The programmer and his woman

After experiencing a heavy blow in my first job, I seriously reflected for a long time, and finally I realized a truth. As the saying goes, only knowledge can change your destiny. At this moment, I think this sentence is so right.

I have decided to read more books, but I don’t have money to buy books now. But it doesn’t matter, I have time now, so I can go to the place where books are sold to find out more.

So I rode my bike to the wholesale book market. This market was very big and there were many people. I didn’t know where the books were cheaper, but I thought that since this place was called the wholesale book market, the books here should be cheaper.

But when I got here, I found that individuals cannot buy books here at all. The customers here are merchants selling books, because I saw that people who bought books here bought them in whole packages, and no one bought single books.

I visited several book stalls and asked the owners about the prices of books, but they were obviously unwilling to pay attention to me because they could tell from my age that I was definitely not a supplier.

Oh, forget it, let’s go. It seems like I’ve come to the wrong place today.

Just as I was about to leave, I saw a job posting in a store, hiring a deliveryman.

Suddenly, my eyes lit up. Yes, I can come here to work, and maybe I can even read books for free, so I don’t have to spend money to buy books. At this moment, I felt that I was really smart. Yes, that’s the idea.

So I walked to the door of the store and shouted loudly: "Boss."

A lean middle-aged man ran over with a smile: "Ah, handsome boy, what do you want?"

The boss looked at me carefully at this time, probably because he saw my young age, he frowned and said: "We are selling wholesale, not single copies."

"Oh, boss, you're wrong. I'm not here to buy books. I saw the recruitment notice posted here and I want to give it a try. Do you think I can do it?" I asked.

He wanted to send me away, but when he heard that I was looking for a job, he became enthusiastic again: "Oh, come in and talk."

This boss was also a southerner and was very thin. Unlike the previous one, this southerner didn't seem to be able to speak Mandarin very well. He wore gold-rimmed glasses and looked gentle. He always had a smile on his face when he spoke, which made him look very friendly.

"Come on, pretty boy, sit down."

He came into the house and poured me a cup of tea, then poured himself a cup.

He looked me up and down and asked, "We are working very hard here, and the books are very heavy. Is there any problem?"

After he finished speaking, he looked at me, waiting for my answer, but I couldn't quite understand what he said, so I could only guess that he might have said that the work here was very hard and the books were very heavy, and asked me if I had any problems with such hard work. Well, I think that's probably what he meant.

Thinking of this, I immediately replied: "No problem, I'm young and have plenty of strength."

He nodded in satisfaction and asked, "How much salary do you want?"

He understood what I was saying and asked me how much I wanted for my salary. I thought about it and realized that this was my first time working, not counting the last time. I really didn't know how much I should ask for, so I said, "I just started working, boss, you can give me whatever you think is right."

When he heard this, he was extremely happy. He clapped his hands on the table and said repeatedly: "Okay, okay, let's try it first."

"You mean I was hired, right?" I asked uncertainly.

He nodded immediately and replied in not very standard Mandarin: "Yes~"

"Great, then when can I come to work?" I asked impatiently.

He smiled, looked at me and said, "Today is the day!"

At this point, a young man walked in from outside. He was very tall and strong, and he looked three or four years older than me. When the boss saw him coming in, he said to me, "He's your colleague, Zhang Jian."

He turned to Zhang Jian and said, "Zhang Jian, this is our new colleague, Wang Dong. Please give him a detailed introduction to the job description here."

Zhang Jian turned around with a friendly smile on his face. "Hello, Wang Dong, welcome to join us. I'm Zhang Jian, and we'll be colleagues from now on. I'll tell you about our main work here."

"We have delivery trucks arriving every morning. You will need to help me move the books into the warehouse and sort them according to certain rules. This job may seem simple, but it requires carefulness and patience."

I nodded to show that I understood.

"In addition, we have some regular customers here, and they need us to pick up goods according to the list every day. The drivers will wait for us outside, but they are not responsible for moving the goods. After the picked goods are ready, we need someone to follow the truck to unload the goods and deliver them to the customers."

I listened carefully and nodded from time to time.

"In the first few days, I will take you to familiarize yourself with the process. Once you are proficient in the business, we will take turns to deliver the goods. The person who does not deliver the goods will stay in the store to stock the new books and watch the store."

Zhang Jian added: "Of course, we will also encounter some unexpected situations, such as urgent orders and returns, which require us to respond flexibly."

After hearing this, I said no problem and asked about the working hours: "Brother Zhang, I want to ask, what are the working hours here?"

Zhang Jian replied: "We go to work at 6 am every day and get off work at 5 pm. Due to the special nature of the industry, there are no fixed rest days here, but we will try our best to ensure your rest time. We will also arrange holidays according to specific circumstances."

