Chapter 30: The Queen's Pay Cut
The Queen couldn't get out of bed on Monday morning. Her back and waist ached even more after a night's sleep, and it took her a full ten minutes just to sit up. It was supposed to be a week's vacation, but in reality, she hadn't rested a single day. Traveling back and forth across the eastern part of the country had drained her energy.
The messy hair, puffy eyelids, glazed eyes, and sagging skin in the mirror all made her look weathered. On the way to work, she quickly checked how many Pilates classes she had left. I had to go after work. I had signed up for this card with Huadie, and she had already renewed it for the second time. I had been there three times in total.
After her first practice, He Xiaolan climbed down from the core bed, her legs trembling and her stomach aching. At this point, if you asked her how much money her family had, and asked her to give it all to buy the remaining half of her life, she would even give you the last five cents.
When He Xiaolan passed by the subway station, she saw someone selling sandwiches on the roadside. She looked suspiciously like Ge Lin, but she was wearing a mask. She only felt a slight resemblance. Parking on the roadside was forbidden, so He Xiaolan planned to ask Ge Lin again when she got to the company. It was already 20 minutes past her time to clock in, and Ge Lin still hadn't arrived.
He Xiaolan went to Moli to ask about Ge Lin's situation. "Sister Linlin has been arriving on time these days and has never been late. Is there something urgent today?" Moli has been allergic since she came to Beijing. She is completely different from the delicate girl she met in Shanghai. Now she wears big glasses every day and wears the Beijing citizen uniform, a three-in-one windbreaker. "Director He, has Sister Linlin encountered something? She asked me to borrow money a few days ago, but I just transferred to Beijing and I have no money left after renting an apartment, so I didn't lend her any money."
Jasmine specifically pulled He Xiaolan to the most secluded corner of the company, the fire escape next to the women's restroom, and told her everything about Ge Lin's recent situation. He Xiaolan knew she was short of money the last time she saw her repayment information, but borrowing money from a colleague shouldn't happen to Ge Lin, a senior in the workplace. After waiting for a long time, Ge Lin finally arrived, an hour late.
Ge Lin said she had diarrhea, but He Xiaolan sensed the lie in her words, "Ge Lin, we have worked together for five or six years. If you really encounter something, if you trust me, you should tell me. To be frank, your words and deeds in the company represent the image of our human resources department and will also affect my work evaluation."
"Sister, I don't know what you are talking about. If I did something wrong at work, you can tell me directly..."
"Were you the one selling sandwiches at the subway entrance this morning?"
"I didn't violate the non-compete agreement, nor did I use working hours to set up a stall, and I didn't violate any company regulations. Even if you punish me, this is not a reason. I was late this morning, so you can deduct my performance and report me, but these are not reasons to stop me from setting up a stall."
"Okay, I'm overthinking it. I just hope you don't affect your job. The current employment environment isn't very good."
"Thank you Director He for the reminder. I'm going to work."
Ge Lin's parents came to Beijing, but only after a debt collection call did they discover their usually well-behaved and sensible daughter had accumulated over 200,000 yuan in foreign debt. When Ge Lin didn't answer their calls, the elderly couple, desperate, drove the 900 kilometers to Beijing overnight, without even buying high-speed rail tickets.
Ge Lin kept saying that she owed so much money because she was cheated, and she never said a word against Zhang Haiming. Ge Lin's parents asked her to call Zhang Haiming to come back, but Zhang Haiming didn't answer the phone, and replied on WeChat saying that he was filming in another place and couldn't make it back.
It was the first time she'd seen her parents' disappointed expressions, and she'd been avoiding them, afraid to look at their current state. While everyone else aspired to be astronauts, teachers, or police officers, Ge Lin simply wanted to be a good daughter to her parents, to make them forever proud. How could a childhood wish come true so easily? At dinnertime, while her father was making hand-rolled noodles in the kitchen, her mother transferred all her money to Ge Lin, leaving only two thousand yuan for travel expenses and the next month's living expenses. She sat beside her, watching her pay back the money, one by one.
"Mom, I'll write you an IOU. I'll pay you back slowly every month when I get my salary."
"We don't want your money, but you must resign from the company tomorrow and go back to our hometown with us. You are only 30 years old this year, and it's still time for you to take the civil service exam."
"I'm doing well at work now, why should I go back? Besides, Zhang Haiming and I are getting married soon..."
When my father heard Zhang Haiming's name, he came out of the kitchen angrily with a rolling pin in his hand and said, "Marriage? What marriage? He didn't want to marry you from the beginning, so don't be wishful thinking."
"Why don't you want to get married? He is working hard to make money just to buy a house. We can get married after he buys the house."
"How can you buy a house? You've worked in Beijing for so many years and now you owe 200,000 yuan. Ge Lin, I have never said a harsh word to you, but what you are doing now makes my mother and I very disappointed."
Ge Lin looked at her mother for help, but her mother deliberately avoided her gaze. Her heaving chest told her that she had failed to be a good daughter. "I won't go back home. I'll find a way to pay you back."
