ATLAS TRANSLATES

Regarding this matter, Zhan Xi had always been very at ease. Her Little Fish was very proper – since they started dating, he had never done anything inappropriate to her. Their interactions were limited to holding hands, hugs, and kisses.

Sometimes when their kissing on the couch got a bit heated, Zhan Xi would shyly notice that Little Fish’s body had some indescribable changes. She knew this was a normal male reaction, so she pretended not to notice. Little Fish seemed even more embarrassed than her, keeping his body stiff and motionless, only relaxing after a long while.

The next day, Zhan Xi and her colleagues took a bus to a scenic area in a neighboring city for a team building event.

HR had arranged very interesting team building activities – staying at a resort, hiking in the afternoon, having a barbecue feast at night, and going boating at a lakeside park the next day.

Everyone was having a great time, but Zhan Xi encountered some troubles. Her colleagues kept teasing her about Lin Yan, and when they encountered a steep section while hiking, someone even urged Lin Yan to pull her up.

They kept bringing up the incident from last year’s development training when Lin Yan helped her walk on the steel wire, making jokes that left Zhan Xi very embarrassed.

Lin Yan didn’t let them joke around freely and stopped them several times. Zhan Xi thought he was quite gentlemanly, but wondered when these rumors would finally end.

Ever since Zhan Xi posted the photo of Little Fish holding the cat on New Year’s Eve, Lin Yan had stopped sending her “good morning” and “good night” messages. After Spring Festival, he also stopped sending milk tea to HR. They rarely interacted at work. Zhan Xi noticed that Lin Yan had moved on from her, but there was still a group of annoying colleagues who wouldn’t let it go, insisting on matchmaking them.

After returning to Qiantang, the civil service exam results were announced. As expected, the person who ranked first in the written test was accepted.

Chi Guilan didn’t say much, probably because this time Zhan Xi had made huge progress by making it to the interview stage from among numerous written test candidates. She told her daughter to work harder in the next exam, saying she might succeed in getting in.

Zhan Xi was quite at peace with it. The day after checking the results, she officially submitted her transfer application to Wenqin.

Wenqin was undoubtedly surprised and had a long closed-door chat with Zhan Xi in the office. Zhan Xi very honestly shared her career aspirations with her. After listening, Wenqin pondered for a moment before expressing understanding.

As Zhan Xi’s department manager, after spending a year training a subordinate who then says she’s not very interested in HR work and wants to transfer to another department, Wenqin certainly felt some resentment, like being betrayed.

But as the company’s HR head, she also knew well that the company had comprehensive transfer and promotion mechanisms specifically to encourage employees to keep advancing. The young Zhan Xi didn’t choose HR initially but was brought in by her through a backdoor of sorts. After working for a year and knowing what she really wanted to do, having such awareness was understandable.

So, Wenqin accepted Zhan Xi’s transfer application and reminded her that the interview would be in mid to late May, telling her to prepare well.

Wenqin said: “The Planning Department isn’t easy to get into, and there’s quite a bit of staff turnover. The salary is good, but correspondingly the work pressure is also quite high, with frequent overtime. You need to be mentally prepared.”

Seeing that she wasn’t too angry, Zhan Xi’s confidence grew. She smiled and replied: “Yes! I’ll definitely prepare well! Thank you, Sister Wen.”

Recent life and work had been very pleasant. Zhan Xi felt she almost had no worries.

Every day she went to work and came home, then went to 1504 to spend time with Little Fish, ate the food he cooked, washed dishes after meals, then they would go for a walk, chat for a while after returning, practice sign language, play with the cat, and around 10 PM Zhan Xi would go home.

Spring was the season when cats shed their fur. Gift shed a lot, and Luo Jingyu would regularly use a special cat brush to groom it, vacuum the room daily, and use a duster to clean cat hair off clothes.

Gift now had treats to eat – besides canned food, there were cat treats, dried fish, meat paste and such, all bought by Luo Jingyu. He was home all day and took very good care of Gift. Gift was also super attached to him and would compete with Zhan Xi for attention. Whenever it saw Luo Jingyu sit on the couch, it would dart over and curl up on his lap. When Zhan Xi approached, it would scratch its paws and bare its teeth at her.

