Dawn of Life

Lin Yue tried to move her lips, but ultimately gave up trying to persuade Yin Jie. After all, he was the one who was hiring, and he was considering the interests of the company and the team, which wasn't inherently wrong. Ultimately, this society is still a patriarchal one, and she couldn't change its evaluation system on her own.

After Lin Yue and Yin Jie finished reviewing the list, it was already lunchtime. She came out of the meeting room. In the corridor, employees were gathered in twos and threes. Although they tried to keep their voices down, Lin Yue could still hear them clearly.

"Have you heard? The company is laying off more than two hundred people this time, and they've already started the reshuffling."

"Ugh, this job is so boring. It's been over a year since the pandemic was lifted, but the economy is still in such a sluggish state."

"I think these are all just excuses; ultimately, it's a management problem. When Qin Lan was the HRD, she was able to fight for the interests of her employees. Look at Lin Yue now; she just does whatever the boss tells her to do and only cares about her own interests."

"President Lin, have you eaten yet?" A female colleague in her twenties pinched the person next to her and timidly greeted Lin Yue.

Recently, the team's atmosphere has hit rock bottom, and Lin Yue has no good solutions. The only thing she can do is quickly complete the layoffs to reassure those who remain and solve the problem.

At noon, Su Ling and Lin Yue ate at a Lanzhou noodle restaurant downstairs from the company. Fortunately, their entire marketing center was spared in this round of company layoffs. Shi Potian had taken quite a few people with him when he left, and since the marketing center was a profitable department, they usually wouldn't be affected by these cost-cutting layoffs.

Su Ling glanced around to make sure no one she recognized was there, then looked at Lin Yue and winked mysteriously, saying, "Dasheng is laying off staff, while Liu Zheng is hiring like crazy. When we joined last year, there were only about twenty people, and now there are over a hundred. When it comes to operations, Liu Zheng is much more professional; Shengxing is far behind. Several people from our department went there later, and I've kept in touch with them. If you weren't still at Dasheng, I would have considered going there too."

Lin Yue took a sip of noodle soup and said seriously, "If you feel that their side is more conducive to your development, I think you can definitely consider it."

After dinner, the formal layoff interviews began. The first person we interviewed was Xia Xiaofang, who was in a testing position.

In the meeting room, Lin Yue, Yin Jie, and Xia Xiaofang sat facing each other, with Xia Xiaofang staring intently at Lin Yue. When she heard rumors of layoffs, she had a premonition that she might be on the list, so she had checked the relevant legal provisions beforehand.

Lin Yue and Yin Jie exchanged a glance, then Lin Yue said, "Xiao Fang, considering the company's project situation and your personal performance, we can no longer continue our cooperation..."

Xia Xiaofang interrupted Lin Yue, saying, "Why me? Is Xiao Wang, who is frequently complained about by the product department, on this layoff list?"

Lin Yue turned her head and saw that Yin Jie's expression was a little unpleasant, so she replied, "Xiao Fang, we're talking about your matter today. There's no need to discuss the situation of other people in this setting."

Xia Xiaofang curled her lips and said, "But you can't fire me now because I'm pregnant. Employees in their third trimester are protected by law."

Xia Xiaofang is 32 years old and has a four-year-old daughter. Her husband works in business and travels frequently, so her mother-in-law helps take care of the child. However, her father-in-law doesn't like living in Hangzhou and stays in Nanjing alone. The old man is a bit spoiled and calls his mother every few days, asking her to come back to Nanjing to cook and do laundry for him. Whenever this happens, Xia Xiaofang has to take time off. But this doesn't affect her work performance because she is always very conscientious. She is meticulous, has strong professional skills, and always makes up for any missed work when she has to take time off.

Even so, when finalizing the list, Yin Jie still chose to keep another male colleague, Xiao Wang, whose professional skills were not as good as hers.

This sudden news stunned Lin Yue and Yin Jie. Yin Jie asked in confusion, "When did this happen? Didn't you say you couldn't even manage one child? Why are you thinking about having a second?"

