My salary is $60k. I accidentally glanced at the pay stub of a new hire in my team, impressively printed with $150k. I didn't say anything, continued to teach him hand in hand, fix bugs for him, help him report to the boss. He relied on my results to get the quarterly bonus, high-spirited in the meeting. End of year renewal, HR smiled and said to me: "Young people should look at the future, don't care too much about gains and losses." I pushed my resignation letter in front of her. Next day, the core project responsible by the whole department, system backend went directly red. Chapter 1 Monday's stand-up meeting, the air was dull like a soaked sponge, couldn't squeeze out a bit of fresh oxygen. Overhead fluorescent tubes hummed faintly, light pale, shining on everyone's face with a layer of greasy fatigue. I finished reporting last week's development progress, every node, every data, clear and accurate. This is the result I exchanged with two all-nighters. Department Director Mr. Miller nodded, no expression on his face, as if listening to an irrelevant weather forecast. "Mm, noted." He cleared his throat, leaned forward, face instantly piled up a kind of almost greasy appreciation. "Next, let Chad say a few words. Although Chad just came, his ideas are very novel, potential huge!" Eyes of everyone in the conference room focused on Chad Sterling beside me. Chad, twenty-four, Ivy League graduate, resume golden. He stood up, cleared his throat, opened a PPT. That PPT cover was indeed designed gorgeously, was the only "contribution" he made after I stayed up all night writing the report. He was high-spirited, eloquent, repackaged core content of my report with various trendy tech buzzwords. What "underlying logic", "empowerment", "closed loop", "synergy", Mr. Miller and other leaders nodded frequently. I sat below, expressionless, fingers curled unconsciously under the table, nails digging deep into palm. That report, every word, every punctuation, was written by me. After the meeting, I went to print documents. Printer spit out warm paper, I organized them one by one, just about to leave, corner of eye glimpsed a forgotten strip of paper in the corner. It was a pay stub. Two words "Chad Sterling" on it, clear and dazzling. I picked it up as if possessed. Base salary, performance, bonus... finally, the net amount column, a number like a red-hot iron, burned fiercely on my retina. $12,500. (Monthly) Multiply by 12, that's $150,000. My hand shook uncontrollably, that light paper, at this moment heavy as lead. On my pay stub, that number was $5,000. ($60k/year) Huge sense of absurdity and humiliation, instantly drowned me like a tide. I heard my own heartbeat, thump thump, heavy and slow, smashing in chest. I quickly recovered, pressed that pay stub under my documents, walked back to my station quickly, movements calm as if nothing happened. Chad swayed over leisurely, plopped on the chair next to me, turned his laptop over. "Julian, quick help me look, what's going on with this bug, too hard to fix." His tone taken for granted, carrying complaint. I glanced at the screen. That bug was caused by him writing a wrong parameter yesterday afternoon, a mistake so low-level it couldn't be lower. I didn't say a word, took over the computer. Didn't ask him why, didn't explain the principle. My fingers typed on keyboard, modify, save, compile, run. Whole process less than five minutes. Green "BUILD SUCCESS" prompt jumped out. He leaned over to look, face showed relaxed expression, lightly said: "You are still the best." Finished, he held his cup, turned and went to the pantry. I heard his voice bragging to other colleagues, separated by cubicle partition, blurry, but that proudness penetrated everything. "...a small problem, fixed in minutes..." I looked at my computer screen expressionlessly, on it was the core code annotation document I was writing. These codes were typed out by me line by line, the skeleton of the entire system. Afternoon, he came with a USB drive. "Julian, those annotation documents and maintenance manuals you wrote, copy a set for me, I learn learn." I looked at him, he smiled harmlessly. I plugged in the USB, copied everything I organized for half a year, my own knowledge base, everything I prepared to prevent others from being blind when I'm on leave, all to him. No hesitation. After he left, team's QA engineer Sarah quietly leaned over, lowered voice said: "Julian, you are... too generous. Must guard against others." Sarah is over forty, stayed in company for almost ten years, seen all kinds of waves. I smiled at her, that smile might be uglier than crying. "It's okay Sarah, all for work." I knew, I was not generous. I was just handing them the rope to hang myself. No, handing them a gun, but I already loaded the bullet in the chamber that will shoot at themselves. Quarterly report meeting, all mid-high level management attended. Chad used materials and results I gave him, made an extremely gorgeous PPT. He talked eloquently on stage, as if the person who fought all