Ah, this.
Zhang Yanping and Xin Jun both fell silent.
Only Qiaoqiao naively remarked, "So, Tianyu bro, are you giving gifts to get a raise?"
Zhou Tianyu laughed, "We look at performance, and my performance is fairly stable. Raises aren't that easy to come by. At most, giving gifts might lead to getting fewer newcomers assigned to my team in the future, so there's less hassle, making it easier to earn money."
"Then..." Qiaoqiao silently did the math, "That means you give gifts, but don't get a raise. Don't give gifts, still no raise—so why must you give them? Can't you just not give them?"
It wasn't as simple as that. Zhou Tianyu opened his mouth to argue, but then upon further thought, he didn't know what to say. Faced with Qiaoqiao's probing gaze, he racked his brains and came up with a metaphor:
