Chapter 8 — Power Games and Illusions

Then he turned around, stomped his feet angrily and ran in front of Ly Ban, who was watching a comedy show, pointing aggressively: "From tomorrow you buy me breakfast!" Ly Bin turned to stone. I just saw the play and didn't expect to be the main character. He looked at us in panic, as if asking for help. We were also stunned, a question appeared in our minds: "So... you are a loyal dog?" Ly Bin continuously shook his head: "No no no! It's not me! I didn't do anything!" Truong Kieu is still causing trouble. Ly Ban quickly refused: "What kind of breakfast should I buy? Go find someone else!" Truong Kieu's eyes widened, her look as if: "You dare to refuse me? Who else in this world refuses me?" She was angry: "You once bought me bread! You like me, right?!" Ly Bin turned pale and stepped back: "When did I like you? I already have a girlfriend!" And then... he shouted the words that made the whole office explode: "I was about to say this - that time you asked me to buy bread, I didn't pay! 32 dong! Pay here!!" “Phew!” Everyone finally couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing. We tried to hold back just now, but we had indeed reached our limit. Someone laughed first as if pressing a button to open a water valve, the rest also burst out laughing, causing chaos in the room. The laughter echoed loudly, Truong Kieu's face turned red as if she had been doused with a barrel of dye, wishing she could crawl to the ground and hide. We only now know that Ly Ban helped Truong Kieu buy bread. Truong Kieu burst into tears and rushed out, asking for leave in the afternoon. She originally intended to regain her dignity after being interrupted by Ms. An and Tu Loi, but unexpectedly she was hit back by Ly Ban with a painful blow. Not only did he not help her remove the gauze, but he also shouted "pay me 32 yuan", completely exposing her "baby in need of pampering" disguise. A fatal blow. Like a great sword slashing down, destroying the entire image of "lovely goddess", turning her into a genuine clown. She couldn't bear it. Honestly, if this happened to any normal girl, she would immediately write a resignation letter, pack her things and leave this earth as soon as possible. But... Truong Kieu did not do that. Not understanding what was going through her mind, she only asked for three days off. Only now do we truly understand why Truong Kieu is so "abstract". In the eyes of normal people like us, she is truly unreasonable, paranoid, to the point of being crazy. But in her inner world, everything is logical, completely normal. Truong Kieu truly believes that she is beautiful and lovely, so of course others have to pamper her. She said: "My smile, my coquettish appearance - are precious and valuable things." Therefore, being spoiled and asking for favors to her is not "trouble" or "extraction of benefits", but a type of "fair exchange with cuteness". "I smile at you - that means I've already paid you. You owe me, not I owe you." Such a worldview… you might find it funny. But for her, it's a whole belief system. She thought she had made a fair exchange. Deliberately acting coy, acting ridiculously cute, is her way of using her beautiful appearance to provide "emotional value", thereby exchanging money or help. That's why, when others help her, she always feels grateful see it as natural. Being a "bull girl" (meaning a girl who acts too much), for her is also a way to increase her self-worth. The more she is pampered by her leader, the more her self-worth increases in her eyes. At that time, "selling emotional value" will have a higher price, helping her save face and feel more "valuable". In short, she truly believes: The emotional value she brings is extremely large — just a smile is worth thousands of gold. However, the transaction cannot be one-sided, you cannot set the price yourself and then "force sell" to others without prior notice. From that day on, Truong Kieu's story spread throughout the company. Because she was so different, she was nicknamed "32 yuan" - symbolizing that "memorable" bread buying scandal. After three days of leave ended, Truong Kieu still returned to the company. To be honest, I also respect her a bit. It's so embarrassing, the salary is so low, but still having the courage to go back to work, you really have the courage. Moreover, as soon as he returned, he returned to his usual state and started to play tricks on asking for favors and acting like nothing had ever happened. Because everyone was annoyed, everyone secretly set up a private group to discuss: • 【"32 bad" came to ask me to help her with something, what was she thinking? Don't you know that everyone hates her?】 • 【She asked me to buy things for her, oh my God, I didn't dare accept it?】 • 【It's probably because I'm used to it, trying to take advantage of it is like eating and drinking every day, I'm not aware that I'm being hated.】 • 【"32 bad" is already acting like a bitch to the manager, and the manager still takes the bait to death.】 • 【Can act like a bitch. With that bald manager with a big belly, "32 yuan" is truly capable...】 Thanks to the manager's support, Truong Kieu became more arrogant. On WeChat Moments and XiaoHongShu, she started updating personal photos with a "narcissistic" style again. The latest photo is looking up at the sky 45 degrees, the background is blurred, and the color is carefully adjusted. Below is the caption: 【Swans are always lonely.】 【Being jealous and being harmed is Snow White's fate.】 【Don't be discouraged, Jiao Jiao, life will definitely be gentle for every hard-working girl, keep fighting!】 