Resignation

Zhao Danshi caught a cold the next day.

He came down with a high fever. His whole body felt as though he had been beaten, aching and sore all over. He could not get out of bed at all, and even the air he breathed out through his nose was scorching hot.

His alarm went off at seven in the morning. He turned it off on his phone, wrapped himself in his thick blanket, and went back to sleep.

His head hurt so badly that after turning off the alarm, he even forgot to call the company to ask for leave.

By the time the phone rang and woke him again, it was already past nine in the morning. The moment Zhao Danshi answered, his supervisor's displeased voice came through. "Zhao Danshi, what's going on with you?! Are you coming to work or not? It's this late and you still haven't shown up!"

Zhao Danshi's voice was weak. "Sorry, Supervisor Liu. I caught a cold today and need to take sick leave to go to the hospital."

His supervisor was very unhappy. "Why didn't you say so earlier? You still haven't submitted your drawings. They were supposed to be handed in yesterday. Now that work has already started, you're asking for sick leave. Who knows whether you're actually sick or just overslept?"

Zhao Danshi said helplessly, "I really do have a cold. If you don't believe me, forget it. Just treat it as me lying. I won't ask for sick leave either. I'm resigning."

His supervisor was instantly dumbfounded. Just as he was about to say something, Zhao Danshi had already hung up decisively.

Idiot! Zhao Danshi cursed softly in his hoarse voice, rubbed against his pillow, then burrowed back into the blankets and fell asleep.

He slept until the afternoon, finally waking to the sound of his stomach growling. Because of his cold, he had no appetite, but he was genuinely hungry. He could only drag himself up with aching reluctance, his exhausted steps heavy.

He was drenched in sweat. After being wrapped up for so long, he had started to smell a little. He poured himself a cup of warm water, searched for a long while, found a packet of cold medicine in the medicine box, mixed it with water, and gulped it down.

Even though Zhao Danshi was a virgin, he still had the common sense he ought to have. He guessed that things had been too intense yesterday. There was an injury behind him, or perhaps it had not been cleaned properly, and it had become a little inflamed today, which was why he had developed a fever.

Under these circumstances, he definitely needed anti-inflammatory medicine. However, he did not have any at home, so he would have to go out and buy some later.

He usually cooked at home, but he was too sick today. He had no appetite and did not want to eat food he had made himself. So he tidied up, went to the bathroom to take a shower, then threw on a coat and went downstairs, weak in both hands and feet, to eat wontons.

He had lived here for a while and often ate wontons downstairs, so the owner of the wonton shop had become familiar with him. Seeing his complexion, the owner was startled. "What happened to you? Why are you so pale?"

Zhao Danshi raised his slightly flushed eyelids and said weakly, "I accidentally got a fever."

"Hey, a fever is no small matter. Have you taken your temperature? How high is it? I have fever medicine here. Want me to get you a packet?"

"Thank you, but no need. I just took some fever medicine. Please get me something to eat first." Zhao Danshi looked up at the menu. "The usual, a ten-yuan bowl of plain wontons."

"Alright, just wait a moment. I'll bring it right out."

Seeing him like this, the owner hurried into the kitchen and efficiently started cooking the wontons.

To take care of a sick customer, the owner thoughtfully used less oil and salt, and added an extra half ladle of pork bone broth to his bowl. Yet when he brought it out, he saw Zhao Danshi adding vinegar, chili, and pickled vegetables. He did not leave out a single one.

In all his years of running the shop, the owner had never seen a patient so bad at taking care of himself. He hurriedly stopped him.

"Hey, don't eat such strong flavors when you're sick. Have something lighter."

Zhao Danshi looked up at him with his face slightly flushed and waved a hand. "Forget it. I have no appetite at all right now. If I don't add these, I can't eat it."

Hearing that, the owner could only let it go. That evening, he went into the kitchen and freshly made a serving of ginger soup for him as a complimentary drink.

Looking at the steaming ginger soup, Zhao Danshi did not know why, but his eyes suddenly grew hot.

After eating the wontons, he could not be bothered to go to the hospital. He simply walked a few steps to a chain pharmacy and bought anti-inflammatory medicine, fever medicine, and a thermometer. He planned to take the medicine himself first and only go to the hospital if things really did not improve. The area behind him still hurt, and he did not even dare take strides that were too large.

He had originally wanted to buy some ointment for external use. He stood in the pharmacy looking for quite a while, but in the end, he was too embarrassed to ask.

Forget it. The human body had powerful healing abilities. Such a small wound would slowly heal even if he left it alone. Besides, he had already bought anti-inflammatory medicine, so there should not be any major problem.

After finally filling his stomach, Zhao Danshi returned home, took his medicine, and still remembered to brush his teeth before crawling back under the covers.

Perhaps because of the medicine, he fell asleep almost as soon as he touched the bed. Yet his sleep was restless. Countless dreams came one after another: Li Ping one moment, then his parents, whom he had long severed ties with, the next. It was a complete mess, one after another taking the stage, tangling around Zhao Danshi for half the night until cold sweat layered across his forehead again and again.

Early the next morning, Zhao Danshi's stubborn biological clock finally did its job, waking him at his usual time for work. He was still a little dizzy, but his forehead felt cool. His fever should have broken.

A cold usually took around a week to recover from. As long as there was no fever, it was not a serious issue and would not affect daily life too much.

