stepmother in fairy tales. If she could see the curses of the netizens, she would probably explode in anger.
"How about this, Store Manager Qiu, you pretend to be a woman and act as a mermaid for this lady?"
"Forget it, him?"
"I think it's okay. He can wear a wig and squeeze his chest hard. He should be able to squeeze out a cleavage …"
"My eyes hurt just thinking about it …"
Snowy quickly pulled Zhou Jing and advised her not to be impulsive. If she really went into the water, she might get seriously ill.
Zhou Jing shook her head and pushed Snowy's hand away. She gritted her teeth and said, "I understand what you said, but I chose this job …"
She looked up at the white woman. "Abby is right. This job is too important for both her and me. We can't lose this job."
Snowy knew that the white woman was called Abby.
"But …" Snowy wanted to persuade her again.
"You don't understand." Zhou Jing sighed. "Abby is a single mother. She needs this job to support herself and her children. Otherwise, she will be driven out by the landlord. My father just lost his job, and I also need this job to pay for my tuition and support my family."
As she spoke, she struggled to take down the blue mermaid costume from the iron shelf.
The two-meter-long, 50-pound mermaid costume needed to be taken off in a princess carry. She was in her menstrual period, so her physical strength was poor. Zhang Zian went over to help her carry it.
This was the first time he had touched the tail of a mermaid performance. As soon as he touched it, he felt … the touch from his fingers was a little familiar. This thing was not made of artificial materials as he had imagined.
"This is …"
He put the mermaid costume on the ground, squatted down and touched it carefully. The outside and the inside felt completely different — the outer layer was smooth and soft, while the inner layer was rough and stiff.
He could feel that the inner layer was made of rubber. It was deliberately made rough to increase friction. Otherwise, what if the fish tail fell off while swimming in the water? But it would obviously be very uncomfortable to wear it like this.
The outer layer was smooth to reduce water resistance.
"Whale skin." Zhou Jing said, "The outer layer is hand-stitched with whale skin, and then dyed with natural plant pigments. This set of mermaid clothes alone is worth a lot."
Zhang Zian was secretly speechless. The leather clothes worn by ordinary people were at most cowhide, horseskin, sheepskin, and crocodile skin. The mermaid clothes made of whale skin were definitely more expensive than crocodile skin.
Zhou Jing opened her palm. Zhang Zian and Snowy saw that there were some tiny wounds on her fingers and palms that had not yet healed. They looked like blood holes made by needles. The needles were very thick, not ordinary sewing needles.
"If the mermaid dress is soaked in the water for too long, it's inevitable that the seams will open. Once the seams open, we'll have to sew it ourselves. Abby's hands are the same. She's better than me because she's more practiced, "she said.
Snowy looked at the inside of the mermaid robe, stretched out her legs, and made a gesture. She exclaimed, "It … it's so tight inside. Can I wear it?"
Snowy was already considered a relatively slim figure, but roughly speaking, she could only put her calves into the mermaid robe. Her thighs would definitely be stuck. One had to know that the inner layer of the mermaid suit was rubber, not the elastic man-made fiber that girls often wore. It was a little elastic, but overall, it was very stiff. It was similar to the fins used in diving. It was impossible to expand the opening and then force one's leg in.
"You've noticed, right? So we have to be very thin, or we won't be able to fit into the mermaid tuxedo. " Zhou Jing sighed, "I wasn't so thin before. In order to get this job, I had to work hard to lose weight. Now, in order to maintain my weight, I only eat one meal a day … Abby is the same. She worked longer than me and suffered more."
As for making the mermaid robe fatter and bigger, it was impossible. First of all, the mermaid robe itself had an outer layer of whale skin, an inner layer of rubber, and a support layer of padding in the middle. The more space left for the legs, the bigger and heavier the mermaid robe would be, and the more difficult it would be to swim in the water. Secondly, the water had a refractive effect. People with a normal body would look fat in the water, and people with a thin body would look normal in the water. If the mermaid robe was fatter, the audience on the other side of the glass would look like an old and frail mermaid grandmother …
Zhou Jing laughed self-deprecatingly and pressed her lower abdomen with her hand. "People like us are so thin because of malnutrition and always soaking in cold water. Our menstrual periods often disappear. Occasionally, they come irregularly … We have to soak in this temperature of water for about two or three hours a day. When we leave the water, our lips are often frozen purple. Abby … As far as I know, she hasn't had her menstrual period for two or three years. Fortunately, she has given birth … "
The audience in the live broadcast room suddenly became discouraged. As the saying goes, a pitiful person must have a hateful side. Abby had a bad temper and often scolded people. Of course, she was hateful, but how did she develop such a character? Long-term hunger led to emaciation and physiological dysfunction. It would be difficult for others to maintain a calm state of mind, right?
This was not an extreme diet that lasted for one or two meals, one or two days a day, one or two weeks a week, or one or two months a month. It was calculated in years.
Not only was she on an extreme diet, but she also had to keep fit while dieting. She often ran and did strength training to maintain her physical strength. How many people could do that? How many men could do that, let alone women?
The audience suddenly sympathized with and understood Abby. As a single mother, she had to take care of her children and bear such a hard job. Her bad temper was her way of protecting herself and venting her stress. Of course, scolding people was wrong.
Zhou Jing and Abby's special profession was somewhat similar to that of models. As everyone knew, models had to maintain a thin body in order to look good on the runway. At the same time, in order to be able to hold up the clothes, they also had to do fitness training. They tried to reduce the bulky fat and replace it with much smaller muscles.
After hearing this, Snowy advised with distress, "It's so hard. Why don't you change your job? Anything else would be better than this! If you go on like this, your body will collapse! "
Zhou Jing shook her head. "Abby and I can do other jobs, but we earn too little money."
Unlike in China, people generally did not ask about other people's salary in foreign countries. After all, it was personal privacy. But Snowy still couldn't help but ask, "Then … how much is the salary of this job?"
Zhou Jing thought for a moment. "According to the annual salary, it's 70,000 US dollars a year, almost 500,000 RMB."
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