With a cat as master, servants were bound to get hurt. Gift was already very well-behaved and knew to retract its claws when playing with Luo Jingyu, but occasionally it would still scratch his hands.

Zhan Xi was very upset about this. She treasured Little Fish’s hands so much – she loved holding them while chatting, sliding her fingers over each of his fingers and comparing their hands. Sigh… the difference in looks was so obvious. These beautiful hands had already made her heart ache when they got hurt making peonies, and now they were getting scratched by the cat too. She was so angry that she caught Gift and scolded it loudly.

Luo Jingyu’s shoulders shook with laughter, his throat making muffled “he eh ha ah” sounds. He rescued Gift from Zhan Xi’s hands and signed to her: [I’m fine, my hands don’t hurt. Gift is just a child, don’t scold it.]

Zhan Xi sat on the couch, watching his hands make a series of gestures in front of him. How interesting – these gestures used to be meaningless to her, like heavenly script, but now they clearly turned into distinct words floating in her mind.

On weekends, they rarely went on formal dates. Zhan Xi had sign language class on Sundays, and Luo Jingyu had quite a few custom orders to complete with quality and quantity.

Zhan Xi also needed to prepare for her interview. Transferring wasn’t simple – besides the interview there was also a written test. Fortunately, Luo Jingyu’s work table was very large. He would work at one end while she analyzed cases and took notes on her laptop at the other end. They each worked without disturbing the other.

Sometimes Zhan Xi would feel it was too quiet and play music to keep herself energized – instrumental music, piano pieces, or ballads. When she was in the mood she would also play fast songs. Once, screaming rock music nearly scared Gift off its cat tree.

Luo Jingyu couldn’t hear, but would quietly watch her across the table, watch her bob her head to the melody and rhythm, occasionally singing along with slightly moving lips, looking very happy.

This gave Luo Jingyu a deep sense of happiness.

Zhan Xi had asked him before if she could play music, worried he would be unhappy. He found it very interesting – why couldn’t she play music? He couldn’t hear, but did that mean Huanhuan had to give up these little hobbies too?

He told Zhan Xi not to be too concerned about his feelings, not to fear saying wrong things or doing wrong things. He wasn’t that sensitive. With him, she could do whatever she wanted, even dance at home.

Zhan Xi then giggled and asked him if she could cut her hair short. Luo Jingyu said yes.

She asked what about shaving her head bald? He was very confused but said okay, it would grow back anyway, but why shave it bald? Girls don’t look good bald.

Zhan Xi then asked if she could get a tattoo. Luo Jingyu said that was fine as long as it didn’t affect her work, since some workplaces had requirements about these things and some people were prejudiced against tattoos. She could get it in a place that couldn’t be seen.

Zhan Xi asked if she could smoke. Luo Jingyu just smiled and asked what she was really thinking. He said it wasn’t forbidden, but smoking was bad for health and would make teeth yellow.

Zhan Xi said she wanted to learn dancing, wondering if she was too old. Luo Jingyu said no no, if she wanted to learn then go learn – learning anything wasn’t about age, only about interest. Never mind dancing, if she wanted to learn piano or opera singing, he would support her.

They often had such childish conversations, talking about random things, using speech, sign language, and phones. They talked slowly but sincerely. Zhan Xi knew none of Luo Jingyu’s answers were perfunctory. For any of her wild ideas, he would carefully think about it, help her analyze it, and then give his opinion.

In the end, he would always add one sentence: You decide.

You decide – to Zhan Xi, this was truly the most touching phrase.

During the May Day short holiday, both Zhan Jie and Zhan Xi didn’t go home, using the same excuse – too busy with work, need to work overtime.

Chi Guilan was very angry and called to scold both her son and daughter. Thinking about how Luo Jingyu would be going to Shanghai for a month and a half, Zhan Xi invited her mom to come stay in Qiantang for a few days in late May, when the weather would be moderate and her transfer interview would be over, so she could take her mom sightseeing.

Only then did Chi Guilan’s anger subside, and she hung up the phone.

