When Zhou Jing came to the United States a few years ago, her father, who had already settled down, brought her and her mother to reunite with the family. She also reluctantly said goodbye to her classmates in China and transferred to a middle school in the United States.
At that time, everything was fine. The only hidden danger was that it was difficult for her mother to find a job in the United States with her education and major. However, her father's salary was enough for the family's expenses. Moreover, the proportion of full-time housewives in the United States was very high, so her mother did not go out to work. She stayed at home to take care of the father and daughter's daily life and tutored Zhou Jing's studies.
Later, her mother became pregnant again, and the whole family was happy for the upcoming baby.
Today's world situation was changing rapidly, and the rise and fall of many industries was only a blink of an eye. Suddenly, one day, her father returned home during working hours and told the mother and daughter, who were playing with the newborn, that he was laid off.
The mother and daughter did not complain or panic. Instead, they encouraged her father to pull himself together and find another job. Because they inherited the traditional Chinese habit of saving, they did not spend as much as American families, so they had a small amount of savings, which could be used up for the time being.
However, it was too difficult for the laid off middle-aged man to find a suitable job. Even if her father repeatedly lowered his salary expectations, no company offered him an olive branch in a short period of time. In the end, he could only lower his status and work in a small company.
In order to relieve her father's pressure, her mother stood up and tried to apply for a job in a company. However, her professional certificate in China was not recognized in the United States, and her skills were rusty because of her unemployment for several years. Coupled with her age and language disadvantage, she could only find a job as a supermarket cashier.
In addition, if her mother went out to work, no one would take care of the baby, and she would have to hire a nanny. The cashier's salary might not be enough to pay the nanny's salary, so the mother had to stay at home.
At that time, Zhou Jing had just entered college, and the pressure of tuition made the family's financial situation even worse. The originally harmonious family atmosphere gradually became quarrels and complaints about money every day.
The tuition of American universities was rising every year, and the compound interest student loan was not for charity. Most American students still had to rely on their parents' financial support to complete their studies.
Her mother regretted that she and her husband didn't have enough risk awareness. If she hadn't chosen to be a housewife after coming to the United States and had applied to a university in the United States, it wouldn't have been too late to become a housewife after graduating with a degree and certificate. Once the family's finances were in crisis, she could have gone to work at any time.
In addition, they also regretted having a second child. If they didn't have a second child, although their lives were tight, they could at least support themselves.
However, a new life had already arrived, and there was no point in regretting.
Zhou Jing was a sensible child. In order to reduce the pressure at home, she looked for part-time jobs everywhere after entering the university. She also did a lot of jobs, from restaurant waiters to hospital handymen, but these jobs had limitations. Either she needed to work night shifts and was not safe, or the pay was too low to pay for tuition and living expenses, or there were superiors or colleagues who liked to harass young women verbally or even physically.
Once, she heard from her American classmates that the aquarium was recruiting mermaid actors. At that time, she, like the audience in the live broadcast room, thought that acting as a mermaid was an easy job that could make money while lying down. Not only was it a fixed day shift, but it was also well-paid, and there was no disgusting middle-aged greasy man secretly harassing her. It couldn't be more ideal.
She felt that such a job must have been taken away long ago, so she came to the aquarium to apply for a job with a tentative mind. As a result, the process went smoothly beyond her imagination. The interviewer measured her height, asked a few questions casually, and let her try for a few days. Later, she learned that the minimum height limit for a mermaid actor was 1.7 meters, and she couldn't be any shorter. Otherwise, after wearing a two-meter mermaid suit, the proportion of the upper and lower waist would be uncoordinated.
On the first day of the internship, she met Abby with several other intern girls. She was also surprised by Abby's thin body, just like Snowy and Zhang Zian when they first met her.
Abby was responsible for taking them, and the first lesson she gave them was mathematics. She told them that the cross-section of the mermaid suit was roughly oval, and their two thigh bones were the two focal points of the ellipse. Then she asked them to calculate how many times the weight and volume of the mermaid suit would expand for each inch of thicker legs.
When they were dizzy from the calculation, Abby laughed loudly, grabbed their draft paper and tore it up, and ordered them to go back to lose weight. At that time, some people were frightened by Abby's violent performance and never appeared again.
The first round of weight loss test screened out most of the applicants, but Zhou Jing actually clenched her teeth and persisted. With perseverance and determination that ordinary people couldn't imagine, she reduced her normal body to as thin as Abby in a short period of time. Because East Asians had small skeletons, they looked the thinnest of the remaining applicants.
Abby was a little impressed by her, but the second step was more difficult than the first. When Zhou Jing jumped into the cold water of San Francisco for the first time, her heart almost stopped beating.
After other applicants tried it once, they all retreated and took the initiative to give up the competition. After all, as a tall and long-legged young girl, there were other ways to make money. It was not worth risking their lives. In Silicon Valley, there were many rich sugar daddies. These old men were happy to sponsor one or a few sugar babies to complete their studies.
Zhou Jing was fierce and tenacious, and she knew that if she chose to be a sugar baby, her legs would probably be broken by her parents. Even though she felt like she had died every time she entered the water, she actually jumped into the water day after day under Abby's mockery and curses. Then, she would come ashore with an ashen face, hugging her body and curling into a ball like a shrimp.
Then one day, the personnel department of the aquarium told her that she got the job.
Abby had been in this business for more than ten years, from Europe to the United States. She had witnessed the rise and fall of many aquariums. Monterey Aquarium was her latest stop, and it might also be her last stop.
When she wasn't angry, Abby was still very good, especially when she talked about her son. Her eyes sparkled, as if she had regained her youth.
As Zhou Jing said, Abby taught her a lot of things. After entering the water, they had to take care of each other in case of accidents.
No matter how vicious they usually were, as long as they put on a mermaid costume and jumped into the pool, the two of them would cooperate like real mermaid sisters.
In addition to the desire for a high salary, Zhou Jing felt that deep in her heart, she might enjoy this kind of highlight moment where she could put aside all her worries and focus on enjoying the audience's amazement.
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