Although both are located thousands of miles away, as epidemic prevention policies are gradually lifted, Jicheng, as a transportation hub with dense population, has seen a daily increase in the number of people infected with pneumonia recently.

Zhou Shuang's office building is located outside the Fifth Ring Road, and the number of infected people has reached 50%, not to mention Ha Yue's former boss who works in the SOHO area.

Four elderly people in Sun Qiming's family were infected one after another. He and his wife had just finished taking care of the elderly when their two children fell ill one after another.

Hospitals are unable to prescribe medication due to an overabundance of infected patients. Scalpers are driving up the price of children's fever reducers to exorbitant levels, and even the most commonly available ibuprofen is sold out in pharmacies.

The day before, Sun Qiming's two children tested negative one after another. He himself had a fever of 39 degrees Celsius in the morning. Because his office staff ignored his request to work while sick, they all went on strike and were absent. However, he happened to have received a million-dollar order for auto parts last month, which he was determined to complete no matter what.

So without thinking, before rushing to work, he took the adult dose of the fever reducer his wife had prepared for their two children.

When the wife woke up, she found that her youngest daughter, whose fever had subsided, had started to rise again. She searched through drawers and cabinets and found that the child's medicine was gone. She immediately had a fierce argument with him.

When he returned home after work that evening, his employees were not answering their phones. He was preparing to go on a business trip immediately to personally oversee the orders, so he asked his wife to pack his suitcase.

His wife, who had just finished breastfeeding, managed to get half a bottle of expired ibuprofen suspension that a neighbor had left over from in the residents' group chat.

After feeding the child with a spoon, Sun Qiming's wife herself had a low-grade fever. She was in excruciating pain all over her body and couldn't breathe. She had no mood to clean up his underwear and socks. She kicked his suitcase away and finally couldn't hold back her resentment. She sat on the ground, covered her face, and cried.

She had a fever and her thoughts were confused, but her accusations against her husband were clear. She said that it was all because Sun Qiming did bad things that their family was punished by heaven. What was the use of him making so much money as a boss all these years? In the end, it was only because kind people shared medicine with their family that they were able to get it.

If everyone in the world were as inhuman as Sun Qiming, she and her two children would have died long ago.

He not only skimmed money off his employees, but he also completely disregarded his own family. As parents, they would rather die from a fever themselves than give a child fever-reducing medicine during such a critical time.

Doesn't the boss have a responsibility to show compassion to sick employees? Does he really think he's some kind of exploitative boss?

Ha Yue's phone call exacerbated the conflict between the two to the greatest extent. That night, Sun Qiming's business trip was completely disrupted. He reassured his wife and promised her that he would not go out again until the epidemic situation improved, so as not to risk the health of his family. He also assured his wife that he would make up for the severance pay he owed to his employees back then.

But it would be a real shame to give up such a big deal. If he were truly desperate, he really didn't want to give up.

Even if he has to give up some profits, it's better than letting his customers down. His business, which had been on the verge of collapse for the past three years, has finally seen a glimmer of hope, and his career can't withstand this kind of blow.

The next evening, he lay in his study at home reading financial reports, holding a cup of cold tea in his hand. After thinking it over, he finally removed Ha Yue's phone number from his blacklist, briefly sorted out the re-hiring proposal in his mind, cleared his throat, and dialed the number in his hand.

At noon, Ha Yue drank three large cups of hot latte at Xue Jing's house. In the afternoon, she and Zhu rode in Xue Jing's pickup truck.

Although she felt nauseous and wanted to vomit in the morning, she felt much better after taking medicine and eating. In addition, her body was enjoying the long-awaited excitement brought by caffeine, so she was in a good mood throughout the journey.

After venting last night, Ha Yue felt incredibly relieved, as if she had shed a heavy burden.

It turns out that expressing your pain and receiving kindness from others is such a powerful act.

