Chapter 1

At the company’s year-end bonus meeting, I held a check for ten thousand yuan and nearly laughed out loud.

Then, right in front of the entire company, Manager Zhao pointed at the bottle of mineral water on my desk and said, “That’s company property. You took it without permission, so you’re being fined ten thousand.”

The whole hall erupted in laughter.

I stood there stunned for three seconds. Then, suddenly, everything clicked.

Over the past three years, how many of the boss’s messes had I cleaned up? How many nights had I worked overtime? How many jobs that weren’t mine had I done?

All over one bottle of water?

Fine.

Starting today, I’m done being a pushover.

If work starts at nine, I’ll arrive at nine. If it ends at six, I’ll leave at six.

Extra work? Sorry, that’s outside my responsibilities.

Overtime? Sure—triple pay, and I’ll need written notice.

The boss turned livid and pointed at me, cursing me for sabotaging the company.

I smiled.

Using magic to fight magic. This was only the beginning.

—

【Chapter 1】

January fifteenth: the company’s year-end bonus meeting.

The conference room was packed. I sat in a corner, my palms sweating.

I’d shouldered most of this year’s project work. My bonus should have been at least fifteen thousand.

Manager Zhao stood at the front, smiling like a benevolent Buddha.

“This year, the company performed very well. That’s all thanks to everyone’s hard work.”

He paused.

“Now, let’s hand out the bonuses.”

Chen from Human Resources carried a stack of checks up to the stage.

One name after another was called.

Zhang Wei: eight thousand.

Wang: five thousand.

Manager Li: twenty thousand.

At last, it was my turn.

“Fang Zheng, ten thousand.”

I froze.

Ten thousand?

Hadn’t they said the bonuses would be based on each person’s contribution?

But I said nothing. I walked up and took the check.

Just as I turned to leave, Manager Zhao called me back.

“Hold on.”

He pulled a bottle of mineral water from behind the podium.

It was the bottle from my desk.

“Fang Zheng, this bottle belongs to the company.”

Manager Zhao held it up high, his voice rising by several octaves.

“You took company property without permission.”

The conference room fell silent. Everyone’s eyes turned toward me.

My mind went blank.

“Wasn’t this water provided by the company?”

My voice trembled a little.

“The company provides it by the case. This one was a loose bottle.”

Manager Zhao smiled.

“The company has rules. You can’t just take its property.”

“Anyone who breaks the rules gets a deduction from their monthly performance pay and year-end bonus.”

He set the bottle on the podium.

“So your bonus has to be reduced by ten thousand.”

What?

My head rang.

Ten thousand for one bottle of water?

“Manager Zhao, isn’t that a bit—”

“A bit what?”

He cut me off.

“Rules are rules.”

“People have to have principles.”

He turned to the others.

“Don’t you agree?”

Zhang Wei was the first to clap.

“Manager Zhao is right!”

“You can’t take company property!”

The others quickly joined in.

I stood on the stage, my face burning.

Chen from Human Resources came over and took the check from my hand.

“Fang Zheng, we’re holding on to this check for now.”

“We’ll discuss it after the matter’s been dealt with.”

I clenched my empty hands and walked down from the stage.

As I returned to my seat, the room’s laughter felt like needles in my skin.

I lowered my head and stared at the keyboard.

My hands were shaking.

Not because I felt wronged.

Because I was furious.

What had I done for this company over the past three years?

When a project fell behind, I stayed up all night to catch it up.

When clients made trouble, I went along and smiled through it.

When coworkers shoved their responsibilities onto me, I quietly took the blame.

Even the data Zhang Wei had wrecked last month—I’d spent the weekend working overtime to salvage it.

I’d thought that if I worked hard enough, if I were nice enough, the company would notice.

And what did I get?

A ten-thousand-yuan fine over a lousy bottle of water.

After the meeting, I went back to my desk.

The bottle was still there.

I twisted off the cap and drained it in one go.

Starting today,

I’m done pretending.

—

【Chapter 2】

The next morning, I walked into the office right at nine.

Not a minute early. Not a second late.

The time clock read 09:00:00.

Perfect.

I used to arrive at eight-thirty and get half an hour of work done before the day officially began.

Not anymore.

I went to my desk and turned on my computer.

Zhang Wei leaned over the partition.

“Well, Fang Zheng. Cutting it close today, huh?”

His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

“Don’t take yesterday too seriously.”

“Manager Zhao was just trying to make an example of you.”

I ignored him, opened my inbox, and handled my own work.

At nine-thirty, Manager Li came over.

“Fang Zheng, did you revise that client proposal from yesterday?”

“They need it this afternoon.”

I looked up.

“Manager Li, that proposal isn’t part of my job.”

He stared at me.

“Huh?”

“You used to do it for us all the time.”

“That was before.”

I kept my voice flat.

“Now I’m only doing the work that falls under my responsibilities.”

“That proposal is for Zhang Wei’s project. He should be the one revising it.”

Manager Li’s expression darkened.

“Fang Zheng, what you’re doing is—”

“I’m following company policy.”

I cut him off.

“If you need me to take on additional work, please email me the details and copy Human Resources.”

“I’ll review the workload and decide whether I can take it on.”

Manager Li opened his mouth, but in the end he couldn’t come up with anything to say. He turned and walked away.

Zhang Wei stood nearby, snickering.

“Fang Zheng, are you trying to pick a fight with the boss?”

I shot him a glance.

“I’m just following company policy.”

“Go revise your own proposal.”

Zhang Wei’s smile stiffened.

