A parallel world.
Binhai City, a downtown office building.
Inside a company called Dingsheng Technology Co., Ltd.
With eyes rimmed in red, Lin Yuan finished making the last brand promotional advertisement.
He picked up the cup of goji berry tea on the desk and collapsed into his chair with a sigh of relief.
"Finally done."
Including today, he had already worked overtime for a full month straight.
Back when he had still been in college, he had cursed out internet tycoon Ma Jun online more than once after seeing him say that "996" was a blessing.
But looking at himself now, he had worked thirty days straight without a break, gotten up earlier than a chicken, gone to bed later than a dog, and started drinking goji berry tea while still young.
It was even worse than 996!
It was all because he had been young and ignorant back then, wrongly blamed Ma Jun, and only after being beaten down by society did he finally understand what Ma Jun had meant. As it turned out, 996 really was a blessing.
His mom had even told him to bring a girlfriend home this year.
A girlfriend? Heh.
He spent all year cooped up in this company, drowning in endless work from morning till night. Even if he were more handsome than Zun Long, it would still be useless.
He was indeed rather handsome, though, and some of the girls at the company had taken the initiative to chat him up. But as soon as they heard that he came from the countryside and was from a single-parent family, they backed off.
He still missed his university days. People who had struggled through society for several years were ultimately not as cute.
But he did not really care. Women only affected the speed at which I could throw a Hadouken.
If his mom pressured him too much in the future, he could always raise a dog, let it have a litter of chubby puppies, and bring them home for her to look after.
It was all the same whatever she raised. Dogs were sensible, obedient, and loyal.
That would save him from having a rebellious son someday and dying of anger.
People had to be happy. They should not wear themselves down mentally. Take one step back, and the sea and sky opened up.
After drinking the last sip of goji berry tea, Lin Yuan glanced at his watch. It was 8:05 p.m.
He could head home early today, play a few games with his buddies, then take a shower and grab a late-night snack. How wonderful.
Lin Yuan quickly packed up his things.
Actually, it was only a string of keys, a pair of Bluetooth earphones, a charger, and the figurine he carried with him everywhere—Joseph Joestar.
Joseph Joestar was his favorite character from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: humorous, wise, and optimistic.
Looking at him every day gave Lin Yuan at least a little spiritual comfort during his miserable overtime days.
"I'm leaving, I'm leaving. Staying in this hellhole and breathing for even one more second is shaving years off my Lifespan."
Lin Yuan left his workstation, strode toward the entrance, and hummed a little tune.
But halfway there, he was blocked by a middle-aged man in a suit.
The man had a bloated face, a short and slightly pudgy build, gold-rimmed glasses, and hair parted three-seven. He looked at Lin Yuan with a sly expression.
This man was the supervisor of Lin Yuan's department, Xu Guanqing. People had nicknamed him Xu the Skinflayer. He had parachuted into the company two years ago and was said to be a distant relative of one of the vice presidents.
"Where are you rushing off to?" Xu Guanqing asked sarcastically.
Lin Yuan, who stood 1.82 meters tall, lowered his eyes and glanced at Xu Guanqing, who barely reached his chest.
"I'm going home, Supervisor. It's time to get off work."
Xu Guanqing raised an eyebrow. "Get off work? Have you finished your work?"
"Of course. Didn't I send you the company's brand promotional video by email?"
"You sent it to my email?"
"Yeah. I also sent you five or six messages on Feixin reminding you to check it."
If you didn't read them, what did that have to do with me?
Lin Yuan looked displeased and glanced at his watch from the corner of his eye.
8:15! Damn it, this idiot had delayed him by several more minutes. He could have swept a shared bike for that amount of time.
Xu Guanqing's eyes flickered. Having spent the entire afternoon watching beautiful women livestream, how could he have noticed Lin Yuan's messages?
But that was not important. The key was this kid's attitude.
Xu Guanqing's expression instantly turned stern. Pointing at Lin Yuan's nose, he said harshly:
"Can work ever really be finished? You think you're done just because you completed the brand promotional video? There's still a mountain of work left for the entire company. Look at your colleagues—who's leaving right now? It's not even nine o'clock, and you're already packing up to leave. Have you ever thought about how your behavior will affect the company's excellent corporate culture?"