In fact, after the family broke up, it wasn't just the adults who suffered. Ha Jianguo suddenly disappeared from home, and the young girl tried to seek comfort from her closest relative, Zhao Chunni. However, because her father's infidelity hurt her mother, she became her father's scapegoat. Every time she mentioned Ha Jianguo, she only received angry suppression and sarcasm from her mother.

Later, he developed a personality trait of not daring to tell others about his emotions.

Because of the profound family education she received: her emotions would not only fail to elicit sympathy, but would also be met with all sorts of blame.

Suffering is unwelcome in this world; everyone is eager to distance themselves from the wounded and vulnerable.

Zhao Chunni hates her husband, so Ha Yue must also share her hatred, otherwise she would be "willing to debase herself".

Now, peeling back the layers of fog before her eyes and looking back on these years, it's clear that she was like a blind man touching an elephant, constantly searching for the key to make herself appear lucky and normal.

How to be a dutiful daughter to one's mother, how to be the perfect girlfriend to one's first love, how to be an excellent employee to one's boss, and how to be a woman who is highly regarded by everyone and always deals with difficulties in the right way.

But in reality, this kind of correctness and acceptance is nothing more than a brainwashing tactic under constant denial.

It's like a cult. You deny my pain, and I nod in agreement. Then you deny the pain of others. Communication is ineffective, and the hurt emotions can never be relieved.

The consequence of suppressing one's emotions for a long time is emotional abnormality, with collective grief being amplified infinitely, inevitably leading to irreversible consequences.

Suppressing pain also leads to the loss of joy.

The only tool she could think of to combat the swamp in her heart was to acknowledge her true feelings. Even though her father had abandoned his wife and children, she still had the right to cherish the time she spent with him during her childhood. Even though her mother had chosen her when her parents separated, she had the right to resent her mother for the past ten years.

Even in hardship, she would feel bored, tired, frustrated, and lost. Putting aside the various roles life gave her, she was first and foremost a living individual, just like complex emotions that are intertwined and never two sides of the same coin.

Now, her love and hate for her parents have faded into an invisible line, a dotted line that cannot sustain her life. To live, truly live, she can only find a possibility within her own heart.

She also wants to find something she loves, no matter how shallow, utilitarian, or worldly it may seem, she wants a possibility to shine brightly on her own, regardless of everything else.

In that possibility, there was no one else but herself.

She needs to make sure she stands firm before she can withstand all the huge waves that life throws at her.

This is her true emotion. Unfilial, unkind, wrong—she may be criticized and condemned, but it is exceptionally sincere. And there really is another person in the world who can listen to Ha Yue's feelings, just as she listened to Xue Jing's feelings.

When one's mind suddenly becomes clear, it's like someone who has been thirsty for more than ten days suddenly having to dig a well out of the desert with their bare hands.

On the way there, the two men had pigs behind them, but on the way back, there was nothing left in the truck bed.

On the way to the veterinarian's house, Ha Yue was scrolling through her phone when she suddenly changed her mind and gave Xue Jing a different route, selling the pigs at a low price to a small farm owned by a nearby farmer.

The first step was to go against her mother's wishes and reduce the burden she couldn't bear. Then, in a few words, she finalized the care details with the caregiver who was asking for 6,000 yuan that day on WeChat and invited the caregiver to come to her home for an interview the next day with her health certificate.

It doesn't matter if she doesn't have enough money to hire a caregiver long-term, because at this stage, she has no other choice but to take a chance for herself.

Given her mental state, she could no longer provide 24-hour care for her ailing mother. Even though taking medication quietly was a "filial piety" that Zhao Chunni repeatedly emphasized, it was unfair to both her and her mother.

If it's possible to live, no one should be crushed by social norms.

Having figured it out, facing the unknown ahead in life, my heart starts pounding, like that unique nervousness I felt before every debate in school. Ha Yue finished off the piglet, and couldn't wait to get home and use WiFi, so on the way back, she used her mobile data to download all the apps she used during her startup to her phone.

