windy city rainy season

After eating noodles in the garage that day, Tao Yu seriously considered his living conditions, working part-time at night, attending classes during the day, and taking time to read homework.But he has no way to end this state. There is still part of the tuition fee for the next semester, and more than half of this semester has passed, so he can only find as many jobs as possible.

The Indian Asan Raja in the department took Tao Yu to a 7-11 store in the city.Because of the name of the store, Tao Yu always thought that 7-11 closed at 24:[-] pm. In fact, many chain stores in the urban area are open [-] hours a day. The store that Raja brought him here is open from [-]:[-] pm to morning. The red-eyed salesperson at [-] o'clock makes [-] yuan an hour.

Raja brought Tao Yu here because he couldn't do it all night, he only wanted to do the first half of the night, and Tao Yu happened to be going to the cold storage in the first half of the night, so he could only do the second half of the night.So the two of them put together a 40-1000 split. Each person can earn more than [-] yuan a day, and more than [-] yuan after working for a month.

In this way, Tao Yu completely became a nocturnal animal, and his sleep time was pushed from eight o'clock in the morning to two or three o'clock in the afternoon. Fortunately, the graduate classes all started at six o'clock in the evening, so he still had time to read books and make up homework.Tao Yu also knew that he was betting on his body by doing this, and it would also affect his studies, but he wanted to stick to it for a few months and stop working so hard to save enough for next semester's tuition.

Chang Zheng found out that he hadn't seen Tao Yu for a long time. In the past, this kid always went home to sleep in the middle of the night, and sometimes he came back from overtime work, and often followed him into the door.But no matter what time he came back during this time, there was no one on the sofa. If it weren't for the two big boxes still standing in the corner, he almost thought that the boy had moved away.Teacher Tang also had doubts. They both suspected that Tao Yu had already worked so hard that he was about to become a fairy, and he didn't even need to sleep.

Taking advantage of this day's rest, Chang Zheng finally blocked Tao Yu who came back from get off work at home.I haven't seen him for more than half a month, and this kid has lost his bones, his face is pale, and his feet are sloppy. If he didn't know that he was crazy about earning money, Chang Zheng almost thought he was addicted to drugs.

Tao Yu was so sleepy that he didn't want to say a word, and without opening his eyes, he floated into the bathroom to wash up, then came out and fell on the sofa, wrapping himself in a quilt into a silkworm chrysalis.Before Chang Zheng could ask anything, he found that the other party had fallen asleep at the speed of light.

When Tao Yu woke up, there was no one in the house. He went to the kitchen to order instant noodles, and unexpectedly found a Mexican meat taco on the dining table, which was the one that Chang Zheng had taken him to eat before.A note was pressed underneath, saying in English that this is his lunch.At first glance, the note was left by Chang Zheng - Dr. Chang can speak, listen, and barely read, but he can't write Chinese.

When Tao Yu was sitting at the table eating meat rolls, Tang Hainan came back. As soon as he saw him, Teacher Tang put down his briefcase and pulled up a chair to sit at the table.

"What have you been up to lately?" Tang Hainan asked.

Tao Yu was instinctively a little apprehensive about being a teacher, and since Mr. Tang was his landlord, he couldn't help but sit down properly, and honestly said, "I'm working part-time."

"Work so hard that you don't come home at night?"

Tao Yu nodded, carefully took a bite of the meat roll.Teacher Tang said "go home", which warmed his heart a little.

Of course, Tang Hainan didn't know about Tao Yu's mental activities, and after finally catching him, he prepared for a long talk.

"I've always wanted to ask you, how short of money do you have to work so hard? Does your family care about you?"

Tao Yu avoided the second question and replied, "I still have 3000 yuan short of tuition fees for the next semester, and I will only have a job when I earn enough money."

Tang Hainan vaguely felt that there was something wrong with Tao Yu's relationship with his family, but he couldn't ask further if the other party didn't tell him.Although he worked part-time when he was a student, he didn't worry about tuition fees. After thinking about it, he asked, "Why don't you talk to the department and ask if it's possible to get a scholarship?"

Tao Yu shook his head and said, "I asked my senior brothers and sisters, and they said that the department seldom gives scholarships for the first year. When I first came here, I didn't know how I was doing, so I couldn't give money casually. I have to do it in the second year." It is only possible with the opportunity of a teaching assistant.”

Teacher Tang asked: "Have you talked to your supervisor? If he has a research project in hand, he may let you be a research assistant."

Tao Yu said: "I only have one class taught by my tutor this semester. I talked to him a few times when I first started the semester. He said that I should take the class well first. Next semester, I might be exposed to some research projects and do literature search. And so on. It is impossible to solve the tuition fee, but to give priority to the scholarship of teaching assistants, and it is possible to provide some living expenses.”

Tang Hainan asked, "Who is your mentor?"

"Andrew." Tao Yu said, "Our professional director."