After the short holiday, Luo Jingyu finished all the orders Fang Xu had taken and started preparing for his trip to Shanghai.

Xu Qingyan had spent two months studying in Japan in February, and after returning had arranged course times according to student levels. The first advanced course was for Luo Jingyu’s level.

Only after talking with Luo Jingyu did Zhan Xi learn that in China, among those who studied this school of hot-pressing flowers, only four people remained at his level.

There were those at higher levels too, but even fewer. Xu Qingyan was three levels higher than Luo Jingyu. For levels higher than hers, there were none left in China, and only single digits in Japan.

No matter how niche this industry was or how few practitioners there were, Zhan Xi understood that Little Fish’s hot-pressing skill level was already very outstanding in China – there were only single digits better than him! What an amazing level! Top 10! This was her Little Fish – Master Craftsman Luo Jingyu!

This was her first time seeing Luo Jingyu pack for a trip. He didn’t bring many clothes since it was for study – just wash and change regularly. The most important thing was bringing his complete set of hot-pressing equipment, which could fill more than half a suitcase.

Zhan Xi crouched beside his suitcase, patted his arm, and asked a question she had long been curious about: “Little Fish, how much is the tuition for your advanced study?”

Luo Jingyu also crouched down, and after reading her lip movements, smiled and signed: [Guess.]

Now, “guess” had become a proper sign language gesture.

Zhan Xi rolled her eyes and held up one finger: “Ten thousand?”

She thought no matter what you studied, a five-figure tuition per term was already very high.

Luo Jingyu shook his head and gestured: [Guess again.]

Zhan Xi very seriously signed: [More? Less?]

Luo Jingyu furrowed his brows and curved his lips, like someone clicking their tongue. His right thumb and index finger pinched together, thumb flicking the index fingertip several times, meaning: [Less.]

Zhan Xi held up two fingers: “Twenty thousand?”

Luo Jingyu shook his head again: [Less.]

Zhan Xi widened her eyes and asked: “It can’t be thirty thousand, right?” She was already counting up by tens of thousands!

Luo Jingyu shook his head again, thought for a moment, then got up to get a piece of paper and pen from the table, and calculated the costs for Zhan Xi right there on the floor.

Tuition was the biggest expense, plus book fees, material fees, hotel accommodation, meals, and miscellaneous expenses. Adding everything up for a month and a half, it came to just under 100,000.

Zhan Xi was stunned.

“Oh my god!” She was so shocked she nearly fell on her bottom, only staying upright because Luo Jingyu grabbed her arm. She exclaimed in disbelief, “That’s so expensive! That’s equivalent to my annual salary!”

Luo Jingyu nodded and smiled while signing to confirm: [A lot of money.]

After finishing packing, Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi sat on the couch. He typed on his phone, occasionally adding sign language, to tell Zhan Xi the details about the advanced study.

At the lowest level, the tuition was still several thousand. Later, as the studies got harder and the levels got higher, the tuition kept increasing, really jumping up by tens of thousands each time.

But you could really learn skills. Every time he went, he gained a lot. Whether in concepts or techniques, there was huge improvement that made him feel those tens of thousands were well spent, like recharging once a year.

Luo Jingyu hadn’t told Zhan Xi about his past. It was a long story – he wanted to wait until her sign language was more fluent to tell her using sign language.

When he graduated from high school, he wanted to go to Shanghai to learn basic hot-pressing – something he had dreamed about for several years. The tuition plus other expenses totaled over 10,000, equivalent to two years of college tuition for Luo Xiaomei.

Yan Yajuan disagreed because Luo Jingyu couldn’t explain what he would do after learning it. Wasn’t hot-pressing just handicraft? Making artificial flowers – why was the tuition so expensive?

Later, it was Luo Xiaomei, who had already graduated and started internship, who took out all her savings accumulated over several years to let her brother study the craft. After paying the tuition, both siblings were scolded by Yan Yajuan. Luo Jingyu said to count it as a loan that he would definitely repay, and later he did indeed pay it back in full.

