At 5:00 PM on a Sunday afternoon, in the office of a certain department at Jiancheng Company, Zheng Yang was scratching his head while rushing a PPT for the Cultural Tourism Project.
This wasn’t his area of expertise, nor was it his department’s responsibility, but General Manager Li had given him this tricky task anyway.
General Manager Li claimed he had high hopes for him because of his “great ability.”
‘He says he has high hopes for me, but if he really did, he’d give me a promotion and a raise! Making me do work that isn’t even mine… that’s having high hopes?! He’s just bullying an honest man!’
Zheng Yang grumbled as he shredded a newly printed document that didn’t meet the requirements.
‘This isn’t even my line of business. I don’t have the background, the customer contacts, or the key information. No matter how capable I am, how the hell am I supposed to do this!’
His chest heaved with rage.
The fire in his eyes made it look as if he wanted to personally take a blade to General Manager Li, the man who had assigned him this job.
However, he knew that this was just a way to vent.
Over the years, this kind of extreme pressure had always forced Zheng Yang to produce results before the deadline.
His superiors seemed to have recognized his knack for it, so they frequently handed him urgent, difficult tasks.
He had become a firefighter — a member of the crew, not the captain.
After all, the credit always belonged to the captain, never to him.
He was truly fed up, and he had truly had enough of “sucking up.”
But…
His phone rang. It was his wife.
“Hello…”
He answered weakly, hoping his wife would hear his helplessness and offer some comfort.
“Honey, the results for our son’s mock exam are out, and he only got over 400 points! At this rate, he’ll struggle to even get into a regular high school! Doesn’t one of the leaders at your company know the principal of No. 2 Middle School? Go find them quickly! You drink every day for no reason anyway; this is something actually worth drinking over. You must take this seriously!”
His wife’s voice was a mix of anger and worried sobbing.
Zheng Yang had no choice.
He replied feebly, “Fine, fine, I’ll find a way…”
Zheng Yang hung up.
He felt a surge of frustration rush to his head, giving him the urge to smash his phone.
But he couldn’t.
Not only could he not smash it, but thanks to his son and wife, he now had two more people he needed to “suck up” to.
‘It’s exactly like they say — when the woman runs the house, the roof caves in! No matter how many times I try to convince her, she won’t listen. If he can’t get into high school, just let him go to a vocational school! Does she have to make me go beg people!’
Zheng Yang shouted his frustrations toward his wife aloud.
He could no longer hold back his tears.
A 38-year-old man was now crying like a baby.
Five minutes later, Zheng Yang wiped his face and calmed himself down.
He poured a glass of water and prepared to finish the PPT while he drank.
Before he could finish the water, his phone rang again.
It was Xiao Zhao from his department.
He answered mechanically.
Was there another new task? It didn’t matter.
You can’t feel the itch when you’re covered in lice, and you don’t worry about debts once they pile too high.
“Brother Zheng, Manager Chen says he misses you. I explained that you still have work to finish, but he said you should relax before getting back to it. If you can’t finish, he’ll explain it to the General Manager for you tomorrow. So, Brother Zheng, why don’t you come over? We’re at Wuwei Ju, Room 206!”
Vice General Manager Chen was one of the company’s deputy managers.
He didn’t oversee Zheng Yang’s department, but they seemed to have a close relationship, and he often invited Zheng Yang out for drinks.
Zheng Yang put down the phone with a bitter smile.
‘Miss me? If he missed me, he would have called earlier. I bet he just wants me to show up and settle the bill.’
But he had to go.
When he was younger and full of hotheaded pride, he had offended Manager Chen.
After suffering for it, he had backed down and was forced into a life of “sucking up” to the man.
He glanced at the PPT on his computer, which wasn’t even half-finished.
Finally, he cursed, “To hell with it! I’m going to enjoy myself today!”
—
By the time he reached Room 206 at Wuwei Ju, Manager Chen, Xiao Zhao, and the others were already halfway through.