He then said, "Come, Wang Dong, I'll take you to visit our warehouse where books are stored, and familiarize you with the classification and placement of the books."

So I followed Zhang Jian, listening to his detailed introduction while carefully observing the surrounding environment and operating procedures.

That's how I worked here. Just as Zhang Jian said, every day I basically just unloaded goods, then went out with the truck and delivered goods to several customers with a cart. It was a very monotonous job.

When I visited the store in the afternoon, I basically saw more questions than purchases. What we sell here are all new books, and many of them are plastic-wrapped. Even if they were not plastic-wrapped, the owner would not let me flip through the books. It was not like I thought, that there were many books here that I could read casually.

Until that day, I accidentally found an outdated computer magazine in the corner. The content of the book deeply attracted me. I didn’t expect that there were such magical things in the world. That was the first time I knew about computers, as well as some related terms such as "operating system", "file", "instructions" and so on.

When I had free time, I took out my little notebook and wrote down all the instructions and things I could do. I found that I seemed to be very interested in them. Unfortunately, there was only one copy, and I finished reading it in a few days. So I asked Zhang Jian: "Brother Zhang, do you have any more of these old magazines?"

"Which one?" Zhang Jian asked, looking at the book in my hand and continued, "Oh, this computer magazine. It's gone. This one is a defective product from the last delivery. I found it and threw it in the corner."

I was deflated when I heard that. It seemed that my hopes were dashed.

The work here goes on in a repetitive manner, but the difference is that when there are customers asking about computer books, I find that I can introduce them to content in this area.

Moreover, with the popularity of the Windows 3.2 Chinese graphical interface operating system, this type of books began to sell better and better, and the computer knowledge I learned also came in handy. After I told the suppliers who came to consult about the future development trends and how popular these books would be in the future, I unexpectedly sold several large orders.

When the boss found out about my work, he praised me highly and said that I was a sales talent. I no longer had to deliver goods and could just focus on watching the store and selling books. He assigned the unloading and delivery tasks to Zhang Jian.

Ever since the boss divided the work in this way, I could clearly feel that Brother Zhang was very dissatisfied with this work distribution, but this was the boss's order and he could not disobey it.

That day, Brother Zhang unloaded the goods to the warehouse as usual. At this time, I found that the outer packaging of the package unloaded in front of me was worn out. Because Brother Zhang piled the package in front of me, I could see it at a glance. It was particularly obvious. I pointed at the package of books and said, "Brother Zhang, please check if the book at the bottom of the package is damaged. I think the outer packaging seems to have been worn out."

Zhang Jian walked over quickly, picked up the package of books and examined it carefully. "Ah, here it is, let me see." He turned the book over and examined it carefully and said, "Hey, it's true. The packaging of this book has been worn out. I'm afraid the pages inside are also damaged. It can't be sold." He turned to me and smiled and said, "You have a good eye and found it right away. It's okay, I'll report it to the boss later."

I asked curiously, "What should we do with this one?"

Zhang Jian waved his hand and said, "Just throw it aside. Such damaged books cannot be placed on the shelf."

I reached out to take out the damaged book to see what it was. When I picked up the book, I accidentally opened the cover and the content immediately caught my attention. I said in surprise, "Oh! Isn't this a computer magazine? It's the latest issue of the magazine I asked you about before."

Zhang Jian heard what I said, came over to take a look, and said with a smile: "Oh, it's this one. Since you are interested in it, take it and read it. Anyway, this book can't be sold, so it won't be a waste if you read it."

I happily took the magazine and said to Zhang Jian, "Thank you, Brother Zhang. I have always wanted to read this magazine, but I didn't expect to see it here today."

Zhang Jian waved his hand and said, "You're welcome. If you like it, take it and have a look. When the boss comes back, I will explain the situation to him."

Great! I thought to myself that I was so lucky. I was still thinking about this magazine this morning, and I didn’t expect that it was in my hands now. So I excitedly sat outside the store with the book and started reading.

Zhang Jian had just finished a morning of delivery work and walked into the store with a tired face. He saw me standing by the counter, holding the computer magazine in one hand and occasionally arranging the books on the shelf with the other. He came over, patted my shoulder and said, "Wang Dong, you can't do both well if you read books and watch the store at the same time. Go inside and take a look. I'll help you watch here."

I looked up at Zhang Jian and said apologetically, "Brother Zhang, you've worked hard all morning. How can you help me run the store in the afternoon? This is not appropriate."

Zhang Jian smiled and said, "Brother, it's okay. I'm just sitting here doing nothing, and there aren't many customers in the store right now, so I'll help you keep an eye on it. If you need anything, I'll call you. If you still feel bad about it, just treat me to a meal when you get paid."

I thought to myself, Brother Zhang is a really nice guy, so I nodded gratefully, said nothing more, and followed his suggestion to go into the house to read.

