High-Altitude Worker, Unfortunately a Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Role - Chapter 6

Zhao Ke stood her ground, showing no surprise at the situation unfolding before her.

With a calm smile, she addressed the Examiner: “Since this junior brother is unwilling, may I proceed directly to the third assessment?”

The third assessment? A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.

Someone daring to skip the second assessment and attempt the final challenge? This was unheard of!

In the High-Altitude Operations certification exam, the first assessment tested basic knowledge. The second and third assessments both evaluated proficiency in cleaning skyscraper exteriors.

The key difference lay in the method: the second assessment involved cleaning from a suspended cage, offering a degree of safety with its surrounding metal enclosure.

The third assessment, however, required candidates to work solo, suspended in mid-air by a safety harness attached to a wooden seat no more than 40-50 centimeters long. With no other support, this method allowed for greater maneuverability and efficiency, but also significantly increased the risk of accidents, especially in the face of gale-force winds hundreds of meters above ground. Moreover, all cleaning tools had to be hung from hooks on the candidate’s waist, making even a slight misstep potentially catastrophic.

The Examiner tapped his scoring clipboard, signaling for silence.

“Are you sure you want to attempt the third test?” he asked.

Zhao Ke nodded firmly. “Yes, I’m confident.”

Cleaning windows was nothing compared to her previous work, which involved dismantling and reassembling air conditioner units and replacing glass—tasks that required at least three or four years of experience.

Looking at the group of candidates before her, none of whom even possessed certifications, Zhao Ke felt like a high school student looking down on ignorant elementary schoolers.

Especially when those elementary schoolers dared to question her knowledge of the multiplication tables.

Zheng Yang’s face flushed crimson as he shouted, “I don’t believe you can pass! If you do, I’ll…”

“You’ll what?” Zhao Ke asked, tilting her head. She was curious to see what nonsense this little brat would spew.

“I’ll have my Master challenge you!” Zheng Yang declared, his confidence restored as he puffed out his chest.

As if Zhao Ke wouldn’t know, he added, “My Master is Lü Yikang.”

The mention of Lü Yikang’s name sent murmurs rippling through the crowd of candidates.

No wonder Zheng Yang was so arrogant, showing no respect even to the examiner—his Master was famous.

The examiner rapped the clipboard again, silencing the chatter. “Zheng Yang, does your Master know you’re tarnishing his reputation like this?”

Zheng Yang scoffed. “I still don’t believe she can pass.”

Zhao Ke observed the reactions of those around her, realizing that Zheng Yang’s Master must be a well-known figure in City A’s industry.

A renowned Master meant more business opportunities.

And business was precisely what Zhao Ke desperately needed.

Zhao Ke smiled faintly and tilted her chin at Zheng Yang. “If I pass, I’ll have your Master introduce me to some clients.”

“Sure, whatever,” Zheng Yang replied dismissively, his lips curling into a sneer.

Deep down, he was convinced this young woman had no chance of passing.

After all, in his school days, with classes of forty to fifty students, not a single female classmate had ever been enrolled.

A group of people who normally paid no attention to entertainment news now watched with bated breath, anticipating the inevitable outcome of the exam.

Zhao Ke expertly donned her helmet, tightened her safety harness, and stood on the two-to-three-meter-high platform, gazing down.

During the assessment, the descent height wasn’t the primary focus; what mattered most was the precision and fluency of her technique.

Hence, the platform wasn’t particularly high.

Zhao Ke began the exam smoothly: “First, inspect the safety rope and working rope. Install the Descender, Self-locking device, and seat board…”

Her movements were fluid and seamless, without the slightest hesitation, as if she had practiced the sequence hundreds or even thousands of times.

In truth, that was exactly the case.

The crowd watched Zhao Ke pull the work rope with practiced ease, their eyes fixed on her every move. When she landed smoothly on the ground, they collectively gasped.

They had all prepared for the third assessment, of course, but deep down, they knew none of them could execute the task with Zhao Ke’s flawless precision.

No one could.

Zhao Ke unclipped her safety harness and strode confidently toward Zheng Yang.

She extended a hand, her fingertips curling in a beckoning gesture. “Your Master’s WeChat. Give it here.”

Zheng Yang’s face flushed crimson as he reluctantly pulled his phone from his pocket, muttering, “What’s the point of adding him? My Master has high standards. He’d never be interested in you.”

Zhao Ke raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Little brother, that’s not your concern. Right now, you should be focusing on passing the assessment.”

Pfft. Someone in the crowd couldn’t suppress a snort of laughter.

Zheng Yang had been arrogant and overbearing, relying on his Master’s fame to bully the others. Seeing him humiliated now brought them immense satisfaction.

Ahem, ahem.

The Examiner cleared his throat and called out, “Zhao Ke, come over here. I want to speak with you.”

Zhao Ke nodded and approached with a smile. “What is it, Examiner?”

The Examiner’s gaze lingered on Zhao Ke’s age before asking, “Are you particularly desperate for work?”

“Yes.”

“Short on cash?”

“Yes.”

Zhao Ke saw no point in hiding it. In this line of work, who wasn’t looking to earn more?

The Examiner nodded knowingly, pulled out his phone, and said, “Add me on WeChat. I’ll contact you when there’s work.”