“But I don’t know how. You’ve always—”

“That was before.”

I went back to typing.

Zhang Wei stood there, his face turning red.

“You—you just wait!”

He stormed back to his seat.

At eleven, Manager Zhao posted a message in the group chat.

“Overtime tonight. We need to speed up the new project.”

Before, I would’ve been the first to volunteer.

Not today.

I typed out a reply.

“Manager Zhao, I have personal plans tonight and can’t work overtime. If overtime is required, please give me three days’ written notice and pay the applicable overtime rate.”

I hit send.

The group chat blew up.

Zhang Wei: “What the hell?”

Wang: “Fang Zheng, you’re a legend.”

Manager Li: “Fang Zheng, are you—”

Manager Zhao called me directly.

I watched my phone vibrate.

I hesitated for a second, then answered.

“Fang Zheng!”

Manager Zhao’s voice was loud enough to burst my eardrum.

“What’s this supposed to mean?”

“You need written notice to work overtime? And you’re asking to be paid for it?”

“Do you come here to work, or to extort the company?”

I answered calmly.

“Manager Zhao, Article 44 of the Labor Law says that when an employer extends an employee’s working hours, it must pay no less than one hundred and fifty percent of their regular wages.”

“That’s the law.”

“I’m not extorting anyone.”

Manager Zhao was so angry he couldn’t speak.

“You—you—you’ve got some nerve!”

“Don’t come in tonight!”

“Don’t come back at all!”

He hung up.

I set my phone down.

My hand was trembling a little, but inside I felt great.

At noon, I went to lunch on time.

Everyone in the cafeteria gave me strange looks. I carried my tray to a corner and sat down.

Wang leaned closer.

“Fang Zheng, you’ve got guts.”

“Manager Zhao is furious.”

I picked up a bite of food.

“What can he do to me?”

“Fire me?”

“Perfect. I’ll take him to labor arbitration.”

Wang gave me a thumbs-up.

“Legendary.”

“But aren’t you worried things will get rough for you from now on?”

I smiled.

“Rough?”

“Do you think the past three years have been good to me?”

Wang fell silent.

After lunch, I went back to my desk and continued working.

At six, I shut down my computer on time and packed up.

Manager Li came over.

“Fang Zheng, you’re really not staying late tonight?”

I slung my backpack over my shoulder.

“No.”

“What about that project—”

“It’s outside my responsibilities.”

I headed for the door.

“Manager Li, the company has policies. I’m following them.”

“If there’s a problem, take it up with Manager Zhao.”

Manager Li stood there, his face ashen.

I walked out of the office.

The sky was still bright.

It was the first time in three years I’d left work on time.

The street was busy with traffic.

I took a deep breath.

Fantastic.

Damn, that felt good.

—

【Chapter 3】

On the third day, I still arrived at the office at exactly nine.

I clocked in, turned on my computer, and got to work.

Everything was business as usual.

At ten that morning, Chen from Human Resources came to find me.

“Fang Zheng, come to the office for a moment.”

I followed her in.

Manager Zhao was sitting in the main chair. His expression was grim.

“Sit.”

He gestured toward a chair.

I sat down.

“Fang Zheng.”

Manager Zhao lifted his teacup.

“You’ve been with the company for three years now, haven’t you?”

“Three years and two months.”

“Right.”

He took a sip of tea.

“The company hasn’t treated you badly over the past three years, has it?”

I didn’t answer.

“Your salary’s always been paid on time, and you’ve had plenty of benefits.”

He set down his cup.

“So why the change in attitude lately?”

“You won’t come in for overtime, and you won’t take on extra work.”

“What are you trying to pull?”

I looked at him.

“Manager Zhao, I’m just following the rules.”

“The rules?”

He laughed.

“This company is one big family. We can’t talk about rules for everything.”

“Sometimes, you have to talk about loyalty.”

I smiled too.

“Loyalty?”

“When you fined me ten thousand for a bottle of water, why didn’t you talk about loyalty?”

Manager Zhao’s expression shifted.

“That was company policy!”

“Exactly.”

I nodded.

“So now I’m following the rules, too.”

“I’ll do what labor law says.”

“Is there a problem with that?”

The office fell so silent it was frightening.

Chen from HR cleared her throat.

“Fang Zheng, this makes it very difficult for the company to get things done.”

“The new project really is urgent. We need everyone to cooperate.”

I turned to her.

“Ms. Chen, I’m willing to cooperate.”

“But I need written notice that clearly states the work, the hours, and the compensation.”

“That’s not unreasonable, is it?”

Ms. Chen was at a loss for words.

Manager Zhao slammed his hand on the desk.

“Fine. You want it in writing?”

“You got it!”

He pulled a sheet of paper from his drawer.

“This is a transfer notice.”

“Starting tomorrow, you’ll be working as the warehouse manager.”

I took the paper and glanced at it.

“Manager Zhao, a transfer requires mutual agreement.”

“I don’t agree.”

He sneered.

“You don’t?”

“The company has the right to adjust an employee’s position according to business needs.”

“It says so in your contract.”

I smiled back.

“It does. But it also says ‘by mutual agreement.’”

“Unilaterally transferring me is a disguised pay cut.”

“I can refuse and take this to labor arbitration.”

Manager Zhao’s face turned green.

“Did you make a special study of labor law or something?”

“No.”

I stood up.

“But I’ve done a little studying over the past two days.”

“Manager Zhao, if there’s nothing else, I’ll get back to work.”

“I still have a job to do.”

Then I walked out of the office.