Xia Xiaofang said helplessly, "I was indeed struggling with whether or not to keep him just a couple of days ago, but the situation is special now, so I decided to keep him."

These past few days, Xia Xiaofang has been struggling with a decision. Compared to having a second child, losing her job makes her feel even more insecure. So after discussing it with her husband, she gritted her teeth and decided to have the baby first.

Lin Yue nodded and said, "Then you can go ahead and do your work, and we can discuss it. But having a second child is not a small matter for a woman, so you should think it through yourself."

After Xia Xiaofang left, Yin Jie said angrily with a dark face, "You still say I'm sexist? Look, it's because of female employees like this that we have to treat them differently."

Lin Yue sighed and said, "If a woman chooses to endure the pain of childbirth again in order to keep her job, isn't that another kind of tragedy caused by gender discrimination? Xiao Fang is definitely not able to move now, but we need to find someone else from the department to fill her spot. What do you think about letting Xiao Wang take her place? He's only been out of school for less than three years, his experience is limited, he's careless, and he often makes mistakes in testing."

Yin Jie frowned, pondered for a while, then pointed to Engineer Zhang on the list and said, "Let's go with him. Engineer Zhang has been with me the longest, but his energy and stamina are clearly not as good as Xiao Wang's."

Then, they called Zhang into the conference room. When Zhang received the news, the usually mild-mannered man suddenly changed his expression and said, "This company is so heartless! I've worked diligently for this company for so many years. If you want me to leave, how much compensation are you planning to give me?"

Lin Yue sighed softly and said helplessly, "The standard negotiated by the company this time is 0.5N. You have been with the company for five years, so it is a one-time compensation of 2.5 months' salary."

Engineer Zhang sneered, "Are you taking advantage of me because I don't know the law? N + 1 is 6 months. If you can't give me that amount, I'll go to arbitration."

Yin Jie chimed in, "This is the company's standard, and Lin Yue can't do anything about it. Besides, we've all worked together, so there's no need to make a scene."

The three of them argued for nearly half an hour, with Zhang Gong determined to get the compensation and refusing to budge. Lin Yue felt helpless; Qu Liang was keeping a close eye on things, and she couldn't back down now. In the end, she could only let him go back first. She planned to put him on the list of those with whom negotiations failed and report back to Qu Liang later.

When Lin Yue got home that evening, she felt completely drained. Her family was eating. She pushed open the door and entered. Xiao Yu happily called out to his mother, and Liu Cuiying and Lin Haifeng also invited her to wash her hands and eat. Lin Yue put down her bag, glanced at the dishes, and, perhaps because she was too tired, had no appetite at all. She then said, "I'm not hungry today, I don't want to eat."

After saying that, she returned to her room. A moment later, Liu Cuiying entered and handed her a peeled apple. Lin Yue, who was lying on the bed fully clothed, immediately sat up, took the apple from Liu Cuiying, and said, "Thank you, Mom."

Liu Cuiying sat down next to her on the edge of the bed and said softly, "Don't put too much pressure on yourself at work. If it really gets too much, we can go back to our hometown. I think we should take Xiaoyu to Sichuan to study, so he'll be separated from his father, and Gaoming won't have to take care of him when he gets old."

While chewing on an apple, Lin Yue said, "Mom, you're thinking too simply. No matter what, Gao Ming is still Xiao Yu's father, and Xiao Yu will have an obligation to support him in the future. Besides, this is Xiao Yu's own business, and I won't interfere. It has even less to do with whether he goes back to Sichuan to study or not."

Liu Cuiying stood up and said, "I won't worry about this for now, but there are still more than four months left. Your father and I have been in Hangzhou for a year. As we agreed, if you're not doing well at work and don't have a suitable marriage partner by then, we'll sell this house and bring Xiaoyu back to our hometown with us."

The next day, Lin Yue had just arrived at the company and hadn't even had time to wash her cup when a voice suddenly sounded behind her: "Lin Yue, do you have time right now? I need to talk to you."