Financial Workplace Survival Guide – CH 001

Chapter 1 ☆, The Years After Graduation.

Xin Xin screamed in shock upon discovering a single white hair.

At 2:10 a.m., a police officer knocked on her weathered, creaking door.

“Name?”

“Xin Xin.”

The young officer smiled. “Stars in the sky?”

Xin Xin replied weakly, “Not really. Rocks on the ground.”

The young officer smiled. He could still joke, so it seemed nothing serious.

“Age?”

“Thirty.”

“Do you live with someone?”

“I live alone.”

It would have been rude to ask any further.

The police officer looked up at her. “The soundproofing in your building isn’t very good, so a little noise could easily disturb others. But I’m glad you’re okay. It’s also thanks to your kind neighbors who were worried about you. Be careful since you live alone.”

Xin Xin stared at the dark-skinned officer before her, her mind already in a state of chaos. “Uncle, excuse me, how old are you?”

“Twenty-three.”

Xin Xin’s vision darkened.

It wasn’t just today she realized she was old, but today she realized she was just an ordinary person.

This made her panic, as if she had been a happy little girl one moment and then swiftly entered a midlife crisis, worried about being alone in her old age.

Of course, the reason for her collapse wasn’t just a single gray hair.

But it was also simple: a few messages she received at 8 p.m., while she was frantically dealing with an unexplained leak in her bathroom shower.

—”Prepare two reports; the audit is checking.”

—”I have a bad cold and need to take a leave of absence.”

—”If you can’t come tomorrow, you don’t have to come later.”

Just after graduation, Mary had earnestly advised Xin Xin, “While you’re still young, save more money, or while you’re still young and beautiful, find a long-term partner to marry.”

Xin Xin disagreed, fiercely criticizing this feudal dregs of thought, believing it was a pessimistic mindset designed to poison the lives of promising young people. At the time, she had just graduated, and at a recruitment fair, she heard people talking about angel investors and top traders, and about riding the wave of the times and achieving great things. They were the rising stars of the financial world!

Financial companies had a certain art to recruiting, making finance students excited and eager to ride the wave of the times and rise to the forefront of the world.

At that time, Xin Xin didn’t understand the essence of loyalty education. It was about using exceptional case studies of industry leaders to create the profound illusion that if you work hard, you too can become one of them.

“Our company is number one in the industry, a benchmark!”

During onboarding, the HR staff who uttered these words set a benchmark in the hearts of the new employees. Then came a series of detailed speeches from outstanding employees.

From global economic trends to future stock market trends, and from onboarding plans to future achievements, Xin Xin diligently took notes, pen and paper in hand, as the speakers changed hands one after another. Mary, a classmate, was solely focused on finding a good husband and had no interest in international affairs, simply making a list to enrich her database of male connections.

That wasn’t all. Outside the company, Xin Xin was subjected to loyalty education, while her boyfriend was subjecting her to ideological baptism.

At that time, Zhou Yiran was still a sunny and cheerful young man, happy for a while just saving enough money to buy a new pair of sneakers. He and Xin Xin graduated from the same class and joined a prestigious bank.

Just two days into his internship, he reluctantly decided to part with his beloved sneakers. With a heavy face, he shelved them, officially entering the world of adulthood in a suit and tie.

Xin Xin was puzzled. “You can wear them on weekends; why put them away?”

Zhou Yiran looked at her in disbelief, as if she had spoken of a deep sin. “How can a young person who only thinks about the weekend have a future?”

Xin Xin was filled with awe, even feeling a sudden surge of ambition to achieve great things.

However, Xin Xin soon discovered that her job was essentially a simple one: accounting, filing taxes, distributing payroll, and handling regulatory reports.

Life was uneventful.

The salary was stable, just enough to survive.

The future was virtually nonexistent.

At first, Xin Xin was still able to get up early, wash her hair and put on makeup, and maintain a polished appearance.

After a few months, the constant hustle and bustle of duties had left her hair and face disheveled. It was at this moment that she suddenly realized that the success stories of the department heads who had trained them had nothing to do with the international situation they’d covered during the training.

Even the PowerPoint presentations they’d used might have been created by department interns.

Xin Xin observed that some people’s success stemmed from strong backgrounds, while others’ from strong abilities.

Ability.

It was a very mysterious word.

Most people, upon leaving their academic backgrounds and entering the workforce, at some point wonder, “What sets successful people apart from others?”

Xin Xin hadn’t figured this out, but Zhou Yiran had.

The first thing she noticed about Zhou Yiran was that he was wearing a suit worth over 8,000 yuan. Xin Xin foolishly touched his perfectly tailored suit. “Have you made a fortune?”

Zhou Yiran frowned and pushed her hand away. “Don’t wrinkle it.”

Xin Xin was a bit slow-witted, but she still vaguely sensed Zhou Yiran’s disdain.

Sure enough, within two days, Zhou Yiran and Xin Xin’s relationship took a turn for the worse.

Zhou Yiran said, “There’s no future between us.”

To say she and Zhou Yiran had a deep and passionate relationship wasn’t the case. But after all, they had been together for over three years, weathering many storms of youth together. Xin Xin was unwilling to part ways like this.

“Why didn’t you say this before?”

