See You Tomorrow

"Are you a fiction book, Shi Lian?"

"No… why?"

"Because I want to have you for seven days."

Shu Xian kept replaying their conversation again and again in her mind. With her blushing for Shi Lian as well, the sight of it made Zhang Ren grin as he teasingly pinched Shu Xian's cheek, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"What's wrong? Was it too shameless?" He let out another chuckle and said, "Your friend started it! Anyway, why only want to borrow me for two hours when being borrowed for seven days is better? More time, more fun."

Shu Xian couldn't help but widen her eyes, her jaw almost dropping to the ground as she couldn't believe what she just heard!

"I… Zhang Ren! How could you have such a perverted mind?"

"What? I'm not even thinking of that—I meant by going out to the mall, play games or stuff!"

This time, his laugh came out rather loud, getting the attention of the other patrons as some of them glared at him, making Shu Xian feel shy as she hit his leg with her hand.

With what Zhang Ren had also said to justify himself, now Shu Xian was the one who felt like a pervert for thinking otherwise the first time they heard them exchanging pickup lines.

"Quiet! People are looking," she scolded, Zhang Ren, stifling his laugh as he shook his head.

"I… I'm sorry, I can't help it," he commented, a tear of happiness escaping from his eye. "Damn… now I know that my duty hours with you would quickly fly by. It's not officially your first day, but I'm already enjoying this much," he added, Shu Xian, grinning as she actually agreed with him.

"Yes. You're lively to be with. With afternoon shifts, I heard it goes by slowly since most of the work is done by the morning duty."

"Ugh… you said it," Zhang Ren commented, rolling his eyes at the same time. "The morning pips finish more work! They leave nothing for us to do but to just watch the patrons and stuff."

With that, Shu Xian giggled a little, now further asking questions about other tasks she could do in the library.

"So, what else do I need to know? It's getting late—I might leave earlier once I get the information that I needed," she said and asked, Zhang Ren, nodding as he got the notepad at the side.

"Right… here is our notepad. This here has our cleaning schedule. So what we have to do together since the internet library and the fiction library are together, is that we sweep the floor, we wipe the chairs, and then we close the windows and make sure everything is turned off and plugged out—including our stations in the help desk."

"Alright," Shu Xian nodded, "What else?"

"And then… since you know the policies of borrowing books, there are some information you need to know about borrowing since there are some rules you need to know. Even though you're a student assistant here, you should be aware of the other sections' policies because there are times that you will be called to watch if they need a help."

"Okay!"

Shu Xian smiled, understanding where this is going as she remembered a student assistant from another section watching over the internet and fiction library while they were being talked to by Wang Fang.

"Tell me the policies—I'll type them down quickly on my phone."

"Good! Now listen closely," Zhang Ren started, Shu Xian already paying attention as she listened to him intently.

"The patrons for the internet library only have two hours maximum to use the computer. If they didn't consume their two hours, they can log in again, but you have to take note of the minutes he or she spent in the previous log in, then give him or her the remaining time they have."

"Got it," Shu Xian said as she typed, "Next?"

"And then, for fiction, you already know it from the pickup line a while ago," he said, letting out another laugh as Shu Xian rolled her eyes at him. "Fiction books—you can only borrow one, for seven days."

"Got it."

"Next…" Zhang Ren contemplated for a while, "Subject books. A subject book can be borrowed overnight for a day only. It has to be returned tomorrow. BUT… if a subject book is only one, it is called a busy book, you can only borrow it for two hours."

"Alright," Shu Xian typed it down, laughing a little as she remembered Shi Lian's pick up line. "So she was pertaining to a busy, subject book—not a subject book that can be borrowed for a day."

"Yes," Zhang Ren agreed, "Shi Lian is smart, too. I tell you that," he commented, making Shu Xian let out a small chuckle.

"Alright. What else?"

"Periodicals and journals are not allowed to take home," Zhang Ren said, "You can borrow it for two hours—same with theses and dissertations."

"Oh!"

Shu Xian exclaimed, remembering a policy that she remembers about the thesis and dissertation.

"Theses and dissertations are not allowed to be taken out of the library and no pictures taken, no?"

"Correct," Zhang Ren confirmed, nodding at the same time. "It is to prevent piracy since theses and dissertations are made by researchers and we made this policy because a lot are copying what they're doing—the students."

"I see! But photocopying the abstract is okay?"

"Yes, taking a picture or photocopying the abstract is okay since it serves like a summary of the research. That's the only thing we can allow—but still, not allowed to bring home UNLESS, they know who the researcher is."

"Alright, then! Is this all?"

Zhang Ren contemplated for a while. When he nodded as he thought that this is what Shu Xian needed to know for now, he then just told her about another thing that student assistants need to do before going to his or her duty.

"No more, I guess. What you have to do tomorrow is wait for your duty and then sign your time in there in the log book near the Office of the Chief Librarian. Same thing with doing the time out."

"Alright!" Shu Xian then stood up from her swivel chair, getting her bag that was put aside. "I'll see you tomorrow, Zhang Ren!"

"Yes!" Zhang Ren nodded, standing up as well. "Tomorrow, Shu Xian!"