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After Being Laid Off, I Realized I Was the Company's Landlord
墨書 Inktalez
I, Lin Wei, have been at Shengmei Beauty Salon for three years! When I first arrived, I was just an operations assistant who knew nothing, running around with a pile of documents every day. At that time, I felt a strong determination inside me; I was unwilling to remain just a small assistant. Honestly, I’m not much, but I’m capable! For Shengmei, I truly gave it my all.
I still remember one time when the boss, Zhang Cheng, urgently needed an online event proposal. He was pacing back and forth in the office with a furrowed brow, muttering to himself, “What are we going to do?” I stood up confidently and said, “Mr. Zhang, I’ll write the proposal!” I grabbed a pen and started writing. That night, I stayed up until three in the morning and managed to put together a detailed and innovative proposal. The next morning, I placed it on Zhang Cheng’s desk. After reading it, his eyes lit up as he patted my shoulder and praised me, saying, “Lin, you’re truly a hero of our salon!” That smile of his made the wrinkles on his face deepen.
As for offline promotions? That was even easier! Once, to create buzz for the new store opening, I rolled up my sleeves and led the team in handing out flyers in every corner of the streets until my voice went hoarse. To reward our members, I stayed up late crafting proposals and revised them repeatedly until I was satisfied. I really turned a small beauty salon that no one knew about into a local sensation.
I dare say that half of Shengmei ’s success today is due to my efforts. Every month, I brought in over a hundred new clients for the salon, and our returning customer rate remained high. Every day, I was busier than a spinning top; I had to squeeze time to eat and worked overtime at home. Sometimes I even dreamed about how to boost our performance further and how to make more people aware of Shengmei. At that time, I felt like a brick in Shengmei; wherever they needed me, that’s where I would go. I thought to myself that surely my efforts were visible to the boss; he couldn’t be blind to them.
But! Reality is indeed more absurd than any drama.
Zhang Cheng, the owner of Shengmei, is a greasy middle-aged man. At first, he was relatively polite to me; he would often pat my shoulder with a smile full of wrinkles and say things like “Lin, you’re truly a hero of our salon!” Back then, naïve as I was, I genuinely believed he recognized my contributions and wanted me to work harder for him. Looking back now, I realize how young and foolish I was.
I worked tirelessly day and night to bring him clients and help grow the business stronger. And what did he do? He set his sights on Li Na, the head of the Customer Department whom I had nurtured myself.
Li Na—let me tell you honestly—I always thought she became head of the Customer Department purely because of her looks and charm. Every day at work, she would show up with exquisite makeup and revealing outfits. She would sweetly call Zhang Cheng “Mr. Zhang,” her voice dripping with honeyed tones that made me want to gag. She would buy “office snacks” and pretend to be busy working while actually doing nothing all day.
Once, I saw her walk up to Zhang Cheng’s office door with a box of chocolates and say in a sugary voice, “Mr. Zhang, you’ve worked hard! Have some chocolate for energy!” Her voice was so sickly sweet that I rolled my eyes at her antics.
Zhang Cheng? He fell for her act completely; every day he seemed dazed by her charm as if he were under some spell. To promote her rise in the company, he began suppressing our operations department. Not only did he attribute our department's achievements to Li Na but he also started cutting our budget. The events that I had painstakingly planned were suddenly credited to the Customer Department during promotions. He would publicly praise Li Na in front of all employees while treating me like an invisible person; it was a relief when he didn’t create trouble for me.
During one meeting, Zhang Cheng pointed at me in front of everyone and said: “Lin Wei, look at your operations department! All they do is spend money! Look at how well the Customer Department performs!” After saying this, he shot a glance at Li Na—who smiled like a blooming flower—and my heart sank as if I were nothing more than an exploited tool.
Even worse was when he began openly favoring Li Na. At first, I thought he just wanted to balance the strengths of both departments—how naive of me! A sense of crisis began creeping in; I realized that something had to change.
The proposals that I worked so hard on were constantly criticized by him—he would say this part wasn’t good or that part didn’t work. Sometimes it felt like he hadn’t even looked at them just so he could pick on me. Once when I handed him a carefully prepared proposal, he didn’t even glance at it before tossing it onto his desk and scoffing: “What is this? There’s no innovation here!” At that moment, my anger boiled over as I thought: How could I have been so blind for such a person? During that period, there were many nights when I'd wake up drenched in sweat from anxiety.
Then my salary began to be gradually slashed. He found some excuse about high operational costs and cut my performance bonus by half. He was incredibly stingy! What infuriated me even more was that during staff meetings he would mock my clothing choices compared to Li Na’s fashionable attire—it felt like being stripped bare in front of everyone! Not only that but under the pretext of “training new talent,” he reassigned me to menial tasks—running errands and collecting documents—completely sidelining me from core business activities. It felt like being reduced to nothing more than a maid without any value.
