A ray of morning sunlight shone on the desk, illuminating a figure slumped over it, fast asleep. The light fell directly on her face, weary and haggard from lack of proper rest.
“Su Tian, slacking off first thing in the morning? Do you not want your paycheck anymore?”
A voice as grating as a duck’s quack pierced the air.
Su Tian frowned in annoyance and looked up at the person standing before her.
“Sleeping on the job—deduct one hundred.”
Hearing that her pay was being docked, Su Tian glanced at the time. It was only 7:55. Last night, she had stayed up revising the proposal until past four in the morning. Seeing that it was only a few hours until the 8 a.m. start time, she had simply slept at the office. Realizing she could have slept another five minutes, she felt even more irritated at being woken up early.
“Isn’t work supposed to start at eight? It’s only 7:55 now. This is my personal time, not work hours. I can sleep if I want to, do whatever I want. You have no right to interfere.”
“You’ve grown some nerve, talking to me like that?”
“How am I talking to you? Can’t you understand normal speech?”
Zhou Bapi glared at her, speechless with anger. “You—you—you! Is the proposal revised? I need it by eight.”
“I finished it long ago and sent it to you.”
Zhou Bapi shot Su Tian a sharp look before returning to his office.
“Su Tian, why does it feel like Zhou Bapi has been targeting you lately?”
The colleague next to Su Tian had arrived earlier but had kept her distance, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire while Zhou Bapi and Su Tian were arguing.
“Who knows? Maybe he’s going through menopause?”
The colleague noticed Su Tian’s eyes had turned into chocolate donuts. “Did you pull another all-nighter?”
Su Tian sighed weakly. “Over a dozen all-nighters. Zhou Bapi keeps rejecting the proposal, forcing me to revise it again and again.”
“See? I told you he’s targeting you. Did you offend him somehow?”
“How would a lowly employee like me dare offend a big manager like him?”
“Then why is he always picking on you?”
Su Tian recalled the recent rumors she’d heard. “Is the company bringing in an intern?”
“What does that have to do with anything? But I did hear HR mention an intern is coming.”
Su Tian understood now.
Ding. Su Tian stared at the proposal rejected yet again on her computer screen. Fuming, she stood up and stormed toward the boss’s office. Without bothering to knock, she flung the door open with force.
The door slammed against the wall with a loud bang, startling Zhou Bapi.
“Are you trying to kill me? Can’t you knock?”
Su Tian marched up to Zhou Bapi, seething. “Why was the proposal rejected again?”
“It was rejected because it wasn’t good enough. What do you mean ‘why’?”
“I’ve been revising this proposal for over half a month. I’ve made more than twenty revisions in the past ten days. What exactly is still unsatisfactory? Tell me!”
“Who’s the boss here, you or me? If I say it’s not good enough, then it’s not good enough.”
“I worked over a dozen all-nighters on this proposal. Why isn’t it good enough?”
“What does your all-nighters have to do with me? Did I tell you to stay up?”
“Weren’t you the one constantly hounding me, like some grim reaper, to revise the proposal? Am I an idiot? Would I stay up all night on my own?”
“The company pays you to work for it. That’s your duty.”
“Working for the company is my duty, but being targeted by you isn’t.”
“What are you talking about? How have I targeted you?”
“Constantly picking on me and forcing me to revise the proposal, isn’t that it?”
“That’s because your proposal wasn’t done right.”
“Hah, really?”
Zhou Bapi grew frantic: “Su Tian, what do you mean by that? Do you think you’re above everyone else? How about you come and be the boss instead?”
“Sure, why don’t you step aside and let me take your seat?”
Su Tian’s words made Zhou Bapi pause for a moment, followed by an even more agitated voice: “Su Tian, do you still want this job or not? If not, get the hell out!”
“Haven’t you been wanting me gone for a while now? So your nephew can take my spot. Why bother with all the high-sounding excuses?