Those years were very hard for him. The handicraft industry needed a workspace, but he didn’t even have a room in his parents’ home, always sleeping on a small bed in the living room, unable to work. So he had to rent a place to live.

Initially he shared rent with Chen Liang, but after Chen Liang got a girlfriend, he rented alone – a farmhouse room with a bathroom for four or five hundred per month. He set up a large work table, with just a one-meter wide bed for sleeping.

He worked day and night, making all sorts of things, having Chen Liang sell them at night markets, having Maomao sell them in online shops, and also making hot-pressed accessories for Xu Qingyan. That’s how he managed to support himself day by day.

Even after saving some money, he remained frugal because the annual advanced study fees were a huge expense. He could only save on food and clothes. With his tall height, he once got so thin he weighed just over 110 pounds, simply because he could only afford to eat noodles for every meal.

At that time he was still very confused about his future. Sometimes he would sit beside his work table in a daze. Craftspeople’s hands getting injured was common. When it hurt and he was applying medicine, he would feel a bit wronged.

He wondered if hearing people had to work as hard as him, if their lives were more colorful? Healthy peers their age had so many majors to choose from for university, unlike deaf people who only had a few schools and majors to pick from, with so many people across the country competing for them. After graduation, they didn’t even know if they could find work.

The year he bought his house, he didn’t go for advanced study because he really couldn’t afford the tuition, but he still chose to buy a large unit.

Qingque Gate was in a remote location, and at that time housing prices there were at a low point in Qiantang. When Luo Jingyu bought this house, he felt he could live there until old age. Later when his parents got old, he could even have them move in to live together.

He had lived alone for many years in a silent world, busy but lonely. Every year he would treat himself once, traveling to relax, almost always going to see famous mountains and rivers.

He liked the feeling of looking down at all the mountains after climbing to the peak. It made him feel that compared to nature, humans were really tiny. Looking toward the horizon, he would no longer fixate on whether he could hear or not.

He had even tried shouting loudly at empty mountain peaks, startling a few birds. He didn’t know what sound he made or how loud it was, only feeling cathartic.

He never thought that one day he would meet a girl called Zhan Xi, like a bright ray of sunlight breaking through on a gloomy winter day when clouds and fog suddenly dispersed.

He didn’t think much about his hard times anymore, feeling that things were good now. He had clearer goals for the future, waking up every morning feeling full of energy.

Huanhuan was also someone willing to work hard for her dreams. He liked watching her study seriously. He thought she would definitely succeed in transferring departments – Egg Teacher was much smarter and more capable than him.

—

The day Luo Jingyu left for Shanghai, Zhan Xi didn’t go to the high-speed rail station to see him off because she had to work.

She only went to 1504 in the morning to have breakfast with Luo Jingyu.

They agreed that Gift would still stay on the fifteenth floor, and Zhan Xi could stay in whichever apartment she wanted at night. Luo Jingyu asked her not to forget to clean up the cat’s fur and also help take care of his plants.

He had labeled each plant with numbers and wrote a plant care guide for Zhan Xi – some plants needed water once a week, some every three days, some needed fertilizer. The guide explained everything clearly.

Zhan Xi asked: “Then before when you went for advanced study, who helped you take care of the plants?”

Luo Jingyu smiled and signed: [My sister and brother-in-law.]

Before Zhan Xi left for work, they hugged and cuddled for a while, very reluctant to part.

After all, they would be separated for a month and a half. Luo Jingyu said the course schedule was very tight with no rest days, because everyone had to stay in hotels – having rest days meant increased expenses and longer duration, so the students all agreed to not take breaks and just focus on studying every day.

[Wait for me,] Luo Jingyu signed to Zhan Xi, [Time will pass quickly.]

Zhan Xi made a sad face, her signing carrying her emotions: [Time will pass slowly!]

Luo Jingyu looked at her helplessly, his Adam’s apple moved, and he leaned down to kiss her – a deep yet gentle kiss. After the kiss, he signed: [Waiting for your good news.]

Zhan Xi raised her fist to him and signed: [I can do it!]

After Luo Jingyu left, Zhan Xi returned to living alone – going to work, coming home, eating while studying and missing Little Fish, practicing sign language at night, taking care of Gift, and needing to chat with Little Fish on WeChat before she could sleep contentedly.

