The rain was so heavy, it was as if a hole had opened in the sky.
By the time I ran toward the office under my umbrella, I was already soaked through. The August downpour in the suburbs of Beijing had come out of nowhere, and in just half an hour, the streets were under six inches of water.
“An Xiaoyu, are you coming or not? The Gu Group contract has to be delivered tonight. Do you think you can get away with being late?” Manager Chen’s voice exploded from my phone. Even the static couldn’t hide its shrill edge.
I glanced at the time on my phone. It was 9:30 p.m.
“Manager Chen, I’m already on my way, ”
“Don’t give me that! Mr. Gu needs the documents first thing tomorrow morning. If you hold this up, you’re fired!”
The call ended.
I gripped my phone and took a deep breath. This was my life: twenty-three years old, a graduate of Peking University, working as a receptionist and gofer at a small company for a monthly salary of 4,500 yuan, renting a partitioned room in an urban village and getting bossed around every day. What could I do except put up with it? I had no connections and no powerful family to rely on.
