Under the night sky of Tiannan City, lights shone brilliantly. Tian Hai Media, a small company in Tiannan, also had its lights on.
In the employee area, there was only one person working overtime.
It was an ordinary-looking young man, who was staring at his computer screen. Despite the tiredness written all over his face, his eyes were unusually spirited. His desk was messy, with documents and food wrappers strewn about.
After a while, the young man blinked his dry eyes and licked his lips, searching through the clutter on his desk with his hand.
He found nothing.
He smiled wryly, crumpling up a paper bag in his hand.
"Thump, thump, thump", the sound of someone knocking on the glass door came through; a bald head poked out of the manager's office.
"Bai Xiaosheng, are you done yet? It's been several days, I need it today!" the bald man barked.
Bai Xiaosheng's face darkened slightly, but in the end, he responded calmly, "Mr. Zhou, it will be ready immediately, I'm sending it to you now."
Zhou Tiansheng! Bai Xiaosheng thought of the bald man's name, his gaze darkening.
This jerk had altered the plan, causing extreme dissatisfaction with the client and the boss to rage, and in the end, he still shifted the blame to him, pleasing the client with his original concept - what a complete asshole!
Afterwards, the overtime proposed by Zhou Tiansheng meant that it was he, Bai Xiaosheng, who did the work, while the boss slept soundly in the office as soon as the boss left.
"Check it thoroughly before handing it to me, don't miss anything again!" Zhou Tiansheng, seeing Bai Xiaosheng's indifferent response, snorted coldly and withdrew his head.
The packaging bag in Bai Xiaosheng's hand crinkled noisily.
At that moment, he really wanted to hit someone.
But...
Bai Xiaosheng's grip gradually loosened.
He had to eat to live, pay for rent and utilities, and there was also the new mortgage! These pressures were suffocating him. To afford that few square meters of space, he had scrimped on food and clothing, losing all his temper.
He needed this salary, and even more, the money from his housing provident fund.
For this, he had to endure!
"A true man can endure. A gentleman's revenge may wait for ten years!" Bai Xiaosheng chanted in his heart.
Buzz, buzz, suddenly the vibrating sound of a cellphone rang out. Bai Xiaosheng picked up the phone and his expression changed slightly at the name displayed.
The caller was, Xu Fang?
Xu Fang was a blind date introduced by a distant relative of Bai Xiaosheng; they had met once. The girl was quite attractive, fashionable and good-looking. However, her conversation was rather materialistic, and she and Bai Xiaosheng were not on the same wavelength; he had already decided not to contact her again.
To his surprise, Xu Fang had called him.
"Xu Fang?" "Yes, it's me."
Bai Xiaosheng answered the phone and Xu Fang chuckled.
Then, they exchanged a few insipid pleasantries.
What, did you call me because you like me? Bai Xiaosheng smiled ruefully to himself. He was probably overthinking it.
Bai Xiaosheng vividly remembered the disdain in the girl's eyes when they last parted. Would a woman like that fall for a man with no money and average looks? No chance.
"I heard you have two tickets to Wei Moran's concert?" Xu Fang shifted the conversation to the real topic at hand.
Wei Moran, the big star?
Bai Xiaosheng recalled that his relative had mentioned getting a couple of tickets for him.
A Wei Moran ticket was rumored to cost thousands, and two would be nearly ten thousand. Bai Xiaosheng couldn't even bear the thought, especially since he had already decided not to continue seeing Xu Fang.
"Could you give me the tickets? I have a friend who also wants to go," said Xu Fang.
You're not going with me?
Bai Xiaosheng paused, curiously asking, "The two of you young ladies are fans of a female star?"
"It's a male friend," Xu Fang's voice paused for emphasis, "and it's not that he can't afford them, I'm inviting him."
"Also, Bai Xiaosheng, I think we might not be quite right for each other, but we can still be friends. Since we are friends, you'll help me with this favor, right?"
A male friend? Bai Xiaosheng blinked. Is it a boyfriend, perhaps? And all this in just a few days!
"Boyfriend?"
"Sort of," Xu Fang mumbled ambiguously, "the tickets, just give them to me."
On the other end of the phone, Bai Xiaosheng actually laughed, "Sorry, I don't have any tickets."
On the other end, Xu Fang spoke with noticeable discontent, "You, a grown man, are you really that stingy over two tickets? Weren't those tickets prepared for me? My boyfriend is very rich in Tiannan, with lots of connections. If you help me this time, I might have him find you a good job next time, getting you..."
"Thanks for the thought, but I don't need help with my job," Bai Xiaosheng hung up and blocked Xu Fang.
"Crazy!" After putting down the phone, Bai Xiaosheng couldn't help but curse.
So what if he's rich? It's his business if he's rich, and it's your business if you want to marry a rich man.
What's that got to do with me, Bai Xiaosheng!
Besides, is being rich such a big deal!
Bai Xiaosheng felt irritated just thinking about it. These past days, he had been troubled by money, with even the landlord watching him like a thief, afraid he'd run away. And now he'd encountered such a character.
"Bastard!" The more Bai Xiaosheng thought about it, the more stifled he felt, and he couldn't help but curse fiercely.
After cursing, Bai Xiaosheng silently sent the packaged documents to Zhou Tiansheng.
It wasn't five minutes before Zhou Tiansheng came out of the office, rushing out.
"Lock up when you leave, I'm heading out first; these days have been really exhausting," Zhou Tiansheng grumbled.
Bai Xiaosheng silently nodded without saying anything.
Zhou Tiansheng suddenly turned back, and under Bai Xiaosheng's puzzled gaze, he gave a weird smile, "The application for your housing fund is still with me. You see, these past days have been so busy, I forgot to give it to HR. You'll have to wait a few more days."
The documents that had been submitted half a month ago hadn't been given to HR yet and are still with Zhou Tiansheng?!
Bai Xiaosheng stared blankly at Zhou Tiansheng, watching him hurry away.
"Too bullying, dammit!" Unable to suppress his feelings any longer, Bai Xiaosheng bellowed, his eyes reddening as he sprang to his feet.
In the corridor, Zhou Tiansheng snickered silently and swiftly entered the elevator.
"Stop right there!"
Bai Xiaosheng yelled, but at that moment, his phone rang again.
In his anger, Bai Xiaosheng grabbed the phone, poised to smash it to the ground, but when he saw the caller's name, Mom, he froze.
Bai Xiaosheng became still, staring blankly at those two characters for a long time before finally pressing the answer button.
"Son, have you eaten?" The familiar voice cooled Bai Xiaosheng's burning fury.
"Son, the weather's been cooling down, it's getting chilly, make sure you wear more clothes!"
"Don't always drink carbonated beverages, they're bad for your health."
"Oh, how's it going with the girl your Aunt Liu introduced you to? I heard that girl is quite pretty..."
"Son, why aren't you saying anything?"
Listening to his mother's nagging, Bai Xiaosheng suddenly felt an urge to cry, a deep urge. It was only in this moment that he truly felt aggrieved, heartbroken, and the pain of being skinned alive by the reality, by money.
"Mom!" Bai Xiaosheng covered his eyes with his hand, his voice hoarse, "I'm doing alright here!"
God knows how much time passed before Bai Xiaosheng put down the phone, sitting silently at his desk, staring out the window at the myriad lights of thousands of homes.
Mom, I will do well, earn a lot of money, bring you over, and give you a good life.
I will be rich! Bai Xiaosheng bit his lower lip.
"Knock knock knock," a slow and steady knocking sound interrupted Bai Xiaosheng's thoughts.
Bai Xiaosheng quietly got up and walked to the door.
Outside the glass door of the company, stood two figures.
An elderly man in a sharp suit with graying hair, and a beautiful woman about Bai Xiaosheng's age.
"Who are you looking for?" Bai Xiaosheng asked with a frown.
The old man's eyes twinkled, calm and collected, sizing up Bai Xiaosheng before flashing a smile, "We're here for you!"