According to the rules, a latecomer had to drink two penalty glasses to catch up with the others.
Zheng Yang couldn’t explain that Manager Chen had called him late.
After a quick greeting, he picked up his glass and downed two in a row.
As Manager Chen led the group in clapping and cheering, Zheng Yang’s head immediately began to spin.
At the table, both Manager Chen and Xiao Zhao treated Zheng Yang like a brother.
Although Zheng Yang was dizzy, his mind remained sharp.
When Manager Chen repeatedly and seemingly unintentionally mentioned the word “singing,” Zheng Yang knew he couldn’t play dumb any longer.
“Let’s go, Manager Chen. Today is on me. We’ll go to Golden Era. I’ll book a room right now!”
Golden Era was a high-end business KTV in the city.
Zheng Yang had been there many times while accompanying various leaders.
As he spoke, Zheng Yang pulled out his phone and pretended to look for a number, putting on an expression that suggested he would be genuinely offended if he wasn’t allowed to pay.
Manager Chen smiled and said, “Old Zheng, how could I let you spend your money? Don’t worry, I’ve already arranged everything this time!”
“How can that be, Manager Chen? You’re looking down on your younger brother!”
Zheng Yang and Manager Chen leaned on each other, arms around shoulders.
While playing out the typical routines of adult men, they stumbled toward the car and headed for Golden Era.
Manager Chen always said he loved hearing Zheng Yang sing, and Zheng Yang would usually perform with all his heart.
But this time, Zheng Yang didn’t grab the microphone.
Under immense pressure, he was afraid that if he opened his mouth now, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from crying…
Manager Chen was busy kissing the hostess in his arms.
Xiao Zhao took over as the life of the party, howling Xiao Shenyang’s “My Good Brother” at the top of his unrefined lungs.
As Zheng Yang heard Xiao Zhao sing the line “My good brother, if there is bitterness in your heart, tell it to me,” he turned and started chatting with the hostess sitting next to him.
“Hey girl, what’s your name?”
“My name is Lili, Brother.”
Zheng Yang patted Lili’s leg, his breath reeking of alcohol.
“That’s nice. You’re young, beautiful, and sexy. And you make so much money… Hey, can I ask? In your line of work, how much do you make in a month?”
Lili whispered into his ear, “In a good month, maybe 20,000. When it’s bad, maybe 8,000 or 9,000.”
“Whoa, even a bad month is 8,000 or 9,000?”
Lili smiled and asked, “How much do you make, Brother?”
Zheng Yang held up five fingers.
“50,000?” Lili gasped.
“Hahaha, don’t laugh at me, but it’s 5,000.”
Lili’s expression seemed a bit awkward.
“That’s not a small amount, either.”
Zheng Yang laughed loudly and sighed, stroking Lili’s leg.
“I really envy you guys… I want to earn easy money like this, too…”
Lili stopped smiling and looked at him sideways.
“Brother, do you think our lives are easy?”
“Of course they are!”
Zheng Yang downed a glass of beer and slammed it onto the table with a loud thud.
“It’s nothing more than singing and hugging men. At most, you share a few kisses. It doesn’t involve those kinds of transactions, so the vice squad won’t even touch you…”
Hearing this, Lili’s brief surprise turned into a strange, eerie curve of her lips.
She leaned close to Zheng Yang’s ear.
“Then remember this, Brother — you asked for this yourself.”
Zheng Yang’s eyes were hazy with drink.
He didn’t hear the chill in her words at all.
Instead, he chuckled self-deprecatingly.
“You’re right. Everything has a cause and an effect. The pathetic state I’m in now… I brought it on myself. I deserve it! But… it’s already like this. It can’t be changed… there’s no way to change it…”
After speaking, he leaned back against the sofa.
The heavy alcohol hit him, making him feel as though his consciousness was falling into a black hole.
He kept falling and falling… both he and the world gradually blurred until he blacked out completely.