I remember once when he called me into his office and pointed at what I was wearing saying: “Lin, look at what you’re wearing! What era are you from? You should learn from Li Na about how to dress well.” At that moment, my fists clenched tightly as I struggled not to explode.
But it didn’t stop there; he began belittling me in various situations both openly and subtly. During meetings, he would compare me with Li Na praising her excellence while criticizing our operations department as “unambitious” and “lacking innovation.” Listening to this felt like needles piercing my heart; it hurt deeply knowing all my previous efforts were reduced to mere jokes in his eyes.
Even worse were those colleagues who followed suit with Zhang Cheng distancing themselves from me behind my back gossiping about how “I had fallen out of favor.” Those who used to smile warmly at me now looked at me with disdain; some even avoided me altogether fearing they might get caught up in trouble with their boss. Truly cold-hearted!
My once-loyal apprentice Li Lian also showed this same face. She used to cling onto me calling me “Sister Lin” or “Master,” but now she turned around ingratiating herself with Li Na while frequently badmouthing me behind my back—it broke my heart! Once while getting coffee in the break room, I overheard her laughing with Li Na about my work abilities. My heart sank completely hearing Li Lian say: “Sister Na, look at Lin Wei now—she’s really not doing well anymore; she only has those few tricks left—so outdated!”
Li Na’s behavior only escalated further as she often flaunted her new designer bags or manicures right in front of me while condescendingly saying: “Lin Supervisor, we women need to rely on ourselves; otherwise how can we afford such beauty?” Her smug expression made me want nothing more than to slap her across the face! Every time she acted like this around me tightened my fists but reason told me now wasn’t the time for an outburst.
I treated her as a colleague while she viewed me as a stepping stone; what a stark contrast! It felt like being made into a joke where all my sincerity lay trampled beneath their feet.
I started feeling like this company wasn’t where I belonged anymore; my value here had been buried and trampled upon. Previously I'd thought if only I worked hard enough there would be rewards—but now reflecting on it made me realize how naïve that notion was! The effort versus reward ratio simply didn’t add up—the more effort put forth led only deeper disappointment instead! Each day at work became torture—I wanted nothing more than to slam down my papers and walk out—but no! I had to endure! To swallow down all grievances and frustrations until they paid dearly for their foolishness!
Finally during one routine meeting—I felt utterly defeated!
There I stood presenting our latest marketing plan while Zhang Cheng lounged back casually playing on his phone—not even bothering to pay attention! Before finishing what I'd prepared he interrupted sharply pointing at me: “Lin Wei! What have you been doing lately? Our performance has dropped so drastically yet you seem oblivious! Your operations department will soon close down!” His voice boomed loudly dripping with sarcasm cutting through my heart like daggers.
"Look at Li Na, managing the Customer Department so well, and then look at you! You're nothing but a waste! All you do is slack off in the office!" He continued to ramble on, his words dripping with disdain and contempt for me. At that moment, he resembled a clown, his ugly face fully exposed.
I was so humiliated that I couldn't lift my head, my face burning with embarrassment. I felt like a transparent person, stripped of all dignity. My fists were clenched tightly, my nails digging into my flesh. I held back the urge to explode. My heart trembled with a mix of anger, humiliation, and resentment; I was on the verge of breaking down.
Being publicly humiliated by my boss in front of all my colleagues shattered my self-esteem. I glanced up at Zhang Cheng and Li Na, my eyes filled with disappointment and rage. I knew I couldn't stay in this company any longer; remaining here would only bring me more pain.
In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to slap him across the face and walk out with style. But I couldn't act impulsively! Arguing now would be pointless; it was better to bide my time and wait for an opportunity to strike back! I silently vowed that they would pay for what they had done today; I would make them beg me on their knees.
From that day on, I began to conceal my brilliance. Every day at work, I pretended to be calm as if nothing had happened. I stopped arguing with my colleagues and ceased fighting with my boss. Instead, I spent my days quietly working in the office, no longer the person I used to be. I became taciturn, shutting myself off from others while observing everything around me.
On the surface, it seemed like I had resigned myself to fate. But inside me, a storm was brewing. I buried my grievances and frustrations deep within, waiting for the moment to explode.
I started secretly observing and gathering evidence against Zhang Cheng and Li Na. I discovered that Li Na, eager to make quick money, was colluding with Zhang Cheng to substitute inferior materials in beauty products. Those customers thought they were buying quality items when in fact they were being deceived—products from brands I had once carefully selected. Seeing the trusting expressions on those customers' faces felt like a heavy stone lodged in my heart; it was truly unbearable. I even wanted to tell them to leave before they were scammed. The urge to expose them was overwhelming, but reason told me that I had to endure and wait.
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