Chapter 2 How are you worthy of Zhiyan?
Chapter 2
"Excuse me, miss, your scan failed. Please try again."
"..."
Xia Zhiyu glanced down at her WeChat balance. "Can I use Alipay?"
"OK."
After a "ding," the screen displayed the words "Payment successful."
The family card was given to Xia Zhiyu by her mother when she was in college. Her mother was worried that Xia Zhiyu might need a lot of money unexpectedly and would not be able to contact her, so she opened a family card as a supplement to her living expenses. She has not canceled it yet, and the spending limit is still five thousand yuan.
Ten, nine, eight...
Before Xia Zhiyu could finish counting down to ten, a video call invitation from her mother popped up on her phone screen.
Xia Zhiyu pursed her dry lips and pressed the answer button.
"Sweetie, are you out of money? Mom has transferred 10,000 yuan to your bank card. If it's not enough, just tell Mom."
"Mom, why are you transferring so much money? I'll get paid soon," Xia Zhiyu said, turning around and sitting under the parasol at the entrance of the convenience store.
“Your salary isn’t enough to live on in Beicheng. Your dad got a bonus from school this month, so eat and drink as you please. Don’t deprive yourself.”
Xia Zhiyu's father is a high school math teacher, earning about 5,000 yuan a month. Last year, he was a senior high school homeroom teacher, and his daughter ranked in the top 100 in the province in the college entrance examination. Her father received a bonus of 12,000 yuan. The school was slow to distribute the money, and before he could even hold onto the bonus, his mother transferred it to Xia Zhiyu.
My mother runs a breakfast shop. She has to get up before 3 a.m. every day to knead dough, mix fillings, and steam small steamed buns. A basket of buns costs five yuan. My mother works diligently for a day but can't earn more than a thousand yuan. After deducting the costs of water, electricity, rent, gas, labor, and materials, the net profit is less than four hundred yuan. My mother has to work non-stop for a month to earn ten thousand yuan.
After exchanging only a few words, a thin, smiling face squeezed into the screen.
After not returning home for two months, her father looked thinner, with stubble on his chin and white sideburns.
A soreness and swelling gradually rose from Xia Zhiyu's chest, pressing on her heart and making it difficult to breathe.
My father is almost 52 years old, and my mother is 51. They are nearing retirement age, yet they still have to support their good-for-nothing daughter.
She would definitely be doing very well now if it weren't for her parents.
Xia Zhiyu was on the verge of tears.
"How useless she is," Xia Zhiyu thought, her throat tightening. "She's twenty-five years old and still relies on her parents for money."
“Well, my little one is going to lose some pearls again. Do you miss your mom? Didn’t you say you wanted to eat sausages the other day? The freshly made sausages are dried. Do you want me to send you some?”
It was only ten o'clock, but the sun was already so bright that it was hard to open one's eyes. Xia Zhiyu, with her back to the law firm, held her phone, pursed her lips, and tears streamed down her face.
They were in a terrible state.
"Don't cry, little one. Why are you bullying my little one?"
Old Xia was so anxious that he started speaking in his local dialect, wishing he could fly to the north of the city immediately.
*
"Is that Xia sitting at the 7-Eleven entrance?"
Chen Yue nudged Jiang Zhiyan beside him.
“Impossible,” Jiang Zhiyan said without turning her head. “She’s in a meeting with the rest of the project team right now. I saw the lights on in our team’s meeting room when she came out.”
Chen Yue looked back twice more, and the more he looked, the more Xia Zhiyu seemed to be in his eyes. But Jiang Zhiyan's tone was so confident that he hesitated for a moment and ultimately said nothing more.
*
"...They are all so annoying. The team leader even made things difficult for me. We were supposed to have a meeting, but they said the meeting room was full and I should handle other work first. But the meeting room is clearly quite big. They just didn't want me to attend the meeting on purpose."
“They push miscellaneous tasks that they don’t want to do onto me, and I can’t refuse, otherwise the team leader will complain that I have a problem with my work attitude. I’ve explained to the boss twice, but he says that I should try my best to resolve these internal office disputes myself, instead of coming to him when problems arise.”
Xia Zhiyu dabbed away the tears from the corners of her eyes with a tissue. She dared not cry her heart out, nor did she dare to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes forcefully.
Her skin is thin, and the capillaries are easily broken when she rubs her face vigorously or blows her nose. If her cheeks are covered with tiny red spots, others can tell at a glance that she has been crying.
Xia Zhiyu didn't even want to imagine how her colleagues would laugh at her if they found her crying her eyes out downstairs in the office because of workplace conflicts and exclusion.