On the weekend, she gathered with Luo Xinran and Zhao Qingqing once, telling Zhao Qingqing about Luo Jingyu’s situation.

Zhao Qingqing was extremely surprised. After reacting for a few seconds she said: “Ah… it’s okay, I just need to think about his face and I’m fine!”

Zhan Xi couldn’t stop laughing and asked her: “Then if I bring him out to gather with you all, would you mind?”

“Of course not!” Zhao Qingqing said, “I have a boyfriend now too! When your boyfriend returns from Shanghai, let’s bring all the men out and have six people play together, how about that?”

“Sure.” Luo Xinran said, “Come on, let’s take a photo and send it to the only single dog to tease her.”

The three girls cuddled close together and took a group photo to send to Yao Ying, making Yao Ying curse and whine in the group chat, threatening to end their friendship.

However, Zhan Xi’s life wasn’t all smooth sailing. She encountered one troubling matter.

A week after Little Fish left, Zhan Xi received a call from Qin Fei. Qin Fei’s tone sounded calm, but Zhan Xi could feel her anger burning.

Qin Fei said: “Zhan Xi, I don’t want to communicate with anyone else in your family anymore. Please help me pass a message to Zhan Jie – I’ll be waiting for him at the district civil affairs bureau at 10 AM on May 28th. Tell him to get his ass over there for the divorce. If he doesn’t come, I’ll file for divorce.”

Zhan Xi: “Sister-in-law…”

“Let me finish.” Qin Fei continued, “I’ve moved out for half a month now, and Weiwei is with me. The finances between your brother and me are clear – the house and car aren’t mine, and I don’t want them. He has no face to calculate savings with me. The issue now is Weiwei. He wants Weiwei, I want him too. Weiwei has clearly expressed wanting to stay with me, but if we go to court, because I temporarily don’t have a house, he’s likely to be awarded to your brother. I just have one point – if he wants Weiwei, fine. If he gets custody, we’ll specify in the divorce agreement how much child support I’ll pay monthly and how many visitation rights I’ll have. Besides that, he can forget about using overtime, business trips, or no time as excuses to dump Weiwei at my place! Since he got custody, please let him take on the responsibilities of a single father!”

Zhan Xi understood Qin Fei’s meaning.

Qin Fei: “Conversely, if Weiwei stays with me, it’s the same deal. I can guarantee that outside of visitation times, I absolutely won’t let him help take care of the child even for one hour. If he can agree to this, fine, let the court decide – whoever gets custody keeps the child! I’ll do what I say, this divorce is happening! Don’t try to use the child to threaten me!”

Zhan Xi thought Qin Fei was so fierce, she almost wanted to applaud.

Finally, Qin Fei said: “Also, please tell your mom to stop calling me! And my dad! My mom! Don’t try to make a scene at my workplace! I have clients, I’m not afraid of quitting. I can work just as well at another company! Please let her have some self-awareness. That man-child son of hers, no ability but quite the temper, only she could treat him like a treasure. Let her go find a docile, obedient daughter-in-law who’ll work like a slave. I don’t want to serve these weirdos in your family anymore!”

Zhan Xi didn’t know if she counted as one of the weirdos, left speechless.

Qin Fei gave a “hmph” and hung up the phone.

Zhan Xi was very troubled and angry. Zhan Jie clearly hadn’t handled things well, and mom still wouldn’t listen to advice, seemingly making more trouble and making Qin Fei even angrier. Things had finally reached the point of no return.

The most pitiful was Zhan Kaiwei. Zhan Xi knew he would probably be better off following Qin Fei, but this way, she would rarely have chances to see her little nephew again.

Zhan Xi ultimately didn’t call Chi Guilan, but called Zhan Jie instead, passing along all the messages. Zhan Jie listened silently on the phone. Zhan Xi didn’t dare comfort him or say anything else, quickly ending the call.

A few days later, the time finally came for Zhan Xi’s department transfer interview.

