All the headcanons and AU's

Now is our time to act make sure to vote NO and make sure to just say NO to KOSA and just keep on resisting and refusing to give in to Kosa and don't give up hope just tell and say KOSA NO ASAP!!!

Luo Binghe is about 14. His mother is bedbound, too sick to work, and they're too poor to get her medicine, so he's taken to- reluctantly- petty theft.

In the original plot, he'd end up stealing from someone working for Shen Qingqiu and get himself in some serious trouble for it; something that would eventually lead to Binghe somehow rising from the ashes to become the biggest crime boss in the city, country, and eventually the world.

In this timeline, he tries to pickpocket a passing stranger with glasses during a rain storm, but as he pretends to trip onto him, he sees the man's eyes go wide. Suddenly things aren't going to plan at all. The man tries to catch him, and instinctively Binghe tries to correct himself, but Binghe's momentum ends up overtaking them both and they fall onto the wet sidewalk. The man's umbrella falls off somewhere to the side.

There's groaning under him as the man tries to sit up, and then Binghe proceeds to get fussed over. He's barely managed to sit up himself before the man (introducing himself as Shen Yuan) starts patting him down and checking him over.

"You're alright? No scrapes?"

"M-Mm."

This is not how it usual goes for him. If Binghe messed up and/or missed the target, his victims tended to either scoff at him on the ground or scold him viciously. No one has ever checked him over like this before...

Shen Yuan helps him stand and, the next thing he knows, Binghe is being dragged into the nearest restaurant and sat down for an apology meal, because somehow this man- Shen Yuan- got it into his head that the whole thing was somehow his fault.

Binghe gets to eat as much as he wants.

Binghe gets to take food home. A whole meal.

Shen Yuan gives him extra cash for the trouble, as if this wasn't enough.

Binghe- Binghe-

He feels so Guilty.

The poor boy ends up bursting into tears, pleadingly pushing the cash back at the man, explaining that it was all actually his fault and that he was a pickpocket. The nice man- Shen Yuan-

Knows?

He still insists on Binghe taking the cash. He-...He gives Binghe his phone number and says to call him if he gets into trouble.

He gives him his umbrella and tells him to get home safe.

. . .

Btw this is specifically for the person who got angry because I jokingly said Caine wears a corset

He wears one and IT'S BRIGHT FUCKING PINK LETS GOOOOO

Very much did in the sense that I literally do not know where my job is at the moment. But, for the time being I haven't been let go because nobody else including the store owner knows where it is either.

So, I don't wanna risk doxxing myself by posting pictures but goddamn am I tempted because this is not a believable event. This is a cartoon problem. For looneytoons.

But yeah, so, I work(ed?) at a kiosk selling boba tea, right? Freestanding kiosk in the mall with full water and electrical hookups and multiple fridges and sinks and a mini kitchen and the works. Fully functional tea shop. Very important to note that it was there last night, The work chat was discussing another issue last night at closing time. I'll get back to this.

It's been showing signs of being on the way out with how business is being handled lately and I've been considering other options, which is probably why I'm not as torn up about this as I should be, but maybe it just hasn't set in yet, but that's not the point. The point is there's been a lot of shit breaking and not being replaced and nobody mentioning anything about it until I walk into work in the morning and have to figure out why shit like the fucking cash register isn't there today. So I'm kinda used to having to ask questions about big things that nobody bothered to update me on. I was out for two weeks recovering from a surgery, so I came to work this morning assuming there'd be some kind of bullshit, yeah?

So, the question I had to ask the chat this morning was:

Not a text I ever thought I'd have to send in sincerity, but there it is. Because what I found instead was a fenced off patch of discolored tiles and a few holes in the floor where my entire place of employment used to be.

And the answer? Nobody knows! It was there last night when the mall closed, and every single trace of the structure and all its contents including drink making supplies and our safe and cashbox was gone when it opened again. And when I say nobody knows, I mean everyone from last night's closers to the actual (former?) owner of the store jad no fucking clue about this until getting that text from me this morning. For once I am actually the first to know. 🎉.