Zhou Bapi, let me tell you straight—I quit. Transfer my salary and the bonuses I’m owed to my card, or I’ll report this shoddy company for tax evasion and wage theft. Believe me, the labor bureau and tax office will be more than happy to have a chat with you.”
Zhou Bapi was fuming: “What are you talking about? Where is there any tax evasion?”
“You know better than anyone whether there is or not.” Su Tian turned to leave but stopped at the door: “Remember, it’s me who quit you, not the other way around. What a joke.” With that, she slammed the door shut.
“Su Tian!” Zhou Bapi roared.
Su Tian pretended not to hear, casually picking at her ear.
Rumors had been circulating in the company that the boss’s nephew was coming for an internship. But in a small company like theirs, with all positions already filled, there was no room to hire another employee. So, what was the solution? Someone had to be forced out.
Ideally, they’d make an employee resign voluntarily—that way, no compensation would be needed, and a spot would open up. Two birds with one stone. The only question was, who would be the unlucky one?
Su Tian had initially taken the rumors with a grain of salt. In a workplace, you can’t believe everything you hear.
But this time, although Zhou Bapi had always been nitpicky, he’d never gone this far. He’d reject proposals as soon as they were submitted, without giving anyone a moment’s rest.
Su Tian had genuinely thought her proposals were subpar until a colleague clued her in. That’s when she realized the rumors were true—and she was the unlucky one.
Su Tian had had enough of this nonsense. After pulling over a dozen all-nighters, she felt like she was on the verge of a breakdown. To hell with this job—nothing was more important than her life.
Returning to her desk, Su Tian formatted all the proposals and files on her computer, then packed her things to leave.
A colleague nearby watched her pack: “Su Tian, what’s going on?”
“I just quit. Told Zhou Bapi to shove it.”
“Huh?” The colleague was stunned. “Finding a job isn’t easy these days.”
Su Tian paused. Even if jobs were hard to come by, she had to quit. After ten all-nighters, she could feel her heart racing abnormally fast. If she didn’t rest properly soon, she might just drop dead.
But if Zhou Bapi dared withhold her pay, she wouldn’t hesitate to report him to the tax bureau.
Once her things were packed, Su Tian headed out: “I’m off. You all keep working hard.”
Her colleagues watched in confusion, waving goodbye.
Outside the company, the sunlight was so bright it stung her eyes. Staring at the empty street, Su Tian couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.
She’d worked at this shabby little company since graduating, always diligent and never slacking off. Forget promotions or raises—how had she ended up being forced out?
Thinking of the streamers she saw in videos every night, dancing and calling out “big brothers,” earning in a single day what took her months of grueling overtime to make, she felt it was unfair. And now, unemployed, the sense of injustice only grew stronger.
Why is it so easy for others to make money, yet so hard for her?
“Ah! Heaven, why are you so unfair? We’re all human, so why is it so easy for them to earn money, but so difficult for me?”
“Is it because I lack the chest they have, or the waist they have, or the legs they have?”
“Everything they have, I, Su Tian, have too—and more!”
“Their faces aren’t as big as mine.”
“Their chests aren’t as big as mine.”
“Their waists aren’t as thick as mine.”
“Their legs aren’t as sturdy as mine.”
“I’m literally twice their size! Logically, I should be earning twice as much money as them!”
After venting, Su Tian felt relieved, but she also earned quite a few looks from passersby, as if she were an idiot.
“What are you looking at? Haven’t you seen someone going crazy before?”
Splat—a bird dropping landed right on Su Tian’s face, making the nearby pedestrians look even more disgusted.
“Ah, why are you doing this to me? Is it wrong to want to become rich overnight?”
“Is it wrong to want to become beautiful?”
“Is it wrong to want to become slim?”
“Why do you have to slap me in the face like this, you wretched heavens? Tell me why, why can’t a pie just plop down from the sky and make me rich, beautiful, and a wealthy woman?”
Su Tian was acting like a madwoman, but then again, under the pressures of modern society, how many young people aren’t a little crazy?