night and overcame difficulties was himself. Mr. Miller listened with a red face below stage, whispering with leaders beside, face full of pride. At the end of meeting, Mr. Miller announced on the spot, because of Chad's "outstanding contribution" and "huge potential" on the core project, decided to give him a $10,000 quarterly bonus. Applause thunderous. Chad bowed to everyone in applause, gaze swept over me, didn't stop, as if I was just a background board. Next day, to celebrate, Chad treated the whole department Starbucks. Cups of beautifully packaged coffee sent to everyone's desk, sweet aroma filled the office. Only, my desk was empty. He didn't forget, he did it on purpose. He handed the last cup of coffee respectfully to Mr. Miller. Mr. Miller took the coffee, happily patted his shoulder: "Chad, work hard, you are the future of our department!" I looked at them, like watching a farce irrelevant to me. Last bit of warm fantasy in heart, completely cold, broken, turned into cold ashes. I was not enduring. I was waiting for a timing. From that day, I started working more "wholeheartedly". I quietly organized all my work documents, code records, handover SOPs. Every interface definition, every module logic, every possible exception, I recorded with the most detailed and standard language. I even matched independent instruction documents for every key script I wrote, detailed to the meaning of every parameter and consequence of modifying it. I did it flawlessly, perfect like a work of art. A perfect sacrifice prepared for this grand funeral. Sarah looked at me with eyes full of worry and confusion. She found me privately again: "Julian, what exactly are you thinking? Going on like this, credits are his, blame is yours." I just smiled at her, said: "Sarah, don't worry, my value, is not decided by them." But my price, must be taken back by myself, with principal and interest. Chapter 2 End of year, air began to fill with a restless atmosphere. Company renewal season arrived. HR Manager Karen called me into that familiar conference room always blasting AC. She wore a professional, impeccable smile, personally poured me a glass of water. "Julian, been in company two years, time flies." She pushed a renewal contract in front of me, posture elegant. "Look, this is company's affirmation to you." I opened contract, gaze fell directly on salary column. Increase 5%. $60,000 times 1.05, equals $63,000. A month, increased $250. I let out a cold sneer in heart, face remained calm. Karen started her performance, voice gentle like spring breeze, words carrying unquestionable pressure. "Julian, I know, young people, definitely have expectations for salary. But, you have to look at the future." "Our company platform is top in industry. Projects you touch here, things you learn, are far more important than this little salary in front of eyes." She paused, picked up cup drank water, eyes meaningful. "I know, you worked hard mentoring new hires recently. But this is also training for you, leaders' trust in you. Mr. Miller sees it all." This sentence was like a switch, instantly ignited my long-suppressed anger. But I didn't explode. I just raised my head, looked straight into her eyes, calmly interrupted her. "Mr. Miller saw it all, then gave the $10,000 bonus to Chad." Smile on Karen's face froze for an instant. Air in conference room seemed solidified. She obviously didn't expect me, usually silent and honest, to contradict her so directly. "Uh... Julian, this... things can't be looked at like this." She tried to make up, "Chad has good background, prestigious school graduate, can bring different resources to company. This is... this is strategic level consideration." I laughed. Kind of laugh from bottom of heart, feeling everything in front absurd to extreme. "So, Karen, you mean, my technology is worthless, his PPT and his background, worth $12,500 a month, plus $10,000 bonus?" I made it completely clear. I don't want to play those hypocritical workplace games anymore. Karen's face completely changed, that layer of professional mask torn by me, revealing arrogance and impatience underneath. She put away smile, leaned back on chair, changed to a business-like cold face. "Julian Brooks, I hope you think clearly. How is job market outside now, you know better than me." "Don't be too calculating about immediate personal gains and losses, calculating people, road won't be wide. This will affect your career development." Typical PUA speech. Past, I might feel anxious, self-doubt because of these words. But now, I only feel ridiculous. I didn't waste words with her. I took out another document from my bag, a document I prepared long ago. Resignation letter. I pushed it in front of her, next to that "grace" of $250 raise. "Thank you Karen for teaching." I stood up, looking down at her. "Maybe my pattern is too small, only can see immediate gains and losses." "So, this contract looking at future, better leave to people with bigger pattern." I picked up my bag, ready to leave. Karen was completely