This status line makes people laugh uncontrollably, really wanting to hold their stomach and roll over. Actually, Truong Kieu's theory of "emotional value of pretty girls" is sometimes true... As long as Liu Yifei stands in front of me, cooing at me, wanting me to buy free breakfast every day, I would willingly run and buy it. But still... Living people must have "self-awareness"... Not long after, someone secretly gossiped, saying that they saw Truong Kieu and the manager walking hand in hand. 【Right in the square at the beginning of Thuong Binh street, I saw it with my own eyes!】 【There's a photo here, there's a photo here, there's a photo】 【Look, holding hands and walking side by side!】 With photos as proof, everyone was shocked. The manager is over forty years old, bald, has a big belly, is both stingy and cunning. What was Truong Kieu clinging to him for? Just because you want to regain face? Or because you want to "get rid of the trouble"? If it's true, then it's foolish to the extreme. But thinking carefully, for an "abstract" person like her, doing such "abstract" things is not strange anymore. 14 Since being "backed" by the manager, Truong Kieu seems to have regained her self-respect and has become very confident and leisurely. It is said that she is also planning to ask for a raise. Management has the right to control adjust the salary coefficient, but he has always been famous for being stingy, and has almost never proactively increased anyone's salary. The salary of the entire department depends on the total performance of the department. The more subordinates earn, the less the senior manager will share. I received a salary increase because I happened to come into contact with foreign customers and received compliments from them to the general director, so it was like winning the lottery. As for Truong Kieu, he made the stingy old man agree to take out money to adjust his salary - certainly a big price to pay. Of course, everyone only talked secretly behind their backs, on the surface everyone still pretended not to know anything. But since Truong Kieu "got together" with my manager, my workload suddenly doubled. Ms. Thai Hoa sighed: "Truong Kieu secretly whispered to the manager on the pillow, she was definitely playing tricks on your back. Ms. An even accidentally overheard it that day." Actually, without Thai Hoa reminding me, I could clearly feel everything. Last time I said the sentence: "If you treat me like a monkey, what can you do to me?" It seems Truong Kieu still holds hatred in her heart, now wants to "retaliate" and let me "know what to do". But once I took action, I absolutely did not sit still and endure the battle. The manager's wife sometimes comes to the company, and there are people in the company who are her close friends. I pretended to accidentally chat with that person, absentmindedly revealing the affair between Truong Kieu and the manager. Once she went to inquire, everyone in the company knew everything, and as soon as she asked, she immediately found clues. The next day, while we were at work, the manager's wife aggressively burst into the office. Her eyes were angry, sharp as knives: "Who is Truong Kieu?!" I calmly pointed to the front office: "Over there." The manager's wife didn't say a word and rushed to knock on the door, but it was locked inside. She immediately raised her foot and kicked the door loudly. Not long after, the door opened, and the manager and Truong Kieu appeared looking extremely confused. “Wife… why are you here?” Panic management. His wife glared: "What are you two doing in there?" "Didn't... didn't do anything..." "In the middle of the day, a man and a woman locked the door in the room and said they didn't do anything?! Who would believe it?!" “We… were just discussing business…” “Your head business!” “Chat!” The manager's wife slapped her husband in the face, then kicked him again. Then she rushed forward and grabbed Truong Kieu's hair, dragging her straight to the middle of the floor: "Beat you to death, you vixen!" "You scumbag! You dare to seduce my husband?!" "Save me! Save me!" – Truong Kieu screamed miserably, tears streaming down her face, trying to deny: "I didn't seduce your husband!" But the manager's wife didn't listen, just grabbed her hair and beat and scolded her, her words were like rain and wind. In the office, everyone sat and watched as if they were watching a play, no one interfered. The manager was afraid of his wife and pretended not to see Truong Kieu being beaten. So, Truong Kieu kept getting beaten up, no one came to help. The manager's wife still did not vent her anger, but dragged Truong Kieu from the office to the company door, pulling and shouting: "Everyone, come and see! This despicable woman dares to seduce my husband! She is so shameless!" Truong Kieu cried like her heart was broken, extremely pitiful. The next day, Truong Kieu stopped coming to the company. I heard he was fired, fired straight from his job. 12 After this scandal, the manager was also severely reprimanded by the general director. Add Adding to the mistakes and conflicts that had accumulated before, the general director used the excuse to demote him. Falling from a manager to a lowly employee is like forcing someone to take a leave of absence. Not long after, he indeed submitted his resignation. The new leader who took over is very generous, inviting employees to eat and drink is a real invitation, absolutely no exploitation or unreasonable salary deductions. Office life is finally easy again. From then on, I no longer heard any news about Truong Kieu. I sincerely hope that people like Truong Kieu and that old manager will never appear in my life again.