As for Jiang Zhiyan, he would only tell her to adjust her mindset and resolve the conflict.
Jiang Zhiyan had never encountered such meaningless office disputes before, so he couldn't understand why Xia Zhiyu would be so troubled all day because a colleague who had been chatting and gossiping with her at lunch yesterday suddenly made a few sarcastic remarks to her today.
Why care what those irrelevant people think? Can't you eat lunch alone?
Jiang Zhiyan's surprised gaze appeared before Xia Zhiyu's eyes, and she pouted.
“I absolutely, absolutely, absolutely hate this place. I hate everyone in the law firm.”
Before Song Juan could speak, a green caller ID popped up on her phone screen.
The note says it's from Sister Zhao in administration.
Xia Zhiyu was startled. She quickly cleared her throat and answered the phone, her voice already back to normal.
That's how it is with working like a beast of burden; no matter how strong your emotions are, you have to suppress them a few days before payday.
"Hey, Xia, come to my office."
Xia Zhiyu panicked and quickly inquired, "Okay, I'll be right there. What's wrong, Sister Zhao?"
Anyone who has worked knows that the most annoying people in the workplace are usually those dealing with urgent matters, especially those involving cross-departmental matters, which are generally not good news.
"It's nothing serious, come over here and we'll talk."
Xia Zhiyu pursed her lips, quickly took out a mirror to touch up her haggard face, and in the meantime, she didn't forget to send a message to her parents to explain.
52nd floor, Administrative Secretary's Office.
Xia Zhiyu was a little nervous. She straightened her shirt collar and knocked on the door.
"Please come in."
The voice was crisp and unfamiliar, and Xia Zhiyu felt a sense of unease. She looked up and her eyes met Jiang Jing, who was sitting in front of the French windows.
Jiang Jing, in her early fifties, was very well-maintained. Her hair was neatly pulled back, and she wore red-soled Prada satin high heels. She politely smiled at Xia Zhiyu, her expression revealing neither joy nor anger.
In terms of aura, Jiang Jing and her son Jiang Zhiyan were remarkably alike; the mere sight of them sitting there was enough to instill a strong sense of oppression in others.
Xia Zhiyu closed the door, so nervous that her mouth and tongue were dry, and her voice was hoarse.
Good morning, Mr. Jiang.
"Good morning, please have a seat."
Jiang didn't even look up, only giving a nonchalant reply. She picked up the coffee on the table, her eyes falling on the documents in her hand.
Xia Zhiyu sat nervously on the single sofa diagonally opposite her.
Only after finishing reading the documents did Jiang Jing slowly look at Xia Zhiyu, his eyes full of scrutiny.
"Are you running a social media account online that has nothing to do with the law?"
Xia Zhiyu quickly explained, "Yes, it's mainly some travel vlogs, it has nothing to do with work."
As long as she doesn't recall her less-than-pleasant conversation with Jiang Jing, Xia Zhiyu still has a very good impression of him.
Huawan's largest shareholder is a Master of Criminal Law from Beicheng University, a well-known lawyer in the industry, mainly engaged in domestic violence victim cases, a standing director of the Beicheng Women's Legal Research Association, and a member of the Marriage and Family Professional Committee of the Beicheng Lawyers Association...
A search on Baidu Baike reveals countless suffixes following the name Jiang Jing, so powerful that Xia Zhiyu couldn't muster even the slightest resentment towards her.
"I heard your undergraduate major was related to film and media?"
"Yes, the Internet and New Media major at Beijing Communication University."
"It's a pretty good school and program, why would you consider taking the law master's entrance exam?"
Xia Zhiyu recalled the scene when she first met Jiang Zhiyan. The man was tall and imposing, standing in front of the podium, slowly and methodically recounting one case after another that he had handled, like a forensic doctor in an unnatural death, doing his best to pursue justice as he understood it.
In those short two hours, Xia Zhiyu felt as if she had been struck hard by an arrow called ideal, piercing her lungs and embedding itself in the word justice.
Moreover, Jiang Zhiyan was dressed in a suit and tie, looking every bit the elite, which was exactly what Xia Zhiyu, who was feeling lost after graduation, dreamed of.
She also wanted to realize her dream of fairness and justice in a strategic and well-planned way, and she also wanted to achieve success in both her career and personal life. Since the path of journalism was not feasible, she would try another path!
Xia Zhiyu suddenly felt enlightened, and without hesitation jumped into the small fish trap named Jiang Zhiyan, where she remains to this day.
But these are words that are hard to say in front of Jiang Jing.
