Our group was made up of students from a few different classes. Zhu Xiaohao suggested that we introduce ourselves so we could get to know each other. I glanced around and noticed that all the students were boys–a bunch of sad bachelors indeed!

"All the girls in the department were sent to one place, which we’ve nicknamed Jurassic Park," chuckled Dali.

"Watch what you say,” I laughed. “Don’t call them dinosaurs!"

"Well, you laughed,” scoffed Dali. “That just goes to show that you think of them as dinosaurs too!"

At this point, it was Dali's turn to introduce himself. He stood up and cheerfully said, "Hello everyone! My name is Wang Dali and my classmates all call me Dali-ge, or Miracle Worker Dali! I like listening to Jay Chou and I can even sing every one of his songs. If you don’t mind, I'd like to sing ‘Love Confession’ for everyone. I hope you all like it!"

The boys immediately shouted, "Please let us off! We’re begging you!"

Dali scratched his head. "Well since you’re all so enthusiastic, I'll make sure to perform it for you and invite everyone to dinner when we have time. Alright, that’s it!"

I gave him a thumbs-up. Just as I expected of our class clown, only he could give such a unique self-introduction.

When it was my turn, I stood up and said, "My name is Song Yang," and I sat back down.

Dali looked at me in surprise, "Dude, your introduction was so precise and straight to the point! It’s unlike you!"

"What am I supposed to do?” I glared at him. “Show them my talents by performing an autopsy?"

At noon, we arrived at East China Zhenxing Electronics Factory. Our mentor treated us to a buffet hotpot at a restaurant right outside the factory. After going all morning without food, we ate like there was no tomorrow and emptied the buffet. Young, energetic men like us had no trouble stuffing ourselves to the point of overindulgence and we each left the restaurant with a food bump.

The factory allocated a floor for us to use as our dormitory. After our meal, Dali and I went to tidy up our room with one of our roommates, a boy with glasses. As the place had been unoccupied for some time, it was covered with dust that turned our cleaning rags a musty dark grey. We had to change the bucket of water three times before the place was livable. Only when the three of us finished cleaning did Zhu Xiaohao slowly saunter into the room. I thought he had something to say but it turned out he was our fourth roommate.

Zhu Xiaohao said apologetically, "I'm sorry! I was talking to our mentor and got delayed. Wow, it looks like you’ve all cleaned up the room! Thanks for the hard work guys!"

I couldn’t help but think to myself what a two-faced, calculative man he was! Here we were, working our asses off while he wandered elsewhere to loaf on the job, waiting for us to finish before returning to enjoy the fruits of our hard work.

Of course, I didn't care about such trifles. However, I soon discovered that Zhu Xiaohao was truly a stingy miser in every way, sponging off of us by using our toothpaste, shampoo, soap and even smoking someone else’s cigarettes. And what’s worse, every night around bedtime, he would practice speaking “English” out loud without fail. His fluent Chinglish was like an annoying fly buzzing in our ears that made it impossible for us to fall asleep.

Looking at his bright, beaming smile, I first assumed Zhu Xiaohao was from a poor family and convinced myself to put up with his horrible habits. However, upon closer inspection, I noticed the clothes he wore and the cell phone he used were all branded items. Finally, our other roommate revealed that Zhu Xiaohao was actually from a decent, upper class family with both parents working in a bank. Having learnt the truth, we were repelled by his stinginess of finding ways to nab the financial aid grant that should have been awarded to a poor student.

"If this guy were my roommate, I would round up a few buddies, cover him with his quilt and give him a good beating,” ranted Dali.

As the saying goes, time flies when you’re busy but seems to last forever when you’re not. Our internship involved putting together products on the assembly line, but we couldn’t handle any items that required strict precision such as cell phones. Altogether, we assembled hairdryers, electric shavers, digital watches and the like, each of us having to complete 50 pieces every day to obtain a pass. The other homework we were tasked with was to write about our internship experience. Truthfully, it wasn’t a lot of work and we seemed to have ample time to ourselves.

Soon, as we got to know each other better, a few of the boys started heading outside for barbecued skewers in the evening or stayed up all night playing video games. Under Dali’s bad influence, I too ended up joining in on the fun.

In the blink of an eye, a month seemed to have passed by uneventfully. On this day, Zhu Xiaohao informed us that a group activity had been planned for tomorrow–a hike up the mountain.

