Chapter 4 There are so many people who don't want to go to work
On weekday afternoons without naps, workers often feel utterly sleepy. If they stayed up late poring over their phones, consumed too much carbohydrates for lunch, and then faced a meeting with a product manager whose hypnotic skills rival those of a seasoned math professor, the situation could be even more dire.
Meng Weishen gathered all the above unfavorable factors, and just half an hour after the meeting started, his eyelids felt heavy as if they were hung with lead.
The product manager's PowerPoint presentation, titled "Competitive Product Research and Demand Analysis," boasted an update to version 7. At first glance, it looked no different from version 1. When he tried to examine it more closely, the Microsoft YaHei font had smudged into a blur, merging into the blue graphic frame of the PowerPoint, creating a meaningless ripple.
Before his forehead hit the table, Kuang Jia elbowed him hard. "There's quite a bit of disagreement early on about this module, so let's discuss it on our own. Wesley, take the interns downstairs to get some coffee. Mia, come along, and remember to collect everyone's needs in the group chat."
Meng Weishen finally came to his senses, but before he could find Mia's face in his mind, the girl in the black sweatshirt next to Kuang Jia stood up with him.
Meng Weishen was truly face-blind. He was concentrating on the girl's unusually large eyes before he remembered that she was the intern Kuang Jia was interviewing, so he accompanied her to the interview.
After a chaotic screening of colorful resumes and a round of interviews with young faces, Mia and a THU master's alumnus finally survived.
They were wavering between the two, and finally Kuang Jia made the final decision: "Our R&D team's work area is already smelly, so we can't hire any more men! We want this girl. What's her name, Ke Mi?"
While the fundamental reason for eliminating THU masters was Kuang Jia's discrimination against non-key undergraduates, the reality is that recruiting women was a good idea. First, Ke Mi herself is very particular about hygiene. Secondly, her arrival has prompted some of the male colleagues in the team to switch their shower frequency from once every five days to once every two days. This has significantly improved the overall hygiene and civility of the R&D team.
The two of them entered the elevator together. Ke Mi raised her face towards him, the metal studs in her ears gleaming with light. "Weishen, why are you staring at me? It proves you've completely forgotten me."
"I haven't forgotten. And do you really have to call me that? It sounds so weird." It sounded like he was back in high school math class, when the smelly boys loved calling each other "X God." It turned out that smelly memory had been haunting him for a long time.
“Everyone in the product team calls you that.”
"They'll only sweeten their words if they want you to work for them. You have to be wary of any sugar-coated threats from the product team."
Newcomer Ke Mi learned the first lesson of the unspoken rules of the workplace and nodded to him repeatedly, indicating that he could rest assured that he would push the job forward.
For coffee brands, the headquarters of major companies today are like the old Xuzhou, a battleground for strategic locations. Within a hundred meters of a company, there are seven coffee chains, from Luckin Coffee, a popular outlet, to Starbucks, a top gift-giving destination.
Meng Weishen had been thoroughly sober after enduring a few winter chills, and coffee was no longer necessary. He casually inquired about the progress: "Mia, how's the statistics going? Which one should I buy? I'm leaning towards Peet's."
Ke Mi was scratching his phone. "There's no statistics, why bother yourself? Let's just buy a good cup for the boss, and the other six people in the group can buy three iced Americanos and three hot lattes and let them divide it among themselves."
Meng Weishen's mind briefly short-circuited. He admitted that the intern had some talent for working, "I agree."
"Oh, it's too much trouble to get reimbursed by the company, and I'm still a broke college student, so you pay, Weishen."
"...Don't worry, it's my treat, just help me carry it up."
Peet's selling point is the latte art on the mugs; the taste of takeout coffee in plastic cups is several notches lower. But Meng Weishen's R&D philosophy is to never expect customers to adhere to your R&D philosophy. So, they have to use plastic cups for takeout coffee.
"Mia, how many cups are left to make?"
"Five cups." Ke Mi counted the coffee bags on the table. "That's not right. We already have five cups. There are only nine of us in the meeting. How come there's one extra cup?"
"Just one more cup." Meng Weishen picked up two identical glasses of flat white with cheese and pried open the seal of one first. "You continue to wait for the coffee in the store. I'll be back soon."
——
Meng Weishen decided to bring Jiang Ranxu a cup of coffee.
To cover up his stupid question at noon, to make up for the other person's delayed lunch break, to thank the other person for letting him cut in line for correction. Or simply to obey an inexplicable impulse.
The receptionist at the outpatient clinic glanced at him and guessed his purpose: "Are you looking for Dr. Jiang? He has other plans this afternoon and won't be seeing patients."
"I'm not looking for him for a dentist's appointment. I'm just here to drop off something. Is he in the hospital?"
"Yes, just keep going inside and you'll find him in the activity room. However, today's activities may not be suitable for your age."
The receptionist smiled a subtle smile that said, "I knew it." He often saw this smile on Sister Ni's face, and it made him want to ask her what she knew.
Meng Weishen groped over and heard a child's laughter in the distance, as crisp as the sound of cutting a fresh apple.
This was truly rare, as children who entered the dental clinic were often in tears. Meng Weishen's curiosity was piqued, and he hurried to the activity room. An oversized Yaya sign greeted him outside the corridor, proving that he was very close to his destination.
When Meng Weishen reached the end of the corridor, he saw a brightly decorated room. The glass windows were covered with cartoon sketches, and a row of budding plush toys lay along the windowsill. Even the smell of disinfectant in the air had disappeared, and the sweet smell of fruit filled the air.
Meng Weishen bent down and approached the furry buds by the windowsill, and found that each one looked different. Some were wearing monster costumes, some had braces, and some were infected with purple bacteria... The only one he didn't see was the doctor bud that Jiang Ranxu gave him.
