Dawn of Life

Liu Mei originally planned to arrange for her niece to work at the post office, but Director Liu always made excuses and refused.

Last week, I told her I had arranged a relationship with someone who had returned from a big city and was a top student who graduated from Sichuan University. So, the seeds of resentment and jealousy had already been sown in Liu Mei's heart.

She turned to Lin Yue and said, "Xiao Yue, don't worry about the data. Leave it to me. But their branches are busy lately, so I've asked them to give it to you a week in advance. Just summarize it briefly, and you'll have plenty of time."

"Okay, then I'll trouble you, Sister Liu."

Lin Hua had told her long ago that the relationships here were very complicated, and everyone who could get in was related by blood or marriage. She felt that Liu Mei was being a bit too enthusiastic, which gave Lin Yue a bad feeling. But since she had just arrived, she could only wait and see.

She stayed here for half a month and quickly got a general idea of ​​the workplace atmosphere.

The office has a dozen or so employees, mostly women over 45 years old. They arrive at work on time and leave on time. After arriving in the office in the morning, they first brew some herbal tea, chat for a while, and an hour usually passes by.

We finish get off work and have lunch at 11:30 am, and the office lights are turned off at 12:30 pm. We can relax in a recliner until 2 pm.

These days, Lin Yue has been waiting for Liu Mei's data and has nothing else to do. She is really not used to the sudden slowdown in her life. She never knew that the limited time in life could be wasted like this.

However, this perfectly meets my parents' expectations: to have 1.5 million yuan for a house, to have an easy job, and to live out the rest of my life in peace.

She decided to take some more time to adjust.

During lunchtime, she planned to go to the service hall to inquire about transferring her household registration.

She stood outside the consultation window, where a plump woman was chatting with another woman sitting next to her about her mother-in-law's favoritism.

Lin Yue knocked on the glass window and asked, "Excuse me, what documents do I need to prepare in advance if I want to transfer my household registration from another place?"

The portly woman glanced at Lin Yue with extreme impatience and said, "We don't start work until 2 PM. Come back and ask later!"

Lin Yue glanced at the time on her phone—1:40—and sighed, feeling somewhat helpless. She then sent a message to Director Liu requesting leave, and sat in the lobby checking the time on her phone.

At 2 o'clock, she came to the information desk again, holding up her phone and asking, "Excuse me, do I need these documents to transfer my household registration?"

The plump woman yawned listlessly, a stark contrast to her earlier enthusiasm during their casual conversation. Still impatient, she handed over a piece of paper.

Lin Yue was getting annoyed. It was clearly written on the paper, so why hadn't she been given it earlier? And shouldn't such a sign be pasted on the window?

Lin Yue carefully compared the documents above: household registration book, ID card, property ownership certificate, purchase contract, etc. She noticed that the ID card information differed from what was online, so to be on the safe side, she asked the window again, "Minors under 16 years old don't need ID cards, right?"

The plump woman looked up at Lin Yue and said loudly, "What's wrong with you? It's written very clearly on the label. I'm tired of you asking me questions."

At this point, Lin Yue's patience finally ran out, and she raised her voice slightly: "What do you mean you're annoyed by my questions? Isn't this your job?"

There weren't many people in the hall, but soon the staff at the nearby windows and the people in the service hall were attracted by the sound.

The plump woman's face flushed red as she continued arrogantly, "Do you think my job is just to deal with you? I have a lot of other things to do. If you don't have anything else to do, wait until I finish what I'm doing before you answer me."

Lin Yue took a deep breath, preparing to lash out, when a deep voice suddenly rang out: "Sister Wang, don't you want your bonus this month?"

Lin Yue turned her head and saw a short, middle-aged man. Judging from his tone, he must be a leader here.

The middle-aged man gave Lin Yue a friendly look and said gently, "Did you bring all the documents you need today? Let me see them, and I'll have someone take care of them for you."

Lin Yue had a preconceived notion that this place had poor service, but the appearance of the manager changed her opinion, and her anger subsided considerably.

She shook her head at the middle-aged man and said, "No, I'm just here to inquire." Then she pointed to the list of required documents on the paper and confirmed again, "Don't children under 16 years old need ID cards?"

After receiving an affirmative answer from the middle-aged man, she simply said thank you and prepared to leave. She had only taken a few steps when the middle-aged man's voice came again: "Lin Yue, you really didn't recognize me?"

Lin Yue stopped in her tracks, turned around, and looked at him with a puzzled expression, quickly scanning his face into her mind. But she couldn't find a single clue.

After being left standing there for several seconds, the middle-aged man finally scratched his head awkwardly and said, "Did you go to Ziyi Middle School for junior high? I'm Zhao Bin from Class 4, Grade 8."

At this moment, Lin Yue finally remembered this person. In her memory, she did not have a very good impression of this classmate because he always forced his family to donate money to the school because he had a little money at home, and he often bullied his classmates at school.

Thirteen-year-old Lin Yue was a chivalrous girl with sharp edges. Once, she got into a serious argument with Zhao Bin to protect her classmate, which eventually went to the homeroom teacher. Unexpectedly, the homeroom teacher asked Lin Yue to apologize first.