Not long after, a middle-aged man walked into the store. He looked up at the bookstore sign and muttered, "Yes, this is the store." He walked steadily toward the counter with a satisfied smile on his face.

"Young man, I bought a batch of books from you two days ago. They sold really well and have been sold out." He took out a small notebook from his pocket and said, "I came here today to replenish the stock. In addition to the previous book, I also want to buy some more books on this subject today."

"Oh, by the way, why don't I see the guy who introduced the book to me that day? Is the guy in your store here?" He looked around. "He is very professional. The book he recommended is selling very well. I want him to recommend a few more books to me."

Zhang Jian shook his head regretfully and explained, "Oh, that's my colleague. He's not here today, but don't worry, I know a lot about computer books. I can introduce you to some best-selling computer books." Zhang Jian turned and pointed to one side of the bookshelf. "These are all computer-related books. Can you take a look at the book you bought earlier?"

The middle-aged man followed Zhang Jian's instructions and walked to the bookshelf to browse carefully. After a while, he picked up a book and said, "Oh, yes, yes, this is it. Young man, besides this one, can you recommend a few other good books? I plan to order some more today to try."

So Zhang Jian randomly picked up a few books and said, "Uncle, these books are all good. You can buy more and they will surely sell well."

The middle-aged man said gratefully: "Okay, young man, I'll take all the ones you recommended. If they sell well, I'll come to you next time."

After the uncle left, several customers who had been there two days ago came again today. They were all repeat customers and they all came to replenish their stocks. Today was a great harvest.

Just then the boss came back and saw Zhang Jian watching the shop, so he asked, "How is business today?"

When Zhang Jian saw the boss walk into the store, he immediately greeted him excitedly, waving a sales report in his hand and said, "Boss, take a look at this!"

The boss took the report, his eyes lit up, and exclaimed: "Wow, we sold a lot today! Even more than in the past. I didn't expect you to be a sales genius, better than Wang Dong! Hey, where's Wang Dong?"

Zhang Jian waved his hand modestly and said, "Boss, I don't know how to sell. These days, this kind of book is selling very well. People rush to buy it as soon as they come. There is no need for introduction. I have been helping Wang Dong to run the store every day these days."

The boss was surprised and asked, "So that's it. You often help Wang Dong to look after the store? What about Wang Dong?"

Zhang Jian replied, "Oh, Wang Dong is reading in the back room. After I unloaded the books to the warehouse this morning, Wang Dong said there was a defective book, so he took it to read. When I came back from delivering the goods, I saw no one was watching the store outside, and Wang Dong was reading the book in the room, so I helped him watch the store here, and he sold so many books this afternoon." He paused for a while and continued, "Boss, you see, it's a good thing that I helped Wang Dong watch the store this afternoon, otherwise these books would not be sold."

At this time, I heard the boss snort and turned to go into the inner room. Seeing that I was still concentrating on reading a book and didn't notice someone coming in, he asked angrily: "Didn't Wang Dong arrange for you to run the store and sell goods, but you are reading a book here?"

"Ah, boss, this... I..." My face turned red and I was speechless for a moment.

"Then what about this book?" the boss asked angrily.

"The book was broken, so I took it to read," I explained.

The boss took the book out of my hand, examined it carefully, and threw it to the ground with a bang: "I have been dealing with books for many years. I can tell at a glance that this book has been damaged by human beings."

"Individual damage?" I picked up the book that had fallen on the ground in surprise. Oh, really, even I could see it when you put it that way.

Seeing me standing there speechless, the boss shook his head and said to me, "Wang Dong, I had high hopes for you, but you disappoint me so much. Your salary will be paid on a daily basis, and you can leave."

I stood there in a daze for a long time, and I still hadn't recovered until the boss finished the bill and handed me two hundred yuan.

When I walked out the door with the 200 yuan salary I earned these days in my hand, I saw Zhang Jian's sinister smile.

My mind was still blank, but suddenly I figured it out. Why did the magazine appear so coincidentally? But I was so excited at the time that I didn't notice the obvious signs of damage to the book.

I even followed Zhang Jian's suggestion and went into the house to read without thinking. I didn't understand what had happened until I walked out the door. In fact, after the boss assigned him the tasks of unloading and delivering goods, he secretly hated me. If it weren't for Zhang Jian's final complacency, I might still think that Zhang Jian is a good colleague.

In an instant, humiliation, grievance, regret, and sadness flooded into my heart. I cursed myself as an idiot in my heart, gripping the handlebars tightly with both hands, tears welling up in my eyes.

At this moment, I felt like a madman venting my emotions, and my feet were pedaling hard, pedaling madly until the chain made a "click" sound, and finally I kicked it off. I missed the opportunity and fell down. At this moment, I couldn't control my tears anymore and burst out.