Zhao Ke nodded vigorously. “Thank you, Examiner! Thank you!”

“I can do anything—window cleaning, dismantling outdoor units, even removing glass.”

“You can dismantle outdoor units too?” The Examiner raised an eyebrow skeptically.

An air conditioner’s outdoor unit was no light thing. Even with ropes for support, could Zhao Ke, with her slender arms and legs, really handle moving such a heavy unit?

Zhao Ke nodded firmly. “I can do it. I’ve dismantled units on buildings over ten and twenty stories high. Just take me once and you’ll see.”

“Alright, alright.” The Examiner waved dismissively, signaling he’d heard enough. He still had over a dozen more candidates to evaluate.

Zhao Ke thanked him again, collected her freshly issued qualification certificate, and left the examination hall.

She ducked into a small restaurant and ordered a bowl of vegetarian noodles.

Staring at her phone’s WeChat screen, Zhao Ke prayed that Master Lü would quickly accept her friend request.

Zhao Ke had only borrowed two hundred yuan from Sun Yue. After deducting the cost of her Pinduoduo clothes and travel expenses, she was left with less than one hundred and fifty yuan.

If she couldn’t find work today, she would consider spending the night in an underground parking garage or subway station.

Zhao Ke sighed, deeply feeling the hardships of life.

She waited from eleven o’clock until one o’clock—two hours without a word.

Perhaps Zheng Yang was right: his master didn’t think much of her.

Of course, Zhao Ke preferred to believe they either didn’t need more staff or were simply too busy to check their phones. She still had some confidence in her skills.

Zhao Ke wandered along the roadside, her gaze lingering on each storefront.

If she couldn’t find work in her usual field for now, she could always take a dishwashing job.

Ideally, one that included room and board.

Finally, at the end of the street, Zhao Ke spotted the words “Server Hiring” on the greasy, blurred sign of a dry pot restaurant.

Just as she was about to push open the door, her phone rang.

Lü Yikang had accepted her friend request, and a WeChat call popped up immediately.

Zhao Ke’s gaze lingered on the plain, middle-aged man’s selfie profile picture for a moment. She took a deep breath and answered the call.

“Hello, is this Master Lü?”

“I heard you were bullying my apprentice?” Lü Yikang’s booming voice nearly deafened Zhao Ke.

She tilted her head and held the phone away from her ear before replying sincerely, “No, you’ve misunderstood. It wasn’t bullying. I just needed the money urgently and wanted to build a good reputation.”

“Hmm, you’ve got some spunk for a young lady.”

Lü Yikang’s voice was muffled, as if there was loud background noise.

“Here’s what we’ll do. I’ll send you an address. Come over.”

“Okay, okay,” Zhao Ke agreed immediately, without asking any further questions. She hung up and sprinted toward the address Lü Yikang had sent her.

After two subway transfers and a long walk through several streets, Zhao Ke finally arrived at the location Lü Yikang had mentioned.

It was an ultra-luxurious residential complex in an affluent neighborhood, a towering thirty-plus-story building with expansive penthouse units. Around the thirtieth floor, the two towers were connected by an aerial garden suspended high in the sky.

Standing at the entrance of the complex, Zhao Ke gazed up at the hundred-meter-tall skyscraper. The midday sun shone brightly, making the humans at the foot of the building seem utterly insignificant.

“Zhao Ke?” someone called out from nearby.

“Yes,” Zhao Ke replied, turning to look.

Lü Yikang looked exactly like his WeChat profile picture: a dark, weathered face with hollowed cheeks and eyes that gleamed with sharp intelligence.

Seeing Zhao Ke approach, he grinned. “It really is you! My apprentice told me the most beautiful woman in the crowd was Zhao Ke, but I didn’t believe him. Heh.”

Zhao Ke smiled, extending a friendly greeting. “Brother Kang.”

Lü Yikang nodded curtly, wasting no time. He tilted his head back and pointed to the sky bridge—or perhaps it was an aerial garden—connecting the two buildings. “That garden is temperature-controlled. The client wants air conditioning installed, but they don’t want the outdoor units visible from the sides. They’re asking if we can mount them directly beneath the bridge. Think you can handle it?”

Zhao Ke followed his gaze. The bridge was unusually wide, nearly half the size of a football field. Instead of hanging vertically in mid-air, this structure required climbers to crawl along the underside like spiders, clinging to the bottom panels.

For Zhao Ke, the rope length and anchor point selection would be critical.

It was a tricky job, but not impossible.

“We can try,” Zhao Ke replied, already mentally sketching out potential solutions.

Lü Yikang glanced at Zhao Ke’s slightly furrowed brow and said, “Want to give it a try? My brothers and I have been racking our brains all day, and the only solution we could come up with was to have two people go down. But that would leave too few people to handle the ropes up top.”

“I called you here to lend a hand with the tools inside the corridor bridge.”

Zhao Ke looked at Lü Yikang, her expression serious. “I mean, I can try installing it alone.”

“Alone? Sis, you’re joking, right?” Lü Yikang asked, astonished.

Zhao Ke shook her head, smiling. “Of course not, Brother Kang. With so many buildings in this complex, they’ll all need air conditioners eventually. If you take a look at my method, we can divide the work and be much more efficient.”