Zhao Danshi instinctively got dressed, put on his shoes, and went to wash up. Only when he reached the bathroom did he suddenly remember that he had already resigned. His steps paused, and he sighed inwardly.

Although he had wanted to resign for a long time, getting hired in the first place had been difficult. He had made it through round after round before finally earning the position. Now that he was suddenly leaving the job he had worked so hard at for so long, he truly felt a little reluctant.

Though he said he had resigned, Zhao Danshi had only said so verbally over the phone. He had not gone back to complete the procedures yet, so he needed to make another trip to the company today.

After washing up, Zhao Danshi turned on his computer and formally drafted a resignation letter.

Not long after he arrived at the company, his supervisor came in as well. Seeing him sitting at his desk, the supervisor gave a cold snort and gestured for him to enter the office to discuss things in detail.

The moment he entered the office, his supervisor sneered, "Didn't you say you were resigning? Why did you come again today? Let me tell you, you asked for leave too late yesterday. It can't count as sick leave, only personal leave."

Zhao Danshi glanced at him and took out the hand that had been hanging at his side. It held a resignation letter. "I really am resigning. I came today to complete the departure procedures. Is this convenient for you?"

His supervisor had always clashed with him, but he was actually quite satisfied with Zhao Danshi. Zhao Danshi came from a prestigious university, was highly capable at work, and took his job seriously. He worked from nine in the morning to ten at night every day without much complaint.

His supervisor might resent his inflexibility, but if he really resigned, the company would not be able to recruit another employee as outstanding as him anytime soon.

The performance of subordinates was closely tied to a supervisor's salary. Even for money's sake, his supervisor did not want Zhao Danshi to resign.

His supervisor stared wide-eyed at the resignation letter in Zhao Danshi's hand for a long time. He forcibly swallowed his anger and barely managed a smile. "I only said a few things, and you really want to resign? Have you found another job?"

Zhao Danshi shook his head.

His supervisor let out a breath of relief, then glanced at him lightly and quickly. "Jobs aren't easy to find these days. You know what the work environment at our company is like. If you look elsewhere, the salary and other conditions may not be as good as ours. Otherwise, you wouldn't have come to interview here in the first place, right? You were sick yesterday and called a little late. I'll talk to HR and have them change your personal leave to sick leave. Take your resignation letter back first and think it over carefully."

Zhao Danshi gently placed the resignation letter on his desk. "There's no need, Supervisor Liu. I've already thought it through. Thank you for your guidance these past days. I came today to hand over my work and complete the procedures."

His supervisor would not listen. He pushed the resignation letter back to him again and said with a stern face, "Work is busy this morning. Take the resignation letter back first. We'll discuss this when we have time."

Zhao Danshi looked at him but did not take the resignation letter. He turned and returned to his desk.

He was used to seeing things through from beginning to end. The design drawing from the day before yesterday had not been finished, so he needed to work on it some more. There were other things as well. Since he had already decided to resign, he had to hand over everything properly.

His colleagues were all surprised to learn that he was resigning. Their salaries were not especially impressive, but they were decent enough and fairly respectable for this city.

To be honest, the current financial climate was not good. In this line of work, no matter where one went, one would be exploited, and overtime was unavoidable. It was better to stay with what one knew than start over somewhere new. Working steadily in one place also gave one a better chance of being promoted.

No matter how his colleagues asked, Zhao Danshi stubbornly insisted that he was resigning because something had happened back in his hometown and he needed to return there.

Once he gave that excuse, no one could press him further. A few colleagues who were close to him could only secretly arrange to go drinking with him that evening as a farewell.

Zhao Danshi's rear still hurt, so there was no way he could go out drinking.

He vaguely thanked them. "Thank you, everyone. My cold hasn't gotten better yet. I'll treat you all to drinks once I'm feeling better. Besides, the resignation process won't be completed anytime soon."

Little Li asked, "What are your plans from now on?"

"I don't have any plans yet. I'll just drift along for now. I still have savings, so I'll go home and rest up for a few months first."

"That's true. Your health is the most important thing. Go home and take good care of yourself."

Zhao Danshi thanked them. Once he finished that design drawing, he had no more tasks for the day. After working here for so many days, it was the first time he had gotten off work on time and seen the sun before it set.

He could not help feeling a little emotional. He had worked himself to the bone for so long that he could not even see the sun. What had he been struggling for every day? What was the point of earning so much money? You might have the life to earn it but not the life to spend it.

Since he got off early today, he found a shared bicycle, unlocked it with his phone, and leisurely rode home.

To become an eco-friendly city, this city had specially planned dedicated bicycle lanes. Both sides of the road were planted with beautiful silk floss trees, and now was their blooming season. The trees were covered in brilliant pink blossoms. Riding beneath them felt like passing through a cloud of flowers.

Zhao Danshi was in an unusually good mood. He could even smell the fragrance of flowers in the wisps of breeze blowing toward him.

After leisurely passing through two streets like this, he suddenly heard a somewhat mechanical voice by his ear. "Hello."

"Hm?" Zhao Danshi instinctively turned to look. A few scattered bicycles passed him from the side, but he did not see anyone speaking.

The voice by his ear repeated, "Hello. I am Watcher."

Thank you to Sweeping Monk for the landmine, mwah~