After hesitating for a moment, Xia Zhiyu said, "Law master's degree holders have good job prospects, and in the past two years, there have been many cases involving interdisciplinary fields. Many law firms are willing to recruit law master's degree holders with other professional knowledge. I have an undergraduate background in law, so I don't have to worry about not finding a job."
"Really? But I saw that you were having a lot of fun making the video, and the storyboard design and camera movement were very professional."
Jiang Jing opened the tablet, and the homepage prominently featured Xia Zhiyu's travel vlog from her last vacation in Xicheng with friends. The video had gone viral on D-site, with over eight million views.
Xia Zhiyu immediately noticed that the progress bar for her carefully designed little fish was already more than halfway through. Looking at her carefree smile on the screen, Xia Zhiyu's ears turned bright red.
She even blocks her boss from seeing her posts on WeChat Moments. If her boss sees her travel vlog, what's the difference between that and her running around naked...?
A thousand screaming groundhogs raced through Xia Zhiyu's mind, but she forced herself to remain calm.
“I took related courses during my undergraduate studies and have some relevant experience.”
"Just a little?" Jiang Jing clicked on her profile. "I see your videos are quite popular. Are you planning to develop a side business?"
At this point, T's answer should of course be no. No leader wants to hear that their employee is holding multiple positions, especially since Jiang Jing already dislikes her because of her relationship with Jiang Zhiyan.
Xia Zhiyu licked her lips, her voice slightly hoarse.
"Yes, I really enjoy making videos to document my life, and I plan to do it as a part-time job long-term."
Jiang Jing raised an eyebrow in surprise, then held up the tablet in her hand.
"Are you planning to become a minor internet celebrity? You couldn't achieve anything as a lawyer, so you're starting to develop an internet celebrity career? Are you that indecisive?"
After saying that, she laughed out loud, as if amused by her own thoughts.
The laughter was piercing, stabbing hard into Xia Zhiyu's eardrums and causing her severe nerve pain.
"Can you delete this account? If you feel you're not getting enough work, I can assign you a few more cases."
“You young people tend to be overly ambitious and always like to do things that are easy to achieve. You have certainly had some luck in the self-media industry, but don’t forget that being a lawyer is your main profession. The more you spend on other miscellaneous things, the less likely you are to achieve success in your main profession.”
"You're at least twenty-five this year, you should be able to tell what's more important than what's less important."
"If you continue like this, how can you be worthy of Zhiyan?"
'Aiming too high'
'luck'
'Miscellaneous tasks'
'deserves'
One after another, sharp and derogatory words hit Xia Zhiyu like boomerangs, leaving her mind buzzing and blank.
Xia Zhiyu began to hate herself for being so cowardly, not even having the courage to stand up and refute Jiang Jing.
Luck? If you're so capable, then use luck to become an internet celebrity with 150,000 followers.
If you're so good at being a father, why don't you be a father to your son? Do you think it's polite of you to lecture others so casually?
I'm your employee, not your grandson. What happened to your politeness when you were drinking coffee? Did you swallow it along with the coffee?
The harsh words rose to his throat again and again, only to be swallowed back down.
Xia Zhiyu listened silently to Jiang Jing's teachings.
Once you're humiliated, you'll do it again. Xia Zhiyu had been humiliated countless times in front of Jiang Zhiyan after she started working, so this time in front of his mother was no different.
Jiang Jing took another sip of coffee.
"When you have time, learn from Miaoqi and see her positive work attitude. I remember you were quite enthusiastic when you first started working, how come you've lost all of that enthusiasm now?"
Passion? Passion is something only capitalists and slave owners have. What passion could a wage slave like her, who works herself to the bone to earn a few thousand yuan a month, possibly have?
Not to mention that Jiang Zhiyan sometimes deducts her salary for her work mistakes, starting at two hundred yuan and with no upper limit.
During her worst month of internship, her salary was reduced to only 2,500 yuan. In Beicheng, a city with extremely high prices, she almost couldn't survive without her parents' help.
Every day, I carry my laptop and squeeze into the crowded subway at eight in the morning, sleepily munching on a three-yuan eggplant bun from downstairs.
At noon, I ordered a 20-yuan double-portion Yuanji dumpling, but I couldn't bear to spend an extra 8 yuan to change it to crab roe dumplings. After eating my fill, I quickly lay down on the stool, afraid that the snoring would disturb my sleep.
At night, dragging my tired body, I listlessly squeezed onto the last subway, quickly scrolled through a few short videos, and then went home and fell asleep immediately.
Looking at my payslip at the end of the month makes me want to vomit blood.
Should I talk to her about her passion for work and her ideals at a time like this?
She feels nauseous whenever she sees the word "work".
A note from the author:
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