shocked by my move, she stood up abruptly, tone sharp. "Julian! What do you mean? Threatening company?" I stopped, turned head, face wearing a smile she couldn't figure out. "Oh, forgot to tell you, Karen." "I already found next job, salary doubled." This sentence was fake. I didn't find next job at all. But I needed this sentence, to cut off any thought of them trying to keep me or suppress price. What I wanted was not raise, what I wanted was leave. What I wanted was, to see how this magnificent stage built by my own hands, trampled by them at will, collapse轰然 (with a loud crash) after I leave. Looking at Karen's twisted face from shock, anger, to disbelief, I felt an unprecedented relief. I turned, pulled open conference room door, walked out without looking back. Behind, was dead silence. Chapter 3 Resignation procedures went surprisingly smooth. When handing over work, I printed that "perfect" handover documentation into a thick stack, placed on Mr. Miller's desk. "Mr. Miller, all code permissions transferred, server accounts also transferred to Chad. This is handover document, all details inside." Mr. Miller didn't even look at that document, just waved hand impatiently. "Noted noted." His face carried an undisguised contempt, as if saying company turns fine without anyone. Chad stood aside, mouth corner hanging triumphant smile. In my eyes, he looked like a silly prince inherited throne, not knowing he inherited an empire about to erupt volcano. After finishing all procedures, holding my box walking out of company gate, Mr. Miller even hypocritically came out to send me off. He patted my shoulder, tone kind. "Julian ah, keep in touch. Wish you bright future." I smiled. "Borrow your good words." I didn't look back, stepped into winter afternoon sun. Sunlight a bit dazzling, I felt comfortable all over. Air of freedom, really good. Second day after leaving, was Monday. An ordinary Monday no longer need wake up early squeeze subway. 9:30 AM, Market Open time. I was leisurely sitting at home dining table, eating fresh baked toast, drinking hot soy milk. Phone suddenly started vibrating crazily, like an angered hive. Various notification sounds rose one after another, screen lit up instantly. It was former company's department work group chat. Although I already quit group, Sarah pulled me into a private small group of us few old colleagues. At this moment, in that small group, former colleagues were crazily forwarding screenshots from big group. "Big trouble! Company core trading system backend all red!" "Exploded! All exploded! All trading modules hung!" "Customer order requests all timeout, log system also crazily reporting errors, already burst!" "Holy cow, what situation? End of world?" Immediately after, was a screenshot of Mr. Miller roaring in big group. He crazily @everyone, every sentence with several exclamation marks. "What is happening!!! Who can tell me what is happening!!!" "Chad! @Chad you are responsible for this project now! Why system crash? Fix it now!!" Few minutes later, Chad finally bubbled in group, tone panicked and eager to clear relation. "Mr. Miller, I'm looking! Seems underlying architecture has problem... feel... feel it's Julian didn't hand over clearly before leaving!" He unsurprisingly, first time started throwing pot (blame). Sarah immediately sent a message in group, like stating a fact. "Julian's handover document I glanced once, detailed to every parameter annotation. No issue of unclear handover." Whole group silenced for a moment. Immediately, my phone rang loudly. Caller ID: Mr. Miller. I looked at that name, pressed hang up. Then, without hesitation, dragged him into blacklist. Ringtone just stopped, WeChat notification rang again. It was HR Karen. Her avatar jumped on screen, message tone soft enough to drip water. "Julian, there? Free? Company system has some emergency, want ask you help look, pay can be negotiated." I looked at that message, pressed "Read" button. Then, buckled phone screen, continued eating my breakfast slowly. I drank last mouthful soy milk, feeling warm liquid slide into stomach comfort. Various messages constantly popping on phone, in my eyes, just accompaniment to this big show opening. This is not a bug. Nor hacker attack. This is just a small "Scheduled Cleanup Script" I wrote. Its function, is at 9:30 AM on first working day after my employee account cancelled by backend, automatically clean all "temporary cache files" and "redundant daemon processes" created in my name. Original intention of this script, was to ensure system cleanliness and security. Just that, they none knew. Scheduling center of entire core trading system, those most critical, core processes, all rely on these processes I marked as "redundant" to live. They are like tree roots, buried deep in soil, invisible, untouchable, but once pulled, whole tree will instantly wither. This is the first appetizer in the farewell gift package I carefully prepared for them. Good show, just started.
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