Everyone at their workstations pricked up their ears when they saw this.
"Xu the Skinflayer is blowing up again."
"Lin Yuan's in trouble this time."
Let's wait for the show.
Seeing Lin Yuan stand there in silence, Xu Guanqing could not help feeling pleased with himself. He enjoyed the feeling of being above others and lecturing them.
Especially after recently watching Doumi videos about how people born in the '90s and 2000s were "reforming the workplace." He could only laugh.
Reforming the workplace? Absurd! A couple of beatings would teach them who was reforming whom.
Still, a lesson was a lesson. After delivering a slap, he had to offer a sweet date, or how could he make these young people work like indentured laborers?
The art of ruling subordinates lay in balancing severity with leniency. Xu Guanqing firmly believed this.
Seeing that the timing was about right, his expression gradually softened.
Xu Guanqing raised his hand, patted Lin Yuan on the shoulder, and said earnestly, "Lin Yuan, you're still young. You need to take the initiative to learn and master more skills. That's the only way to survive better in society. If you suffer more while you're young, you'll be able to enjoy life when you're old."
"Look outside. The pressure of competition is so great, and there are unemployed people everywhere. Last time, a postgraduate from one of the top 985 universities came here for an interview and still got rejected. You need to cherish this opportunity. The company giving you this job is a blessing. You need to be grateful and have a sense of mission. Don't treat work as merely work. Treat it as your lifelong career."
"Okay. Thank you for your guidance, Supervisor."
Xu Guanqing smiled in satisfaction upon hearing this.
"So can I leave work now?"
Xu Guanqing's smile froze, as if he had heard something unbelievable.
"What did you say?"
"I said, can... I... leave... work... now?" Lin Yuan said one word at a time.
Who was he trying to fool? Lin Yuan looked at him as if he were an idiot.
Xu Guanqing instantly flew into a rage!
"Looks like you didn't understand me. Since you have so little awareness, don't take the day off for the Mid-Autumn Festival the day after tomorrow. The company happens to have a project that needs two people to follow it. You'll stay behind and work overtime."
"What did you say? I didn't hear you." Lin Yuan dug at his ear and said indifferently.
"I said you're staying behind to work overtime during the Mid-Autumn Festival!!!" Xu Guanqing shouted at the top of his lungs, leaning close to Lin Yuan's face.
Smack!!!
Accompanied by a crisp slap, everyone eating melon at their workstations froze, staring at the scene in disbelief.
Xu Guanqing's gold-rimmed glasses flew off instantly. His body was knocked slightly to the side, and he stood there stunned.
"Why the hell did you get so close? Do you know you just sprayed spit all over me?"
"Lin Yuan, you..."
Before he could finish, another slap landed.
"You what, you idiot? What the hell are you?"
After saying that, Lin Yuan shoved him hard, nearly making him take a face-first dive.
Without even looking back, Lin Yuan headed toward the entrance and left the company.
He waved his slapping hand, leaving not so much as a cloud behind, while an entire group of people stood there dumbfounded.
That night, the Dingsheng Company employee gossip group exploded.
"Did everyone hear? Lin Yuan from the Publicity Department slapped their supervisor, Xu Guanqing. Two slaps—smack, smack, loud as hell."
"Holy crap, for real? He's that brave?"
"Pictures don't lie. I'm from the Publicity Department. It was incredible at the scene."
A person with a Luffy profile picture sent several pictures in a row, perfectly capturing the moment Lin Yuan slapped him.
"Holy crap, that slap was insanely cool."
"Now that's fierce."
"A true man! Ahhh, it feels like my passionate youth has returned."
"Xu the Skinflayer deserved that long ago. Damn, I only regret that I wasn't the one to do it."
"Heh."
"Heh."
"Heh ×21"
"Would you dare? You're only good at running your mouth."
"By the way, isn't Lin Yuan in this group?"
"@Lin Yuan."
"@Lin Yuan."
"Handsome Lin, come out and chat."
After they tagged him for quite a while, a message finally appeared in the group: Lin Yuan has left the group chat.
Before you continue