This was the first time Su Mian had ever heard someone describe someone as having "many minefields."
But after asking further questions, I quickly realized how accurate the word "Yu Liqi" was.
When Yu Liqi was 20 years old, she had already started her internship, participating in many news reports with her university professors.
She wrote a news article titled "An elderly man went to eat spicy hot pot, ordered a small bowl, and ended up paying 180 yuan. He went home and cried all night."
This report also influenced the local food administration, which required businesses to clearly display prices and prohibits the use of deceptively cheap units like 1 yuan/10g, instead requiring the use of common units such as "jin" or "kilogram".
The elderly woman later gave her sweet potatoes as a token of her gratitude.
At that time, she was full of enthusiasm and felt that her ideals were within reach.
Although she only reported on minor news stories about people's livelihoods, she genuinely helped others.
Others carry swords, I use my pen as a knife.
But soon, Zhou Tian extinguished her enthusiasm.
That day, her newspaper invited Zhou Tian, a big name in the industry, to give a lecture to the interns.
The club asked Yu Liqi to take a taxi to pick up Teacher Zhou Tian.
She also demonstrated the respect that a junior should show to a senior.
In the dead of winter, I arrived at Zhou Tian's building half an hour early.
As a result, Zhou Tian made her wait for two hours.
She could only keep apologizing to the driver who was waiting with her.
Then Zhou Tian went downstairs.
At first, he spoke normally.
But upon seeing that car, Zhou Tian immediately put on a sour face.
Yu Liqi took the initiative to greet him and express her respect, but he ignored her.
At that moment, Yu Liqi vaguely sensed that she might have offended him.
But I don't understand where I offended them.
She could only suspect that he and the driver had some kind of grudge.
After all, their expression changed only after they saw the car.
Then they arrived at the commune.
He finished his lecture in half an hour.
Then the president took the whole club and Zhou Tian out for dinner.
During the meal, all the employees took the initiative to toast Zhou Tian.
But Yu Liqi did not take the initiative.
Firstly, she has social anxiety and doesn't want to offer toasts to anyone she's dining with.
Secondly, she sensed that Zhou Tian didn't like her and was afraid he wouldn't drink her toast, which would be too awkward.
But the president specifically asked her to toast Zhou Tian.
As a student who hadn't officially graduated yet, Yu Liqi didn't dare disobey the club president.
She stood up, raised her glass, and went to offer a toast.
Zhou Tian glanced at her condescendingly, then raised his wine glass.
But just as Yu Liqi was about to bring her wine glass forward, he slammed it down on the table!
Pointing at Yu Liqi, he said to the club president, "I don't want to see this person!"
Yu Liqi was kicked out by the club president.
That evening, she received a message from the president of the company.
Tell her to go to the office tomorrow to pick up her internship certificate; she won't need to come back anymore.
Yu Liqi felt like the sky had fallen.
The main problem is that they have no idea what they did wrong or how they offended Zhou Tian.
Did the news reports he broadcast affect his interests?
She mustered her courage and asked the club president.
Only then did the president give her instructions.
It turns out that she committed three major workplace taboos that day.
First, the taxi she took was worth less than 1 million yuan. How could such a car be worthy of Teacher Zhou Tian's distinguished status?
She should have booked a luxury car worth over a million yuan online a day in advance to pick up and drop off Teacher Zhou Tian.
So Zhou Tian's expression changed when he saw the car.
Secondly, the fact that she needed to be urged by her superiors to offer a toast shows that she did not genuinely respect Teacher Zhou Tian.
Third, when she offered a toast, the tolerant and magnanimous Mr. Zhou Tian had actually given her a chance to reform herself. So he also raised his glass.
But to my surprise, she didn't bend over or lower her glass below Zhou Tian's, which is a major taboo in drinking etiquette.
When toasting a senior, how can you not bow and hold the glass very low?
These are all potential minefields for Zhou Tian.
She touched on something that completely offended him.
What Yu Liqi didn't expect was that Zhou Tian actually used his influence in the industry to get several news agencies to refuse to hire her.
Some organizations even belittled and suppressed her, saying that she offended people at the dinner table because of her poor work ability.
Yu Liqi repeatedly encountered setbacks.
Even after officially graduating, he couldn't find a job for more than half a year.
Her family, who already looked down on her, offered her no emotional or material support.
They just berated her for being incompetent and forced her to return to her family's company as a clerk.
For a long time, Yu Liqi was unable to escape this psychological shadow.
She couldn't understand it either. All she did was not lower her glass when offering a toast; was that some heinous crime? Why was she being retaliated against like this?
And... does being well-versed in drinking culture necessarily mean someone is highly capable at work?
Why should such a simple mistake destroy all her ideals and beliefs?
That's absurd.
It's even more absurd than the seven deadly sins segment filmed at the end of a dating reality show.
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After learning about these things, Su Mian replied to her, "That old man really thinks he's something special... How did you find a new job later?"
Yu Liqi: "The head of the news agency I work for now is a woman who resigned to start her own business."
Yu Liqi: "When she was young, she also thought that it was very important to make leaders and seniors happy at the dinner table. She would remember the preferences of each leader and avoid all their sensitive spots..."
Yu Liqi: "But when she turned forty, she suddenly realized that no matter how skilled she was at pleasing Old Deng, she couldn't win their favor as much as younger and prettier people."
Yu Liqi: "She suddenly realized that she had been on the wrong path for half her life. Those workplace rules were clearly just things older men used to discipline young people, especially young women. So she resigned and started her own business."
Yu Liqi: "On my first day working under her, the company invited everyone to dinner. I thought I would have to toast people and hold my glass very low."
Yu Liqi: "But she said, 'I'll only drink if I really want to, and I won't drink if I don't want to. As long as I do my job well, I can do whatever makes me happy.'"
Su Mian wholeheartedly agrees!
Su Mian: "Only dogs who are obsessed with Ace need to be obedient and disciplined. Every other industry needs to demystify Old Deng."
Yu Liqi: "Hahahaha! That's right! We're here to work, not to play Ace's Love with Old Deng!"
Su Mian understood Yu Liqi's good intentions.
She said all this specifically to help her avoid Old Deng's triggers and to help her work go smoothly.
Su Mian replied with a "thank you" emoji.
The car had already returned to the Duan Family, so she stopped talking for the time being.
The three of them got out of the car.
When Su Mian picked up her bag, she felt its weight was off, so she casually asked, " Duan Xuanyu, have you seen my stick?"
Duan Xuanyu said, "It's in your suitcase."
It was just a very ordinary conversation.
Duan Hongxu, however, sensed something unusual.
He looked between Su Mian and Duan Xuanyu and asked, "Haven't you two known each other for many years? Why do you still call each other by our full names?"