mchenry-crisis.org Chapter 11: Whose is 7% said to be?
Chapter 11: Whose is 7% said to be?
Lin Ximeng curled his lips into a smile: "Need any help? I can provide it for a fee, it's good quality and inexpensive."
Max hesitated upon hearing this.
She planned to use this online delivery order to subsidize her rent; if possible, she didn't want others to earn this money.
But the chubby girl suddenly knocked on the counter: "Could you give me a blueberry one? I want it freshly made. My fiancé doesn't like it left for more than ten minutes; he says it affects the taste."
"Of course," Max forced a smile, then glared at Simon Lin as he turned to go to the kitchen. When he returned, he was carrying a blueberry cake. Taking advantage of the chubby girl's momentary lapse in attention while she was taking pictures, he leaned closer and whispered:
"Fine, you're my best option right now. It's better than letting this 'bride-to-be' keep me waiting until the order is canceled."
Max took out his phone and opened an app with an orange-red icon—the icon was a cartoon carrot with the words "Instacart" below it.
Simon Lin had heard of this app, also known as "Carrot," which is an American instant delivery platform. You can think of it as a "supermarket errand runner." Users place orders on it, and a courier who accepts the order will purchase the items and deliver them to their door.
However, homeless people cannot accept these orders because before registering as a deliveryman, the "Carrot" App will require you to verify your legal identity and housing address.
It's obvious that these conditions are deliberately designed to make things difficult for us homeless people!
Max tapped the screen, and the order page popped up: "See? A case of Budweiser beer, delivered to Long Beach Port, express delivery, delivery fee is forty dollars."
"Normally, this kind of order is worth at most 10 yuan. This time, it's a big order because it's far away and requires delivery within two hours."
Lin Ximeng asked curiously, "Your boss, Ah Han, doesn't mind taking orders from his own supermarket?"
"Who's answering their own phone?" Max rolled his eyes, swiped his finger across the screen twice, and tapped "Personal Profile"—
The person in the profile picture wore a golden wig, and her eyeliner was three times thicker than Max's usual. Her name was clearly written as "Caroline".
"See? It's just Caroline's order, what does it have to do with me, Max?"
The chubby girl suddenly looked up and asked, "What does this little yellow cake taste like?"
Max quickly finished dealing with the chubby girl and then muttered in a low voice, "In this app, as long as you don't use a fake identity to do anything illegal, nobody will take it seriously."
"Thumbs up," Lin Ximeng said, giving a thumbs-up, genuinely thinking the move was quite clever.
This perfectly circumvents the supermarket's rule that "employees cannot take on private orders," which is the everyday wisdom of working people.
He had some prior knowledge of the situation in the United States and knew that online identities were generally not strictly managed.
"I'll help you with this, but the profits should be split 30/70," Lin Ximeng proposed.
"Baby, I love you to death. Don't worry, I'll cover the tax on this commission. Your 30% is pure profit." Hearing that Lin Simon only wanted 30%, Max was so moved that he wanted to kiss Lin Simon if there hadn't been a supervisor watching nearby.
Lin Ximeng smiled and shook his head. "You misunderstood. I'll take 70%."
"The port is almost ten miles from here. It takes two subway transfers. If I happen to be there during rush hour, I'll have to carry my beer crate and squeeze through forty minutes."
"?" Max was shocked, only to realize that the Asian boy in front of him was not as sunny and radiant as his eight-pack abs.
Why should you take the lion's share of the profits from Max's next order?
She was just about to argue her point when the fat girl's urging voice rang out again.
Max glared at Simon Lin: "No way! At most, it's 60/40, you get a maximum of 60%, that's my bottom line."
Seeing Max's flushed cheeks, Simon Lin knew that if he continued to haggle, the other party might rather cancel the order than let him get a better deal.
"Okay, deal," Lin Simon readily agreed. In fact, he never expected to get 70%. He initially asked for a high price just to give Max a way to negotiate.
"Don't be late! If the order is canceled, I'll make you pay," Max said angrily, shoving the phone into Simon's hand and explaining the unlock code.
The other party needs to deliver the goods and will need her phone to verify their identity.
"Warehouse manager Dave, turn left over there and tell him you're picking up an order from 'Caroline's' carrot app. He should be ready by now."
Lin Ximeng walked toward the warehouse with his phone in his hand. Just as he turned past the snack shelf, he bumped into an old man in a gray uniform with a "Dave" name tag pinned to his chest. He was leaning against a forklift, eating a sandwich.
"Are you picking up 'Caroline's' order?" Dave squinted at him, then glanced at the blond profile picture on his phone screen, his lips twitching.
It's quite obvious that the blonde girl "Caroline" on the platform looks quite different from the black-haired Asian guy in front of me.
Simon Lin knew this, of course. He waved his phone and said, "I am 'Caroline'."
Dave simply pointed to the corner of the warehouse: "The blue box at the very back, labeled 1003, has your signature on the order form."
Since Simon Lin has proof via his mobile phone, that's enough for warehouse manager Dave.
In America, even if your gender is that of a shopping bag at Walmart, you cannot be questioned about your gender, at least not outwardly.
After leaving the supermarket, Lin Simon chose the subway as his mode of transportation based on the recommendations of the Max mobile app.
Although the journey is long, the route to the target port is relatively convenient.
Forty minutes later, the wind from Long Beach Harbor swept in, carrying a salty, fishy smell.
Lin Ximeng carried a beer crate and followed his phone's navigation for three minutes, circling between the containers before finally finding the berth marked "C60-D65".
Several porters in blue overalls were leaning against the shipping container smoking when one of them, a man with a thick beard, saw him, immediately put out his cigarette, and came over to greet him.
"Caroline?" The bearded man stared at Lin Simon, then glanced down at the order icon on his phone. The blond, heavily made-up woman was a world apart from the dark-haired Asian man before him. His lips twitched, and his tone became cautious.
"Um...Caroline...Ms., sir?"
Lin Ximeng put the beer crate on the ground: "It's me, the Budweiser you ordered."
The bearded man visibly relaxed and reached out to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
Thank goodness, the economy is bad lately, and he doesn't want to be laid off because he got the person's gender wrong.
The bearded man called out to his coworkers, "Guys, our beer is here."
Three porters immediately surrounded the beer crates, hurriedly dismantling them and pulling the tabs with a "snap," causing foam to gush out instantly.
The bearded man took a swig of beer from his can, sighed contentedly, and said, "Finally, I can relax! These past two weeks I've been lobbying the union every day; my voice is hoarse from shouting. We finally got the layoff plan sorted out, and they even cleared out those illegal immigrants who were trying to steal my jobs. I can go back to work tomorrow, and I won't have to worry about rent anymore!"
"That's right!" another tall, thin guy nudged his arm.
"Last time I fought with illegal immigrants over unloading containers, and they almost pushed me into the sea. Now, our union has finally stood up for itself!"
The group laughed and clinked cans together, not caring that beer foam splashed onto their overalls.
Simon Lin took out Max's phone and opened the order page of the Instacart Carrot App.
Sure enough, the order status has been updated and now shows "Completed," with the small print below saying "Shipping fee of $40 has been transferred to your account."
He did the math in his head: a 60/40 split would give him $24. So all he had to do was go to Max and get his share.