MidReal Story
Betrayal and Redemption: A Design Journey
Scenario: A 50-year-old designer lost his job, and a middle-aged man was betrayed by his team leader when he entered the business.
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Chapter One: A 50-year-old man with gray hair and glasses was named John Smith by his parents.
However, the name also reminded him of the most ordinary design style in the world.
John had worked in a design studio for 20 years and never expected to be laid off before he retired.
The company he was working for was facing bankruptcy, and the HR department had already started to lay off employees to save costs.
John was about to leave, but he received a notice from HR that his salary would be delayed.
This news was like a bolt from the blue, as he had been borrowing money from his friends to maintain his family’s daily life.
In desperation, John could only go to the office early in the morning to find Mr.
Liu, the leader of the HR department who never answered his calls or replied to his messages.
He needed to ask him the reason for this change.
It was 10:30 a.m.
John opened the door of the design studio and saw that it was empty inside.
The employees hadn't arrived yet, so he walked towards his seat.
The once noisy studio was now silent, with only a few people working inside.
It was already the end of July, but there were only two air conditioners at each end of the room.
The center of the room was extremely hot.
The company didn't pay for electricity because it didn’t have enough money.
Many employees were laid off because they hadn't been paid and couldn't afford to stay here, so they had left.
The team leaders were also not in the office since their projects were taken away, and their assistants were not able to find work without them.
Their seats were empty, but those team leaders still hadn't resigned or been laid off yet.
Therefore, these empty seats were covered with dust and there were spider webs everywhere, which made it seem as if no one had worked there for a long time.
John sat down at his seat and turned on his computer.
He had nothing to do since his project was taken away by a new team leader.
He just came here every day to work for three hours so that he could leave early in the afternoon.
Suddenly, John received a message from his friend who was still working in this company.
“Hi John, have you received a message from HR?”
the message read.
John checked his phone and saw a message from HR.
The message notified him of a delay in his salary.
He was used to receiving messages like this now.
John just replied “yes” and didn’t say anything else.
It was 11:30 a.m., and his stomach started growling.
He took out the lunchbox that his wife made and walked towards the microwave oven.
As he was walking, another colleague called out to him.
“John, I’ve also received a message about my salary being delayed,” said the colleague.
The colleague was named Sarah Williams and was an HR manager at this company.
John, the designer, vowed to take revenge and make these heartless fake friends wish they were dead.
“Sarah, I haven’t been paid for two months now,” John replied, as he placed his lunchbox into the microwave oven.
He then turned to her and asked, “How much am I getting paid?”
Sarah smiled and said, “You’ll have to ask Mr.Liu about that.”
John nodded and went back to his seat with his lunchbox.
As he was eating, he heard the door being pushed open, and a man carrying a laptop walked inside.
The man sat down at the conference table and put his laptop down before opening it and starting to work on his designs.
John put his chopsticks down and walked towards the man with a smile on his face.
The man looked up at him with a confused expression before smiling when he saw who it was.
“John, why are you eating so early today?”
the man asked as he took off his earphones and stood up to give John a hug.
The man was Michael Johnson, one of John’s former colleagues.
“Hey, Michael, what are you doing here?”
John asked as he took a step back and looked at Michael with a smile on his face.
Michael looked much taller than before and was even more muscular than John imagined him to be.
“I’m working here now,” Michael answered with a smile on his face as he pointed at the conference table behind him.
“Is this your temporary office?”
John asked in surprise as he looked at Michael in shock.
Michael smiled before saying, “Yes, I don’t have my own seat yet, so I can only work here.”
“So what project are you working on now?”
John asked before looking at Michael with concern.
Michael’s smile faded away when he heard this question before he lowered his head and said, “I’m just helping out on another colleague’s project.”
“Oh, I see,” John said as he patted Michael’s shoulder and asked, “Do you have any questions?”
Michael looked up at John and shook his head before saying, “No, it’s fine.”
John didn’t say anything and just patted Michael on the shoulder before turning around and walking back to his seat.
He knew that Michael didn’t have any questions because he knew everything about this project.
John sat down and looked at the time on his computer.
It was already 1 p.m., and it had been an hour since he came to work.
He had worked for three hours, but he hadn’t done anything.
John sighed and looked at the man sitting in front of him with pity.
Michael had just graduated from college and had joined this company a year ago.
He said that he joined this company because he wanted to have a brighter future after he graduated, but he was only working here for a year, and he was already working here without pay.
John remembered that he also worked here without pay after he graduated, but that was 20 years ago.
At that time, it was normal for companies to ask their employees to work without pay, so he didn’t think much of it.
However, it had been 20 years, and things had changed a lot.
He didn’t expect it to happen to Michael.
Just as John was thinking about what to do, his phone rang.
He looked at the screen of his phone and saw that it was his friend, Sarah.
He picked up the phone and said, “Hey, Sarah, what’s up?”
“I need you to come home tonight.I have something important to tell you,” Sarah said on the other end of the line.
“Sure, I’ll be right there after work,” John said with a smile on his face before hanging up the phone.
He looked at the time on his computer and saw that it was already 1:30 p.m., so he decided to go find Sarah and tell her that he needed to leave early.
As soon as he stood up from his seat, his phone rang again.
John answered the phone and said, “Hello, this is John.”
“Hello, is this Mr.
John Smith from the design department?”
the man on the other end of the line asked in Mandarin.
“Yes, that’s me,” John answered in Mandarin before asking, “How may I help you?”
“I am calling from the human resources department.
We have something to tell you,” the man said in a serious tone.
“What is it?”
John asked as his heart raced.
“Well, I regret to inform you that your salary will be delayed.
I know that you are not happy about this, but please understand that we are doing our best to resolve this issue.
We are very sorry for the inconvenience caused,” the man said apologetically.
“Okay, I understand,” John said.
“Thank you for your understanding, Mr.
Smith,” the man said with a smile before hanging up the phone.
John looked at the phone and sighed.
He didn’t know what to do now because his salary would be delayed, and he didn’t know when he could get it.
Just as John was thinking about what to do, his phone rang again, and he saw that it was the human resources department.
He took a deep breath and answered the phone, “Hello, this is John.”
“Mr.Smith, I’m sorry to tell you this, but your salary will be delayed again.
I know that you are not happy about this, but please try to understand our situation.
I’m really sorry for the inconvenience caused.”
John sighed and said, “It’s okay, I understand.”
“Thank you for your understanding,” the man said with a smile before hanging up the phone.
John put his phone away and sighed as he stood up from his seat and left the office.
He went to Michael’s office first to inform him about the delay in his salary, but Michael wasn’t there.
John had no choice but to leave the notice on Michael’s desk and leave the office.
As soon as he walked out of the building, John saw many empty desks and removed nameplates on the walls in front of him.
The company was broke, and there were only a few employees left.
As John looked at these empty desks and removed nameplates, his mind drifted back to five years ago when he first joined this company.
Back then, he was full of hope for the future, but he didn’t expect that all of his hopes would be shattered within five years.