As we all disliked Zhu Xiaohao, Dali sat up in bed, pulled out his earphones and demanded, "Whose decision was it? Did we discuss it together? Would I have to pay anything?"

"It was decided by the assistant manager of the factory,” came Zhu Xiaohao’s awkward reply. “He’s going to take us fishing in the reservoir and treat us for lunch at the restaurant on the water. Are you guys in or not?"

Dali turned to look at me, waiting for my opinion. I nodded and said, "It’s very kind of him to offer to treat us for lunch. We should at least go!"

Early the next day, we awoke, thinking that the group activities would start early, only to find that everyone was still fast asleep. In fact, our outing wouldn’t start until 10 in the morning so Dali suggested we go out for breakfast.

At the dumpling stall, we ordered egg drop soup and some soup dumplings. In the middle of our breakfast, we suddenly felt someone sneakily pat us on the shoulder. I almost choked on a mouthful of soup when a clear voice sounded from behind us. "Haha! I got you!"

I turned around and saw Bingxin who was dressed in a white T-shirt, jeans and sneakers. She carried a small backpack, hair styled in pigtail braids.

"Bingxin-meimei, what brings you here?” Dali started his usual act of fawning over her. “Come, have a seat!"

Bingxin picked up a soup dumpling and tasted it. "Not bad,” she remarked. “And here I thought you were both forced to suffer hardship in a small hick town."

"What brings you here?" I asked.

"Have you forgotten it’s a public holiday?” she laughed. “It’s Labor Day, silly! I took a few days off but everywhere else is crowded with tourists so I decided to come visit you."

"What are you doing here?” I reproached. “Don’t you know this place is filled with men? I bet even the insects here are all male! Coming here is like entering a wolf’s den for a girl like you!"

"Aren't you around to protect me?" Bingxin said dismissively as she swallowed another soup dumpling.

She wiped her hands and took out a box of Dove chocolates and a container of beef jerky from her bag. These were snacks she and Xiaotao had prepared to cheer me up. It seemed that the two had agreed life here for me must be so miserable that I had to go without meat.

Then, she handed Dali and I two thick envelopes–our bonus for solving the mechanical torture case.

Bingxin expressed her interest in visiting the factory and she wouldn’t take no for an answer so I brought her for a tour of the factory.

"The environment here is better than I expected!" she exclaimed.

"It’s all automated and our internship isn’t that much of a challenge,” I explained. “I think I might just continue working here in the future. After all, doing manual work in the day makes for a good night’s sleep!"

Bingxin spat her tongue at me. "As if I’d believe that! I’m 100% sure that’s not what you think!"

"Look at my face. Don't I resemble an assembly line worker?" I joked.

Bingxin pointed at Wang Dali. "I think he looks more like one!” she blurted. “With this face of yours, I bet quite a few people would believe me if I told them you were a highly intelligent criminal!"

Dali clutched his chest in an exaggerated enactment of a brokenhearted man. "Why’d you have to go and compare us? In fact, I look pretty good if I weren’t standing next to him!"

"My bad! I’ll treat you to grilled fish for lunch!" she patted Dali comfortingly.

Dali was so delighted he grinned from ear to ear like a big Cheshire Cat. But I knew Bingxin’s invitation was simply naive and devoid of implicit suggestions so I interjected, "Don’t we have a group activity at noon?"

Bingxin's eyes lit up as she asked me what group activities we had planned.

"We’re going to pick up soap! So you better not go!" I warned.

"You’re lying!” she pursed her lips. “Anyway, I insist on going and there’s nothing you can do to stop me!"

There really was no stopping a persistent Bingxin so I gave up trying. When it was time to gather with the others, the three of us walking together drew quips from a few of our friends. "Song Yang, you even brought your wife!"

My cheeks colored from embarrassment. "Stop blabbering nonsense,” I said. “She’s my little sister."

Fortunately, Bingxin was very cooperative. "Hello everyone!” greeted Bingxin with a cute curtsy. “I’m Song Yang's little sister. My name is Sun Bingxin. It’s nice to meet you all!"

"Aren’t you biological siblings?” someone asked. Why don’t you share the same surname?"

"Oh, we picked him off the streets," responded Bingxin.

I was suddenly overcome with the urge to curse.