Environment belongs to the School of Engineering, and the school is divided into several major departments. Due to historical reasons, the environment major was previously placed under the Department of Chemistry, and it was only transferred to Civil and Construction Engineering in the past two years.There are many civil and architectural students and professors, and most of the funds are swallowed by them.The environment is a bit like a little daughter-in-law who doesn't care about grandma and uncle and can't get on the table.Mr. Tang also teaches in this school, and he knows a little about the treatment of environmental majors.

"Let's talk to your supervisor again." Tang Hainan suggested, "I know Andrew, who is famous in environmental statistics and indoor air. He should have a private project. You can go to him more often to help with data analysis. Maybe he can pay you in his own name. You are here to study for a doctorate and receive higher education, and the whole school can only graduate a few doctors a year. You have to use your energy to improve your studies and improve your future. How can working hard to your death help you in the future."

Tao Yu nodded and smiled wryly in his heart. The job he has now has no future, but it can really solve the current tuition and living expenses.But what Mr. Tang said is right. If you have the opportunity, you still need to find some research assistant jobs, which are related to your studies, and you can earn more than just doing hard work.He was a newcomer before and didn't know his mentor well, and his mentor didn't know him well either.Now that half of the semester is over, he has done well in several courses, and his mid-term grades are also in the top ranks. He should talk to his tutor again.

Thinking of this, Tao Yu sincerely said to Tang Hainan: "Thank you, Mr. Tang, I am not your student, and I let you worry about my affairs."

Tang Hainan waved his hand and said, "From this month on, you won't give me your rent anymore..."

"That's okay!" Tao Yu interrupted, "One yard is worth one yard. If I have no money, I have to pay you rent to live in your house. Besides, your rent is already very low."

"Listen to me first." Tang Hainan said, "You don't have to pay the rent. Chang Zheng and I have discussed it. We will give you 600 yuan a month as a partnership. You will be responsible for the lunch and dinner meals for both of us, with a mix of meat and vegetables. .Didn’t you work in a Chinese restaurant before, which just gave you a place to play, and your rent is counted as the labor fee of an hourly worker.”

The standard of ten yuan per person per day, in Chicago, if you buy vegetables and cook by yourself, one lobster a day is no problem.But after Tao Yu heard it, he hesitated and said, "Mr. Tang, Chang Zheng still owes a tuition loan. I'll take his money, isn't it good..." Doctor Chang is worse than me, okay, Doctor of Medicine looks good , Lizi still owes the bank $20!

Tang Hainan couldn't help laughing: "You still worry about him, do you know what his family does? His father is a specialist in cardiovascular surgery at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and his mother is a famous pediatrician who has her own clinic in Manhattan. , His parents earn several million a year, and still care about 20 loans?"

Tao Yu was dumbfounded and couldn't help asking, "Then why does he need a loan for medical school?"

Tang Hainan said: "How do I know, rich people are willing to be willful, let their children experience life."

Tao Yu felt that he could no longer treat Dr. Chang as a class brother, even the meat roll in his hand seemed to be upscale, he took a bite hard, thinking that all the fucking sympathy was wasted up!

Tao Yu, an hourly worker in charge of cooking, was hired on the same day without competition.Chang Zheng didn't come back for dinner, so Tao Yu exhausted all his life's knowledge and cooked two big dishes for Mr. Tang.

Tang Hainan finished eating with a bit of a toothache, and said sincerely to Tao Yu, "Let's eat lightly from now on, otherwise I'll have to report to Doctor Chang soon."

I forgot to mention that Changzheng's specialty is also in the direction of cardiovascular surgery.

Following Tang Hainan's advice, Tao Yu resigned from the 7-11 and cold storage jobs, and talked to his supervisor several times about research assistantships.It just so happened that the instructor was working on a project about "the impact of human activities on green buildings", which required a lot of questionnaires by hand. For two consecutive weeks, Tao Yu went to several green-certified apartment buildings and office buildings in the urban area every day. Ask the merchants and residents in the building to help fill out the questionnaire.

Not long after, the tutor accepted another government project to study "the impact of classroom environment quality on elementary school students' academic performance". This project covered more than [-] elementary schools in Chicago and surrounding areas, and Tao Yu began to follow senior teachers and sisters again. Go to primary schools to take samples, measure the indoor ventilation rate, the carbon dioxide content in the air, whether there are volatile pollutants, mold, the amount of dust on the table and the ground, and so on.The funding for this project is sufficient, and Tao Yu is diligent, and the instructor is very satisfied with his performance.In the end, this project was given to a senior sister who was about to graduate as a graduation thesis, and he submitted two journal articles. Tao Yu was also fortunate to have his name listed in the ranks of co-authors. He still has opportunities.The most affordable benefit of this project is that he finally has enough tuition for the next semester

Time flies quickly when he gets busy, and the semester is over in a blink of an eye. After the final exam, the winter vacation begins, and Tao Yu then ushers in his first Christmas in the United States.