"If Zhang Haiming wanted to marry you, he would have done it years ago. The fact that he's been dragging it out until now shows that he has no intention of doing so. Child, do you really want to go all the way to the end?" Her mother wiped the tears from her face with a tissue and advised her softly.
But Ge Lin was determined to go down the path of love. She never knew what love was. With such a messy lover and a chaotic life, it seemed excusable for her to make mistakes. These were just words to comfort herself. Failure would definitely be mentioned repeatedly in her future life. Only by turning things around could she hide the traces of failure.
Seeing that they couldn't persuade her, her parents stayed in Beijing for one day and then went back. Ge Lin made a detailed repayment plan for herself, including her salary from work and her part-time income from the night shift at a convenience store. If her plan of setting up a stall in the morning went smoothly, she would be able to pay back her parents' money in at most five years.
The plan failed halfway on the first day of implementation. After working a night shift, I fell asleep on the sofa when I got home to change clothes due to exhaustion. I hurriedly took the sandwiches I had prepared to sell at the subway entrance and ran into my immediate boss again. I am not afraid of a bad start, but I am most afraid of having bad luck until the end. I quickly dismissed these bad thoughts.
Since Ge Lin had said so, He Xiaolan couldn't say anything more. Yang Fan called He Xiaolan to his office and gave her new instructions. The company had acquired a controlling stake in a human resources company and required that some internal positions be transferred to the new company. Employees in certain positions would also have to renew their contracts in the name of the new company. Later, when resigning, they could also sign a contract with the new company for a certain period of time to control compensation costs.
"Mr. Yang, the benefits of this human resources company have been downgraded too much. There must be many people who are unwilling to transfer their contracts. When a lot of people leave, panic is inevitable."
"We'll recruit more people if they leave. There are so many people unemployed now."
"If the price drops so much at once, many people's lives will be affected."
"If we don't do this, the company will be affected. Then everyone will leave together and there will be no impact." Yang Fan was a little impatient. The thermos cup on the table was pushed back and forth, rubbing against the desk surface.
"I need some time to calm down. I will send the rectification report to your email tomorrow."
"He Xiaolan, I think you have changed a lot after you gave birth to the child. Do you know what kind of job you are doing? You are in human resources. Who do you work for? You work for the company, and the company pays you a salary. If you really want to be a saint, go and act in a TV drama. Don't use your kindness in the workplace. By the way, your human resources department should also transfer there, and you can go back and calm down together."
When He Xiaolan told Wang Qingwei about the salary cut, Wang Qingwei had just finished an interview at a company. The other party had no objection to Wang Qingwei's skills and experience, but when it came to age and salary, both parties were silent. The company could only give one-third of the original salary, and after deducting the five social insurances, the money left was not enough to pay the mortgage.
Even with such a salary, there were still seventeen or eighteen young and strong people waiting to join the circle behind him. When he first started working, he was like a pig in the wind. He even rejected a job at a big company and went to Tao Lin, saying that he would definitely get benefits if he grew with the company. In the end, the company died before he grew up.
Wang Qingwei had been thinking of telling He Xiaolan about his unemployment in the evening, but when he heard that her company was also going to cut her salary, he quickly gave up the idea. When He Xiaolan got home from get off work, she went to the supermarket to buy some groceries. She now carefully checked the prices of the leafy green vegetables that she had picked up without blinking before, and she also bought a few fruits in the discount section to maintain a basic nutritional balance.
Once a couple has a secret, they will become extremely careful when speaking to each other. If the other person tells a joke, they will immediately respond with a stiff "haha", which makes their dinner weird.
He Xiaolan took Wang Qingwei to do the accounting in the evening. With their current salary, they could barely maintain a basic life. There was no need to worry about the living expenses in Tianjin, as grandparents and grandmother would bear the cost themselves. As long as they did not spend lavishly in Beijing, there would be no problem.
"Xiaolan, if I get laid off, let's sell our house in Beijing."
"You've been laid off." He Xiaolan's question wasn't a question. She had been feeling that Wang Qingwei wasn't normal these past few days, and it seemed like he was finally telling the truth today. She had also been mentally prepared for a few days, and even if he told the truth, she wouldn't break down emotionally. It was just a job. If he lost it, he could find another one. If all else failed, he could drive for Didi, deliver food, or work as a deliveryman in supermarkets. How could that not be a good life?
But Wang Qingwei didn't say anything. His dignity as a man made him choose to hide it. He would wait until he found a new job and then tell He Xiaolan, "No, I wasn't just saying if. There are layoffs everywhere now. We might be in trouble someday. We have to make preparations for both situations."
"It's okay to sell it, but the main thing is that if we sell it and pay off the mortgage, there will be basically nothing left, and it won't be enough to cover the mortgage in Tianjin."
Qin Tiantian invited them to have dinner together tomorrow, together with her boyfriend.
"Didn't they break up? Then they got back together?" Wang Qingwei breathed a sigh of relief and quickly changed the subject.
"It seems so, or they found a new one. Anyway, I think that Jerry is weird."
What's so strange about it? He Xiaolan always had a sense of déjà vu from Qin Tiantian's description of that person, but she couldn't find the source of this feeling. Forget it, let's talk about it when they meet tomorrow.
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