"You and our employment relationship has ended.I'm sorry."
I looked at the supervisor with anticipation as he approached me.Hearing these words,I was completely stunned.Today...wasn't it supposed to be the day for the bonus?!
"Could it be...April Fool's Day today?!"
My eyes were dazed as I looked over,and I guessed my complexion must have been very pale.
"I'm sorry."
The supervisor helplessly spread his hands towards me.
Forcing a smile,I managed to pull up a smile.Trying to leave gracefully,I actually had my heart broken deep inside already.
...
As you can see,I've become one of the unemployed gloriously and contributed that 0.0001%to the unemployment rate in the United States.
Do you know what the Pareto principle （the 80/20rule ）is?Everyone thinks they are among the top 20%,but in the end...the real reality will show you what the phrase "wishful thinking"really means.
My name is Brown Ryan.A year ago,I was secretly overjoyed that I had entered Wall Street right after graduation.Two years later,before I had even warmed my seat as a trader,I was swept into...the sewers by the tide of history.
Yes,I was the unlucky one.I became a member of the laid-off team and,like a bolt from the blue,became a miserable victim of this era.I had been lying in bed listlessly for a whole week.I spent as long as 19hours a day browsing Facebook and Twitter,and I didn't even care about sleep.
Until one late night at 2:30in the morning.Unable to fall asleep,I accidentally opened TikTok.A title of "China travel"immediately caught my attention.144-hour visa-free entry in China...
Well....Beautiful women in Hanfu...It seemed to be an opportunity for me to take a short break.Moreover,my visa card seemed to have enough balance to support me...to indulge myself for a few days like this.
Thinking like this,I suddenly sat up from the bed and felt that I could be energetic again.However,I never expected that this sudden idea would completely subvert my perception.
...
When I walked alone into Guangxi.I didn't see many beautiful women in Hanfu,and I didn't even see girls in ethnic minority clothes either!
Sitting in a small roadside restaurant.While complaining about not seeing many beautiful women,I was also enjoying the food here very much.
"Wow!Look,it's a foreigner!!!"
I had already heard this kind of words for the third time.Although I wasn't familiar with Chinese,I could still understand the word"Lao wai"（foreigner）.
Taking a big gulp of wine,I immediately raised my eyes unhappily.The beautiful women I was looking for still hadn't shown up.Feeling a bit discouraged,I noticed the whole tattoo on the arm of the young man opposite me.
"大~花~臂?"
Recalling the memory,I pronounced these threeChinesewords.Just as I was about to express my friendliness,I was bombarded by another person beside that young man.
"你才是Sha~Bi,你们全家都是Sha~Bi!"
"...???Sha?~花!flower!flower arm.Big ~flower~arm.大~花~臂!"
While gesturing and speaking,and deliberately pointing at the young man's arm,frowning tightly,I clearly felt the unfriendliness of the person opposite me.
"Oh!That's what you meant!Hahaha!Brother!Sorry!It was just a misunderstanding!A misunderstanding."
Seeing the young man opposite me sitting down opposite me generously.I,who was inexplicably treated to a meal by others,also muddled along and followed those two people back to their village.
...
That night.
In a daze,while Brown Ryan was sleeping soundly,it seemed that there were waves of noisy sounds in his ears.
Reacting instinctively,he sat up and,after confirming that there was indeed movement outside the house,he rushed out without hesitation.He saw an old man in ethnic minority clothing seriously directing his companions and asking them to cut down a small tree with leaves.
Then,a piece of pork cut into a square shape,along with other offerings and fine wine,were respectfully carried over by the villagers.
Just as he was about to approach the tree that had been inserted into the ground,Brown Ryan's arm was suddenly pulled.
Turning his head back in confusion,after receiving the head-shaking and stopping gesture from the young man with the flowered arm,Wu Ruiyuan,he could only follow the local customs and had to stay quietly aside and curiously watch the subsequent development.
"This is the soul-redemption ceremony of our Dong ethnic group.It's the first time you've heard of it,right?!That is to say,we need to bring the patient's soul back completely and make him recover his health."
Trying hard to explain,looking at the foreigner on the opposite side who only had a smattering of knowledge,Wu Ruiyuan racked his brains and,after organizing his words for a while,continued to add:
"Do you watch Chinese TV dramas?The kind of time-travel dramas.That is to say,a person's soul can move to another person's body.In other words,if a sick person happens to lose his soul,then we can still save this person by using the method passed down by our ancestors."
"Oh I know!I know it!"
Blinking his eyes excitedly.Brown Ryan,who originally thought he could witness a fantasy event,was forced to be greatly disappointed in the next second.
Because something that was not so much incredible as a bit scary for him happened just like that.
The old man in ethnic clothing burned incense and paper,and then asked someone to light the red rope that had been soaked in oil before.Under the illumination of the flames on the tree,as long as there were bugs,they would be caught immediately and put into a paper tube.
Whether they were spiders or ants,or...other bugs,as long as they were living,crawling bugs,they all had to be put in!After that,they would put the bugs in the paper tube into a blue cloth bag that had been sewn long ago and hang it on the patient's body.
"There were three pieces of tea leaves and seven grains of white rice in that small bag beforehand.They represent the three souls and seven spirits.That is to say,the patient's three souls and seven spirits have returned to their positions."
Wu Ruiyuan explained very seriously.
Looking at Brown Ryan who was lying at the door of someone's house and didn't intend to leave.Feeling a bit helpless,he could only forcibly pull the overly curious someone and quickly leave.
"You're being very impolite!The patient needs to rest quietly."
Putting one hand on his forehead and twitching the corner of his mouth.Wu Ruiyuan suddenly felt that he might have been a bit too enthusiastic when he brought Ryan,who was curious about everything,back.
"But the patient is still...in a coma?!"
Emphasizing this fact hard.Unwilling to leave,Ryan felt as if his heart was being scratched by a cat,and he felt uncomfortable all over.
"Then come and have a look again tomorrow."
Wu Ruiyuan yawned and walked in the direction he came from.Halfway there,he found that the foreigner who hadn't followed his pace was still standing there stubbornly without even bothering to adjust to the time difference.
Feeling helpless again,Wu Ruiyuan turned back and could only pull the sleeve of the other person and quickly walked towards his own home.
Of course,Wu Ruiyuan,who was deeply trapped in sleepiness and couldn't extricate himself,didn't see Ryan's tightly clenched fist hidden under his sleeve.