Chapter 2 — When I Was Forced to Quit My Job at the Age of 40, I Became the President of a Hundred Billion Company

Returning to the work area, the entire research floor was unusually quiet. In the work cubicles, more than twenty pairs of eyes secretly glanced towards me, then immediately retracted. The news has spread everywhere. Tien Dat Pham wants to use me as an example. Kill the chicken to scare the monkey. But I am that chicken. Tieu Tran, my assistant, walked over carrying a cup of coffee. She lowered her voice:

“Miss To, I heard that that guy named Tien forced you to reduce your salary?”

Tieu Tran has followed me for five years. From a newly graduated intern, I personally coached him to a senior researcher position. Professional capacity is very strong. It's just that he has a bit of a hot temper.

"Don't ask nonsense. Do your job."

I sat down and opened the computer. Dense rows of molecular structure data appeared on the screen, making my mood gradually calm down. This is my territory. This is the result I built for twelve years.

“It's too much!”

Tieu Tran tried to suppress his anger.

"Last week, the third generation formula had a stability problem. The study abroad expert that Tien Dat Pham paid a lot of money to hire struggled for three days and three nights but couldn't solve it. In the end, she still had to go back to the company in the middle of the night to adjust the parameters to get it resolved."

“Now you want to kick me again?”

I glanced at her.

“Do you want to have your staff cut off too?”

Tieu Tran immediately fell silent. But the knuckles gripping the coffee cup were turning white. I open the banking app. Account balance: With that much money, this month's rent will be almost clean. Last month my mother was hospitalized to adjust her insulin regimen. One hospital stay costs more than 30,000 yuan. Savings were also almost wiped out. I originally hoped that the year-end bonus would help my family breathe a little easier. But since Tien Dat Pham came here, the first thing he did was cut the year-end bonus. Now continue cutting basic salary. Every month I lose 18,000 yuan of income. And that 18,000 yuan is my family's way of life. At that moment the phone vibrated. It's a message from a girl.

"Mom, the school announced that we have to pay for the extracurricular trip next week, 4,800 yuan. Is it convenient for you? If it's difficult, I'll tell the teacher I won't go anymore."

She's only fifteen years old. Understanding things to the point of making people feel sad. I answer briefly:

“Let mom play.”

Then exit the chat frame. Click on the bill installment section. At that moment, a new notification appeared in the company-wide chat group. 【Notice from the Administration Department: From today, timekeeping management will be strengthened. Being late once will result in a 10% monthly performance bonus deduction. Approver: Qian Dat Fan.】 Immediately after that was the second announcement. 【Reward announcement: Manager Liu of the Marketing department successfully signed a new contract worth 3,000,000 yuan. The company gave a special bonus of 150,000 yuan.】 That department head Liu was Qian Dat Fan's college friend. Every day I sit and play games in the office. As for the so-called 3,000,000 yuan contract, everyone in the industry knows it well. It was a loss-making sale to improve revenue before the company went public. One side exploits every penny of the research department's sweat and tears. One side generously rewards its people. This is no longer a company. It has clearly become Tien Dat Pham's private safe. I turned off the phone. His eyes stopped at the database access port Core ingredients of Thanh Le formula on computer screen. Tien Dat Pham thought it was just a few simple chemical formulas. Arbitrarily find a doctoral student who can replace me. He didn't know at all. How significant is this 2 billion yuan core technology set really? Hoa Thuy Biological can aim for a valuation of more than 10 billion yuan after being fully listed thanks to the Thanh Le product line, which is accounting for 35% of the domestic skin care market share using stem cell technology. But from the fundamental principle to the mass production process of this formula... Besides me. No one knows everything. I opened the bottom drawer. Take out a piece of paper. That's information a headhunter sent me three months ago. Thien Hop Pharmaceutical. The compensation they offer: Three times the current salary. Includes preferred shares. At that time, I thought that Chairman Chu had the grace to guide me, and the company was at an important stage, so I refused. Now that I think about it... Maybe I took myself too seriously. It must be said that I have trusted too much in the conscience of others. I picked up the pen. Turn the paper over. Slowly write down three words. Application for resignation. Four o'clock in the afternoon. I pushed open the door of Tien Dat Pham's office. Don't knock on the door. He was calling on the phone, smiling brightly.

“Let's go to the newly opened Japanese restaurant in the evening, I've booked a private room…”

Seeing me walk in, he immediately lost patience and hung up.

“Have you thought about it carefully?”

Tien Dat Pham raised his chin towards the agreement on the table. I walked over, placed the A4 paper in my hand over the agreement.

“I thought it over.”

“This is a resignation letter.”

Tien Dat Pham was stunned for two seconds. Then burst out laughing. He leaned back in his chair, his expression full of mockery.

“Oh, To Vy, you have courage.”

“Do you really want to quit your job?”

He picked up the application and shook it like he was watching a joke.

"You should think carefully. If you voluntarily quit your job, there will be no compensation."

“Twelve years of seniority.”

“Not even a penny can take it away.”

“I have thought it over.”

"Okay."

He conveniently tossed the application aside, then picked up the internal phone.

"Trieu Man, call the human resources department here. To Vy wants to complete the leave procedure because—"

The office door was suddenly pushed forcefully from the outside. The person who entered was Ms. Wang, President Zhou's secretary. This woman in her fifties is usually calm and almost never shows her emotions. But now she was breathing rapidly. Obviously just ran over.

“Total Money.”

“Chairman Zhou asked General To to come to his office immediately.”

Tien Dat Pham frowned.

“I'm busy dealing with things here…”

“Chairman Zhou called General To.”

Ms. Vuong looked at me.

“General To, go now.”