However, if you want to see a doctor, you don't need to turn to a stuffed animal, just look up.
Jiang Ranxu sat at the edge of the screen, dressed casually, his white coat open, explaining the circular toothbrush technique for children. The activity room wasn't soundproofed, and Meng Weishen, leaning his elbow on the windowsill and lifting half his cheek, listened with equal rapt attention. His cheeks began to burn again, as if bathed in divine light.
He subconsciously knew why he always came to harass Jiang Ranxu. He was actually looking for another life in him. A more meaningful life. Although he didn't know how to define the meaning of life.
After the explanation, the assistant selected a few children to come on stage, and Jiang Ranxu began to help them correct their brushing posture one by one.
Meng Weishen finally noticed the dozen or so young parents accompanying him to the lecture. The men were unassuming, some even looking rather shabby; but the women, with their matching earrings, wristbands, crocodile-skin handbags, and firm skin with obvious traces of cosmetic surgery, all betrayed their well-being.
An idea suddenly popped into his mind:
...There are so many people in the capital who don’t want to go to work!
I imagine the main clientele of this private hospital, besides the nuclear-powered mill-pulling donkeys of large factories, is the residents of the top-tier luxury residence next door, Xishan No. 1. He wondered why he always had to carry a heavy burden, because the rich had already made life peaceful for him.
Meng Weishen suddenly felt bored. Coincidentally, his phone screen lit up with an unread message notification. It must be Ke Mi urging him to go back and get some coffee. He had to return to his faithful grindstone.
Through the glass window, he waved the brown coffee bag at Jiang Ranxu.
Jiang Ranxu seemed to have noticed him a long time ago. His pupils brushed across his face, but he was not surprised. He just smiled at him with a curved eyebrow.
Meng Weishen tightened the position of Yaya on the windowsill, filled the vacant space with a coffee bag, and then hurried away.
——
The meeting continued, and each group was prepared to work until after 8 o'clock in the evening. The coffee the two brought back was very popular.
Ke Mi offered Kuang Jia a bottle of Chongshan Yunguiao for free, but she pushed the cup away with her backhand. She supported her forehead with her other hand, a few strands of hair hanging in front of her, and she looked particularly haggard. "Take it away. I don't want the milk one. Give me the iced Americano."
Good coffee is cheap product group hypnotic brother.
The hypnotist drank coffee like water, opening the lid and gulping down half the cup in one gulp. No wonder he could listen to himself talking without feeling sleepy.
"R&D engineers, short video live streaming e-commerce is a new field, and we urgently need to identify pain points and develop differentiated solutions to compete with leading competitors. We are developing a points mall module, hoping to achieve positive results by improving user retention and conversion rates. A formal requirements review meeting will definitely be held before the end of the year, as time is very tight. Everyone should strive to align granularity, supplement content ammunition, embrace innovation, and embrace imagination..."
Kuang Jia slapped the table to stop the other party from talking nonsense. "No, buddy, do you know how difficult it is to realize the functional requirements you proposed? First, cut them down to three or less, otherwise no one will have a good time in the review meeting."
Hypnotist insisted: "According to the leadership, there are several functions that must be maintained, otherwise we will not be able to differentiate ourselves from similar products."
Meng Weishen suddenly interrupted, "The essence is that the competition is already fully mature. This can't even be called a red ocean market, it should be called a bloody ocean market. Live streaming sales, even my 90-year-old grandmother is watching, saying things like kiwis are unsold and need help for the fruit farmers. We're already 800 versions behind, and we haven't figured out how to compete with them."
It was a taboo to criticize a project that the leader valued, especially at the critical juncture of year-end performance. So he quickly received a cold stare from Kuang Jia and had to keep quiet.
"I have something to do, so I'll be leaving for a while." Kuang Jia suddenly stood up, swaying a few times before holding onto the corner of the table. "Wesley, you stay here and work with the product team to prioritize."
Meng Weishen looked at him blankly. He thought briefly about it and realized that this was the fourth time Kuang Jia had suddenly left the meeting today. "Boss, are you particularly busy today? Why don't you let Mia go with you? I can go to the meeting alone."
"No thanks. I'll be back soon."
Kuang Jia said she would be back soon, but half an hour later she was still nowhere to be seen. Meng Weishen was a little worried, so while Ke Mi was out getting hot water, he assigned her the task of finding out some information.
After a while, Ke Mi asked him in WeChat: Weishen, which floor is the company's medical office on?
Meng Weishen: In the basement, what's wrong? Do you need me to take you there?
After the hypnotist finished his jargon, Ke Mi replied, "No need. The boss told you to attend the meeting properly and remember to take notes. I'll just accompany her to see the doctor."
Meng Weishen didn't take this matter too seriously at first.
Kuang Jia was a natural workaholic, her physical fitness and energy far surpassing those of ordinary people. Even though she was seven or eight years his senior, when they stayed up late coding together, he would always be the first to fall. Kuang Jia would fight until sunrise, waking him up with news of victory.
Meng Weishen received another message from Ke Mi: I had a fight with the boss.
Meng Weishen: Who won?
Ke Mi: We're at a stalemate. The boss seems seriously ill. I'm insisting she go to the hospital, but she refuses and insists on going back to the meeting. What should I do?
Meng Weishen was stunned for a moment, his thoughts drifting away as the coffee cup separated from the lid in his hand. The remaining half cup of coffee liquid was like a bomb that exploded, completely destroying his white T-shirt.
Meng Weishen refused the tissue offered by his colleague, "Brother Peter, there have been too many unexpected situations today. I think we should end the meeting here. Let's make an appointment tomorrow, and I'll come to see you."
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