So. I guess I didn't so much lose my job as had it stolen. Not by AI, but good old fashioned hands-on human beings picking it up and carrying it away somehow. All mall security would tell me was that they were instructed not to tell me anything and have us contact our management. Who also don't know anything. And later on I came across some construction workers around the gravesite of the kiosk discussing filling in the holes, asked them about it, and was told that they "weren't at liberty to say".

So, not only is my job gone in the most literal physical sense of the word, but it was taken in some kind of super secret kiosk extraction in the dead of night without any warning or witnesses and nobody is allowed to speak of it. The store owner said she was gonna figure it out 10 hours ago and still no word back.

My mother in law thinks the FBI took it.

Not any of the other stores around the state. Just the one little kiosk.

Why? Because she loves a conspiracy and is just a little bit extra.

Also because she was around for the massive crackdown on Yakuza-owned businesses in Waikiki (in her homestate) that did actually involve the FBI seizing stores (no confirmation of making kiosks cleanly disappear in the middle of the night though).

Still no word from my job on what's actually going on, but the most likely theory so far is that maybe the kiosk was on lease and got repossessed? The mystery continues

According to the owner, based on what she's been able to find out, the kiosk was not removed legally and they're starting a potentially long process of legal action. I hope she gets to sue the shit out of whoever did it but for now at least I know for sure I'm unemployed.

Really hoping for more details in terms of who/why/how, so I'll keep updating if I learn anything.

For now the summary is: An unnamed entity that is most likely mall management (on account of mall security cooperating with them) stole an entire kiosk and all the contents including money and machinery with barely a trace in the middle of the night grinch-style, with zero warning or explanation, and ensured the silence of both security and the construction crew, in an action that was definitely preplanned and illegal, and as far as I know nobody knows its whereabouts.

Enjoy the unintentionally funniest text I've ever sent in my life

Aaand a close-up:

HEY HI HELLO THIS ONE'S MY FAVORITE

Still haven't heard back from the unemployment office, but a few days ago I ended up telling this to the SNAP caseworker, who absolutely lost her shit and then put everything on hold to go investigate this herself out of a sense of justice and Needing To Know More. World's most nosy angel who helped me out a lot in general (in case she ends up seeing this: I appreciate her so much).

While she didn't find a facebook listing for a used kiosk (yes, that post is just a coincidence, I'm sorry), what she did find was the actual kiosk for sale. By the owner. On a reputable website.

Now, there are a lot of funny conclusions to be drawn from this, but I'm afraid it's not quite that wild. I asked a friend in management about it and turns out the listing is from months before the disappearance, it wasn't kept a secret, it just wasn't relevant. She had been trying to sell it for a while without much luck, wasn't selling the entire business, but just the kiosk with that branch included (the listing advertised that it would include the equipment and drink recipes and retain the current staff). It also said the lease with the mall was active until some time in 2027.

So, no, as funny as that would be, the owner did not heist her own kiosk. However, what this does tell us is:

She must have owned the kiosk outright, so the only way this could be a repossession is if she had a mortgage on it? I guess?

It definitely isn't about the lease being up. So any eviction would legally require like 30-days notice and, presumably, a valid reason like a violation of the terms. (this is how it works with renting homes in my country, and I've never rented a business location, so I can only guess that it's similar)

The store was not financially beneficial enough to keep. This could just mean that she was focusing on other ventures like she says in the listing, but it could really also mean that she was having money trouble and couldn't afford to keep the location.

SO. This leaves the most likely scenario being that the owner was behind on rent, and the mall manager (who has a history of being outta control and pulling shit like this, as well as harassing asian businesses and our shop specifically) decided to illegally remove the entire kiosk about it.

Still no confirmation at all about anything, but I remembered the listing today and realized it gave some additional clues.

Punch (Caineworld mini comic)