Zhou Yiran said, “I was naive and didn’t know what I wanted.”

Xin Xin didn’t understand. Ever since they started working together, Zhou Yiran had become increasingly secretive, speaking evasively. Honestly, they’d been talking at cross purposes for a long time.

But Xin Xin soon understood why. Zhou Yiran had made a grand announcement, posting touching messages on his WeChat Moments, essentially declaring that he’d been there for every overtime job and supporting her through every difficulty.

And surprisingly, the person supporting him wasn’t his longtime girlfriend but the beautiful only daughter of their leader.

It’s said that with the influx of new blood into every unit, leaders with children inevitably view these newcomers as new stocks on the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM), leveraging their years of experience to select one as their own reserve asset.

Xin Xin suddenly realized something, and at the same time, she was heartbroken.

She channeled her heartbreak into motivation for blind dates.

This made Mary, who had been dedicated to introducing her to potential partners, very proud, and she offered her lifelong expertise to teach her.

—”Blind dates require speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness.”

—”Expand.”

—”You know how editors review manuscripts? They can tell whether a manuscript is good or bad in just two minutes, and the same goes for men. When you’re on a blind date, don’t talk too much. No matter what they say, don’t argue. Just smile, listen, and mentally evaluate what they say. Come, learn from me!”

Xin Xin forced a smile, but Mary was dissatisfied. “Don’t smile like that with clients. By the way, what’s your favorite animal?”

“Cat?”

“Yes, just imagine the other person is a kitten.”

Xin Xin took Mary’s advice to heart and walked into the blind date venue with her head held high.

Unexpectedly, this method actually worked.

The first person she met was an IT guy. He wasn’t very good-looking, but he was wealthy. He gave Xin Xin an “okay” assessment. Xin Xin humbly asked, “What’s not so good about me?”

The IT guy rubbed his eyes and said seriously, “Your face is okay.”

Throughout the meal, the man offered several insights, and Xin Xin wore a “cat smile” throughout. Since then, she’s earned his praise and earned his enthusiastic pursuit.

Xin Xin received daily check-in greetings, morning, noon, and evening, and responded with cat smiles. Within two days, the man confessed his love, promising her many virtues beyond her “okay” status.

Considering the difficulty of having to maintain a cat smile for the rest of her life, Xin Xin politely declined.

She had thought the deal might not go through, but the man suddenly changed his expression and cursed Xin Xin viciously.

“Just wait till you’re an old maid!”

Mary, upon learning of this, retrained Xin Xin: “Boldly rejecting a man is a cardinal sin in relationships.”

Xin Xin humbly sought advice.

Mary held out her hand, letting Xin Xin see the large diamond ring on her ring finger. “Men are like cats. When he thinks you’re prey, you should act like you’re easy prey. When he feels you’re a sure thing, you should be distant. When he feels like he’s about to give up on you, you should be welcoming. After a few rounds, if he likes you, he’ll agree.”

Xin Xin was confused. “What if he doesn’t like you?”

Mary smiled faintly. “We’re all friends now. We’ll see each other again someday.”

Mary mastered this theory, becoming an undefeated general in the world of romance. Xin Xin grew more and more courageous and went on several more blind dates but ultimately failed, forcing her to give up on this theory.

Just when she was feeling dejected, Zhao Xi appeared.

When he came to become their CEO, not only Xin Xin but the entire company, young and old, gathered to watch. Zhao Xi was highly educated, had high emotional intelligence, and was handsome and elegant. Most importantly, he was single.

By then, Xin Xin had been working for two years. Clinging to dreams of a promotion and a raise, she ignored the attractiveness of this man, hoping only that her new boss would offer her some opportunities for a promotion and a raise.

Anyone who had spent a few years in the financial industry would realize that once you entered a back-office department without the resources to back you up, your future was likely limited.

Unfortunately, Xin Xin, by nature, was slow to recognize this problem. Her only goal at the time was to earn a monthly salary of 1,000 yuan through her own hard work—more than enough to satisfy her.

So, while Zhao Xi was hosting a dinner with some department heads and the finance department, Xin Xin openly shared her dream amidst the conversation.

For a moment, the room was filled with silence.

Xin Xin didn’t know where she’d gone wrong, but seeing the sullen expression on the face of the finance head, Ethan, she fell silent in panic.

Zhao Xi smoothed things over, saying gently, “It’s good for everyone to have dreams. This girl isn’t impetuous; she’s very down-to-earth. She’s quite talented and has great potential.”

Xin Xin was initially worried she’d said something wrong, but when she saw Zhao Xi’s smiling eyes, she felt a sudden sense of dazzle and instantly understood; “a warm feeling washed over her heart.”

From then on, she was completely loyal to Zhao Xi and devoted to him. She didn’t hesitate to be branded a sycophant, and she would make coffee for him every day before work.

Zhao Xi arrived, and Ethan returned to headquarters. Before leaving, he sarcastically taunted Xin Xin, “You’ve worked under me for two years, and I haven’t even had a cup of coffee by you.”

Mary witnessed this and kindly reminded her, “Zhao Xi is no simple man. It’ll be incredibly difficult for you to take him down.”

Xin Xin said righteously, “I’ll work hard and strive to realize my dream of a 1,000 yuan raise soon.”