Smile Code (Lost Laughter) 失笑 - Zhu Le 祖乐

52

Breakups come with a kind of unhelpful blessing, accompanied by the side effects of misused bodies.

"Gu Yi, 27 years old, at the time the editor-in-chief of the 'Bypass' official account under 'Yizhou,' senior copywriter, with three years of work experience. Excellent proposal communication skills, proficient in various writing styles, with rich insights into market consumer demographics, and great visual aesthetics. Her work quality is high, with sharp viewpoints."

After updating her resume, Gu Yi suddenly realized that she was no longer a newcomer in the workplace. Once her resume was posted, headhunters would be contacting her-she wasn't exactly disgusted by working at Yizhou, but she just didn't want to see places where she and Liang Daiwen had been together. The company building downstairs, Ounce, the Van Gogh gallery, Korean food restaurants... as long as it was a place they had visited together, she didn't want to see it. The memories twisted in her mind, hard to erase. When two people break up, the one who walks away first never understands how painful it is for the one left behind.

Gu Yi had even removed the camera at the door. Standing in front of the camera, cutting the wires must have seemed decisive, and the final moment of cutting it must have been cool. Liang Daiwen, that liar, could go to Dalian, to the United States, or even to Mars-it didn't matter. Anyone who could lie so many times wouldn't care about cameras anymore. She wouldn't let him see her in such a vulnerable state.

Though deep down, a part of her felt that Liang Daiwen wasn't lying.

At work, her performance was still decent, though she occasionally spaced out. Her efficiency was even higher than before. For the third quarter, everyone had to report their target data to Jacqueline. Jacqueline, who insisted that every number in the Excel sheet be accurate, would mark the expected reads and follower growth for each article, asking Gu Yi to create topic articles that would ensure wide reach. Gu Yi tried to focus but struggled to sync with Jacqueline. After finishing the work, Jacqueline asked her, "You've been off lately. Are you planning to leave?"

Gu Yi looked up; Jacqueline was staring at her computer-she was the only one who noticed something was off.

"I won't agree to your resignation. Have you become independent? Have you gained 500,000 followers for the official account? Can you plan and operate an entire brand with multiple topics?"

"That's PUA. Who said I need to hit all the KPIs to resign?"

"No. If you leave now, Pony will take over the account. She'll get a salary bump."

Gu Yi realized how much Jacqueline disliked Pony. It was rare to see Jacqueline actually consider her as part of the team. Being low on energy didn't mean she wasn't working hard. Bypass's data was very good. Jacqueline finally gave her a rare serious look, fiddling with her phone: "I'm not asking you to be like me-ruthless and heartless. It's normal to feel down. Everyone has a low point. I have a friend who organizes women's salons. She mentioned that there's a female stand-up comedian at Ounce who's really good. She's even suggested I go watch. I didn't realize it was you. I'll send you her WeChat, but don't let it affect your main work. You can leave now."

As Gu Yi was about to leave, Jacqueline suddenly stopped her: "I've hurt people I liked at work, and I've been hurt in return. The feeling of stabbing someone is worse than being stabbed because it's as if you've personally destroyed the relationship. But loving too much makes it impossible to be together. The relationship becomes a binding force. Just like the meaning of your Ounce-you know, love only needs one ounce. Focus more on your work. If you meet him again, and there's still love to give him, you can give just a little. Love in small doses is medicine, while too much love is a disaster."

This analogy made Gu Yi's heart tremble.

It felt like all her friends were trying to be considerate about her breakup. Guan Xingxin invited her over to hang out, saying she'd kicked Yu Dule out so they could have a girls' night after her livestream. Her house still had cornflowers on display, and Guan Xingxin had baked waffles, pulling out a bottle of Baileys: "I'm live at 8 PM. I'll cut it short, and we can chat afterward."