Jiangcheng, summer night.
The air was as thick as unresolved syrup, and the sultry heat was mixed with car exhaust and smoke from roadside barbecue stalls. Chen Mo dragged his heavy steps on the way back to the rental house.
He had just experienced a "social death" - in the company, because of a "mistake" that was not a mistake, he was pointed at and scolded by the fat department head for half an hour. In the end, he was "optimized" as a newcomer who had been working for less than a year under the pretext of "company structural adjustment".
Compensation? A symbolic one month's salary is not enough to pay the rent for the next quarter.