She took extra care with her appearance, putting on light makeup, wearing a professional skirt suit, tying her hair in a ponytail. Looking at her energetic self in the mirror, she made a fist and said: “Go for it, Teacher Egg!”

Luo Jingyu sent her a WeChat message early in the morning.

[Big Fish]: Huanhuan fighting fighting fighting! [Cheer]

[Egg Pudding]: Charge!!! [Fist]

Yuan Sichen and others had long known about this, and like Wenqin, expressed understanding. After all, Zhan Xi wasn’t quitting – they would still be colleagues. Before she went for her interview, they all wished her good luck and said she’d have to treat them to a meal if she succeeded.

This time there were only two people applying to transfer to the Planning Department, the other being a colleague from the Business Department. Zhan Xi took the written test with him first, which had some case analysis questions about company products, projects, and classic cases from the Planning Department. Zhan Xi had studied these thoroughly and felt very good about her answers when submitting the test.

Then came the interview. Similarly, Zhan Xi had prepared thoroughly and could talk confidently about every question, emphasizing her college major and planning work experience during internships, confident she could do the job well.

Because it was an internal transfer, there was a PPT presentation assessment of planning cases, ten minutes per person. Zhan Xi and the other colleague only received the materials the day before.

She had studied all night, practicing multiple times with strict timing. Now she confidently walked to the front of the conference room, looked at the four interviewers including Wenqin, and calmly began her presentation with the page-turning remote in hand.

She was a bit nervous at first, but the deeper she got into it, the calmer she felt. She was inexperienced, but her performance fully demonstrated her careful preparation for this interview and her eager desire for the new position.

“That concludes my presentation.” Ten minutes later, Zhan Xi ended with a bright smile and clear voice, “Thank you everyone.”

The Planning Department manager led the applause, but Wenqin gave her an ambiguous look. Zhan Xi took a deep breath, not caring about Wenqin’s oddness as she finished the interview.

Back at the office, Yuan Sichen asked her: “How did it go?”

Only then did Zhan Xi’s heart start racing. Hand on her chest, she replied: “Pretty good, I think it should be fine.”

Yuan Sichen was very happy: “Our little Zhan is about to get promoted with a raise and reach life’s peak! You’re treating me to Japanese food the day after tomorrow, okay!”

Zhan Xi grinned from ear to ear: “No problem!”

Two days later, Zhan Xi came to work with careful makeup, full of expectations.

In the afternoon, she was called to Wenqin’s office. Before going in, Yuan Sichen and others gave her exaggerated smiles. Zhan Xi was very excited, almost running into Wenqin’s office.

She sat down across from Wenqin, never imagining that Wenqin would say: “I’m sorry, little Zhan, your transfer application wasn’t approved.”

Zhan Xi was stunned, like a bolt from the blue.

Her face turned pale as she began reviewing what she might have done wrong in the interview. Her mind was in chaos, but no matter how she looked back, she couldn’t find where she had slipped up.

She asked in disbelief: “Manager Wen, why? Can you tell me the reason? Where did I not perform well?”

Wenqin looked at her deeply, got up to close the office door, cutting off the peering gazes of several girls outside.

She returned to sit at her desk, considered for a moment, then said: “No, little Zhan, you performed very well. That day, whether the written test or PPT presentation, we all recognized your abilities. Manager Li from Planning really liked you. It’s just…” Wenqin seemed very troubled, struggling for a while before continuing, “I don’t even know how to explain this to you. This matter actually involves me, I need to apologize to you, because your mom called me.”

Zhan Xi froze, almost jumping up from her chair.

Wenqin continued: “She asked about your recent work performance, and asked about your love life. I don’t know much about your private life, but I talked to her about your department transfer, I’m really sorry, I thought she knew.”

Zhan Xi was about to collapse, truly, at this moment, she was about to collapse.

Wenqin’s face was full of apology: “Your mom… since after Spring Festival, she’s called me once every month. She’s my elder, I felt she was just concerned about you working and living here alone, so I didn’t think too much of it and always told her you were doing well. This time, after I mentioned your transfer, I didn’t expect her reaction would be so strong.”