Lin Yue was naturally dissatisfied and got into an argument with the homeroom teacher in the teacher's office, which resulted in the homeroom teacher calling her parents.

Liu Cuiying became her only hope; she had expected her mother to defend her in front of others. However, Liu Cuiying publicly reprimanded her without clarifying the reasons, which became the final straw that broke Lin Yue's spirits.

Perhaps from that day on, a chasm was created between Lin Yue and Liu Cuiying, which is why Lin Yue wanted to break free from her mother's control from a young age.

Seeing Lin Yue standing there in a daze, Zhao Bin assumed she still hadn't remembered him, so he coughed twice and said, "Cough, you've gotten old and fat, no wonder you don't recognize me."

Lin Yue's thoughts were pulled back by Zhao Bin. She thought that so many years had passed, and one shouldn't hit a smiling face.

So I smiled at him and said politely, "Hello, old classmate. Time flies, it's been more than 20 years in the blink of an eye."

Zhao Bin nodded repeatedly and said with emotion, "Yes, it's fate that we met here. Do you have time this afternoon? I'd like to invite you for tea."

Lin Yue initially wanted to refuse, but then she felt that he had just helped her, and he had been so enthusiastic; it would be a bit unreasonable to refuse him outright. So she nodded in agreement.

She followed Zhao Bin to a nearby "open-air teahouse." Under the open-air awning, there was a table with a plate of melon seeds on it and a large electric fan next to it, shaking its head and making a piercing noise.

Zhao Bin placed his black briefcase on the stool beside him and called out to the inner room, "Boss lady, bring me a pot of your best tea."

Soon a woman in her fifties came out, her eyes narrowed to slits, and said ingratiatingly, "Oh, Director Zhao is being so generous today."

He handed the tea menu to Zhao Bin, then turned his gaze to Lin Yue, his face immediately showing an inquisitive expression as he scrutinized her like a scanner.

After a few dozen seconds, she turned back to Zhao Bin and continued, "Director Zhao, this young lady is quite pretty today."

Zhao Bin laughed heartily and said, "Boss lady, don't you remember? She's Lin Yue." After he finished speaking, both the boss lady and Lin Yue looked puzzled.

He looked up to meet Lin Yue's gaze and said, "The shop owner used to run a small shop near our school. When I was in school, I got into a fight with a classmate there, and you hit me with your shop's broom, leaving several large bruises. Back then, all my classmates avoided me, but you were always good at studying and never afraid of me. Later, I heard you got into Sichuan University and even found a rich guy in Hangzhou. I didn't expect you to come back now. The market isn't good, it's tough out there, right? So good grades aren't all that useful!"

After saying that, a mocking smile appeared at the corner of his eye.

Lin Yue finally understood that Zhao Bin wasn't really trying to help her today, nor was he trying to catch up with her; he was just showing off his abilities.

Lin Yue brushed aside the stray hairs falling across her forehead, revealing her proud brow, and said, "How could it be useless? People like us with good grades can not only choose to go up, but also settle for something less desirable."

Zhao Bin's expression froze, and he didn't know how to respond to Lin Yue's words. Although the proprietress didn't remember Lin Yue or what Zhao Bin had mentioned, she could sense the confrontational atmosphere between them.

Just as I was about to rush to get the tea, Lin Yue stood up and said, "I suddenly remembered that I have some things to do at work, so I won't have the tea."

After saying that, she picked up her bag and left in her high heels.

Although she had taken the afternoon off, she was still going back to work on the data. There had been no progress from Liu Mei for so many days, and she always made excuses whenever she asked.

She planned to compare the past receipts with those in the system bit by bit. Although the method was a bit clumsy, it would avoid bypassing Liu Mei and the business outlets, thus avoiding offending anyone and preventing her from having to wait idly like this.

As soon as she arrived at the office door, she heard Liu Mei chatting with several colleagues, and the main character was actually herself.

One of the female colleagues, while peeling an orange, casually remarked, "Sister Liu, you know, Lin Yue is highly educated and pretty. Why did she choose to work here?"

Liu Mei's lips curled into a sneer as she said, "I heard that she was dumped by her rich husband from Zhejiang, and now she can't stay in Zhejiang anymore and is taking her son back to her hometown to live."

Lin Yue felt a bit of a headache. This scene was strangely similar to what she had originally wanted to find a place to hide, but gossip was like a demon that wouldn't let her go.

She took a deep breath, tilted her head back, and strode towards her workstation.

The female colleague who had just spoken turned around at the sound of the voice and was met with Lin Yue's wide-eyed glare. Her mouth, still full of oranges, was half-open, and she had forgotten to chew. After a few seconds of reaction, she gave Lin Yue an awkward smile and returned to her workstation.

Liu Mei acted as if nothing had happened, smiling as she moved closer to Lin Yue and said, "Didn't you take the afternoon off? Why did you come back? Here, if you take the day off, you don't have to go back to the office. Don't bring those bad habits from your big city with you."