When she was building a website for her company, she took advantage of a "buy two get one free" offer on the domain name. She liked to take advantage of small deals, so she impulsively spent three years on it. With a "let's give it a try" attitude, she skillfully typed the URL into her mobile browser, a URL she thought she had long forgotten but actually remembered by heart.

The index finger clicked to redirect; the website was still running, just as the webpage images refreshed.

As if divine intervention, she received a phone call from Sun Qiming that was full of strategic implications.

There's an old saying in the foreign trade industry: "Even a dog wouldn't do the job of a factory order follower." From small things like shipping documents to large things like product statistics, everything needs to be taken care of. Add to that the quality inspection process, and the coordination is difficult and the responsibility is heavy.

A salesperson who can make a name for themselves on the front lines and earn commissions would never choose to be a sales clerk, a job that involves tedious communication and exhaustion. Especially since the auto parts factory that Sun Qiming is working with this time is located in the Suicheng heavy industrial zone, where factories are connected one after another, the air is heavily polluted, and even the sky is covered with a layer of ash from burning. The management is chaotic, and sales follow-up is by no means an easy task.

So when Sun Qiming subtly offered the bait of an auto parts order and then mentioned his intention to re-invite her to work, Ha Yue raised an eyebrow at Xue Jing and silently scoffed.

With the hands-free switch on, Sun Qiming, who was laced with sarcasm yesterday, is now spouting righteous indignation.

He said he learned last night that Ha Yue was not doing well at home, and in order to make up for the mistake of dismissing her that day, he decided to rehire her as the company's chief sales assistant.

For this order, he would make an exception and increase Ha Yue's commission by eight percent. If this order is successful, he could also find a way to transfer Ha Yue back to Jicheng and arrange her accommodation and travel.

As evening approached, the setting sun cast long shadows of the car from behind. Continuous snow covered both sides of the road. Due to the reflection from the car window, Ha Yue's profile was bathed in a soft glow from Xue Jing's perspective, making even her mischievous smiles and frowns somewhat endearing.

Ha Yue pretended to hesitate for a while, wrinkled her little nose, and finally said no cleanly and decisively.

"I don't need to handle the order anymore, just send me the severance pay. The first lesson you taught me when I interned at the company was that I must keep my mouth shut to prevent clients from being poached. It seems I didn't tell you yesterday when I was drunk that I've been starting my own business after leaving the company. Plus, the industrial park you mentioned isn't far from my home, so I'm planning to go there and look for suppliers myself."

“I know that client you mentioned well too. I negotiated with him during my business trip to Europe.”

"Hey Mr. Sun, could you please write down my bank card number? It's 63..."

The call abruptly ended, and Ha Yue made a face at the blacked-out phone screen.

Xue Jing, holding her fingers and placing them on his right leg, not only showed no sense of justice but also wore an uncontrollable grin: "Well done, Mr. Ha, are you really trying to steal clients?"

"Okay, I think you really have the air of a ruthless leader now. Maybe I should give up writing books and just stay home and take care of things for you." Behind every successful woman, there is probably a man who works quietly behind the scenes, and he felt that he was quite suited to being a housewife.

His large vase must be quite a sight to behold in his home.

"Oh, it's not that serious. We business people always believe in leaving room for maneuver in others, so we can meet again in the future."

Ha Yue squeezed his hand back, her fingertips tracing circles in his palm, her voice clear and melodious, "I'm just angry that he treats me like a fool. Of course I can follow orders, but the problem is, who's begging whom now? The only reason he's extending an olive branch to me is because he doesn't have any trusted confidants and can't come over. So, it's not like I'm working for him; it's more like we're talking about cooperation. As for profits, I don't want much. How about a 40/60 split? I get 40%, he gets 60%. The extra can be considered a tribute to the master. Isn't that generous enough?"