Three days had passed since the Lightning Man Incident.
The atmosphere in the company was tense, especially in the Copywriting Department.
Rumors of layoffs had been spreading recently, making everyone uneasy and anxious.
Everyone was working hard, afraid of being cut.
But no matter how hard anyone worked, they couldn’t beat the department’s overtime king: Song Wuli.
Ever since returning from sick leave, Old Song had entered a twisted, almost abnormal overtime mode.
He started working in the morning, ate lunch at his desk while working without taking a break.
At night, he worked to the point of exhaustion, not going to sleep until 1 a.m.
Then he would sleep on the office floor and start working again at 8 a.m.
It was a bit insane—no one could keep up with Song Wuli.
The supervisor often used Old Song as pressure on other employees.
“You see Old Song? That’s what a Model Employee looks like.”
Or, “If Old Song can work overtime, why can’t you?”
Or, “Old Song is still here at 11 p.m., how can you leave so early?”
This put a lot of pressure on the Copywriting Department; even the team leader, Huang Yijun, had been reprimanded by the supervisor several times.
Recently, Huang Yijun had been acting a bit mysterious, always saying he had urgent matters to attend to and leaving work quite early.
When the layoff rumors surfaced, he barely held on until around 8 p.m. before leaving.
In these days, he had also been trying to talk some sense into Song Wuli: “Old Song, listen, life’s about knowing how to enjoy yourself in time. You earn so much money, but what’s the point if you don’t live?”
Song Wuli kept his head down, tapping away at the keyboard: “Hmm.”
Huang Yijun patted his shoulder and continued, “Old Song, do you have something on your mind? Tell your big brother about it—I can help you ease your troubles.”
Song Wuli: “No.”
Huang Yijun: “I haven’t seen you smile in days; you look so gloomy, it’s painful to see.”
Song Wuli: “I will never smile again.”
Huang Yijun froze for a moment, then burst out laughing, patting Old Song’s shoulder a few times. “You just made me laugh! What’s wrong, brother? Why so serious—are you performing a skit or something?”
Song Wuli suddenly turned his head, staring darkly at Huang Yijun, locking eyes with him.
Huang Yijun instinctively let go, a little scared. This wasn’t a joke—Old Song’s gaze was like a killer’s stare.
Coupled with his sleep-deprived panda eyes and haggard expression, that look was almost murderous.
Song Wuli went back to his work, numbly typing out copy he could nearly recite by heart.
Huang Yijun went to find Qian Dehao and asked, “Old Qian, do you know what’s wrong with Old Song? He’s not acting right.”
Qian Dehao replied indifferently, “We all know he’s been off these days. So what? It’s just the layoffs, everyone’s putting on a show.”
“No, I’m telling you…” Huang Yijun lowered his voice to a whisper. “When I talked to Old Song just now, he didn’t like being disturbed. His eyes were terrifying, like he wanted to do something dangerous. If you said he wanted to kill someone, I’d believe it. He was scary.”
Qian Dehao paused his work and looked at him. “That serious? You’re joking, right?”
Huang Yijun: “Not joking. If you don’t believe me, go see for yourself.”
Qian Dehao got up suspiciously and walked over to Song Wuli’s desk. After a minute of talking, he came back.
He returned to his seat blankly and shivered.
Exchanging a look with Huang Yijun, Qian Dehao said, “Something’s wrong. Old Song’s got issues.”
Huang Yijun nodded repeatedly. “Right? I told you, Old Song seems really serious.”
The two lowered their heads and began to discuss how to make Song Wuli laugh.
As old friends, they couldn’t just stand by and watch him lose his will.
Friends share happiness and bear each other’s pain.
Fortunately, Old Song was still communicative and receptive to their words.
That night, they took Song Wuli to a KTV, where he clutched his laptop, working while two dazzling women surrounded him, and Huang Yijun and Qian Dehao’s singing echoed from the speakers.
An hour later, they took him to a hotpot restaurant, where he still held his laptop, typing as he ate.
After another hour and a half, they brought him to a massage parlor, and Old Song lay on the bed, continuing to type on his laptop.
Near midnight, they took him to a bathhouse, and Old Song kept typing beside the bath pool, his laptop wrapped in plastic.
Even in the sauna, he worked while holding his laptop.
Could he work on the toilet too? Song Wuli proved it with his actions—he could.
This was no longer the behavior of someone earning a few thousand yuan in base salary; it was like a million-yuan monthly salaried worker.
After eating, drinking, and playing, Song Wuli returned to the office—it was already past midnight!
The next day, a day off, Huang Yijun finished his business and asked colleagues working overtime at the company. Sure enough, Song Wuli was still working.
In the afternoon, Old Huang arrived at the company and headed straight to Song Wuli’s desk.
He found Old Song eating takeout while typing.
He walked over, grabbed the food box from his hands, and threw it directly into the trash can.
They exchanged a look, and Song Wuli resumed eating the vegetables on his plate.
Huang Yijun took the food away again and tossed it in the trash.
The overtime colleagues around them noticed the commotion and all watched.
Song Wuli said nothing, turned his back, and focused back on his keyboard.
Huang Yijun grew angry, grabbed Song Wuli’s keyboard, yanked the cable, and slammed it hard on the desk, breaking it in two, then threw it on the floor.
Song Wuli remained silent and quietly took out his laptop.
Just as Huang Yijun was about to lose control again, a young colleague rushed over and held him back.
Song Wuli kept his head down, continuing to work on his laptop.
Someone aware of the trio’s relationship quickly notified Qian Dehao.
Old Qian arrived at the company in half an hour, learned what had happened, and went to find Huang Yijun in the hallway.
Old Huang was smoking a cigarette when he saw Qian Dehao.
He pulled out a cigarette and offered one: “Want a smoke?”
Qian Dehao shook his head. “I thought you quit? When did you start again?”
“Just started again,” Huang Yijun said expertly, taking a drag and blowing out a smoke ring.
Qian Dehao skipped the smoking topic and asked about the real issue: “What’s going on between you two? The colleagues told me bits and pieces; I want to hear it from you.”
After a moment, Huang Yijun began explaining.
Seeing Song Wuli’s depressed state, it was clear this was serious.
He should have calmed down and talked things through, but seeing Old Song’s self-destructive attitude made him lose control and get physical, trying to pull Old Song out of it.
His methods were too harsh, which strained their relationship.
Huang Yijun admitted his mistake, regretting losing his temper and going too far.
That was why he was here, smoking alone.
Qian Dehao patted his shoulder: “I’ll go check on him; you don’t have to come.”