Looking at Zhan Xi’s almost ashen face, Wenqin said, “She asked what the Planning Department does, so I explained a bit, also mentioning the work intensity issues, that it would definitely be more tiring than HR, overtime was common, pressure would be higher too, though income would be more. After hearing this, she told me absolutely not to let you transfer, because you’re taking the civil service exam in the second half of the year. She said you made it to the interview stage in the last provincial exam, very likely to pass next time. If you transfer, you won’t have time to study.”

Zhan Xi stared at Wenqin like a wooden puppet.

Wenqin sighed: “It’s my fault, I’m sorry. I tried persuading her, saying I thought you really wanted to transfer, that you were very passionate about Planning Department work and could handle it, but she wouldn’t listen. She said girls shouldn’t do jobs with too much pressure, she… even called my dad, got me scolded by him. What could I do?”

Zhan Xi asked: “Manager Wen, when did you receive my mom’s call? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

Wenqin said: “Five days ago.”

“Then why didn’t you come talk to me? Hear my thoughts? You know how much time I spent preparing for this transfer? I’ve been planning since last year, read so many proposals! Made so many notes! I- I prepared for months for the interview, and now you tell me because of one phone call from my mom, I was eliminated? Why didn’t you ask my opinion? My mom can’t represent me, I have my own thoughts!”

She was about to cry. Wenqin felt very bad too and tried to comfort her: “Little Zhan, it’s not elimination, you’re still in HR, right? We have promotion paths here too. I told you before, I want to train you for the training sector. Then you’re still going to take the civil service exam, right? Go take it. If you pass, your mom will be happy too. How stable that would be.”

Zhan Xi held onto a glimmer of hope: “Manager Wen! Can we still fix this? Don’t listen to my mom! You go talk to Manager Li! I want to go to Planning! I really want to go! You don’t need to mind what my mom says!”

Wenqin got angry: “You look down on HR work that much? This matter is already decided. The other colleague performed well too. You should know that applying doesn’t guarantee success. That colleague may not be as well-prepared as you, but he’s male, and Manager Li seems to prefer male employees.”

Zhan Xi blurted out: “You even discriminate based on gender?!”

“The decision maker wasn’t me!” Wenqin was truly angry now, “Why are you taking it out on me? You should communicate well with your mom. Take the civil service exam if you’re going to, don’t try to have it both ways! What do you take our company for?!”

Zhan Xi blinked back tears that threatened to spill, stood up and said: “Manager Wen, I’d like to take half a day off.”

Wenqin waved her hand: “Fine, go home and rest, adjust your mindset, have a good talk with your mom. We younger generation, if we can accommodate the elders, we should.”

—

Zhan Xi hid in the stairwell, sat down on the steps, and dialed Chi Guilan’s number.

When the call connected, Chi Guilan warmly called out: “Huanhuan.”

Zhan Xi got straight to the point: “Mom, why did you make Manager Wen reject my transfer application?”

Chi Guilan paused: “What transfer? What are you talking about, Huanhuan?”

Zhan Xi said coldly: “Don’t pretend. Manager Wen told me everything.”

“Oh, is it about you wanting to change departments?” Chi Guilan giggled, “Huanhuan, mom is doing this for your own good. You’ll definitely pass the civil service exam in the second half of the year. Isn’t it good staying with your Manager Wen? She can take care of you. Why change to another department? I heard that department is very tiring, often needs overtime.”

“What right do you have to interfere with my work?!” Zhan Xi shouted, “This is my own business! I can make my own decisions! I’m not afraid of being tired! I’m willing to work overtime! I just want to do planning work! What does it have to do with you?! Can you manage yourself?! Stop always managing my business! I’ve grown up! I don’t like you always snooping around! I have my own life, my own dreams, my own friends! Stop monitoring me like a surveillance camera! Reading my diary in elementary school, checking my backpack in middle school, checking my phone in college! I’m twenty-four now and you still want to check my phone! Can you respect me a little? I’m your daughter, yes, but I’m also an independent person! You’re my mom, but do you know how much I hate you now? You make me feel sick! I don’t want to be controlled by you anymore. I’ve been very obedient and good, I listened to you about which university to attend and what major to study!