I was in the middle of buying cherries when my friend called, saying her company was urgently hiring and I needed to come in for an interview immediately. Pressed for time, I rushed over with the cherries still in hand. Before going into the interview, I specifically asked the receptionist to keep an eye on them for me. But when I came out, I found a group of people standing at the front desk, sharing my cherries. When I confronted them, all I got was dismissive ridicule: "New hires should bring gifts, isn't that just standard etiquette?" "So stingy. If you actually get the job, you're going to have a hard time here." Just then, my friend came over. I asked her to back me up, but instead, she said: "It's just treating future colleagues to some cherries. If you can't even figure that out, how are you going to survive in the corporate world? You really don't understand how things work." 01 I picked up Sarah’s call right as I was paying for a bag of premium cherries. "Stella, where are you? It's an emergency!" Before I could even say hello, she launched into a rapid-fire explanation: "Our Creative Department has an urgent opening. The pay is amazing. I recommended you directly, and the director loved your resume. He wants to know if you can come in for an interview right now." Sarah landed a job as an HR specialist at a major tech firm right after graduation. Everyone in our dorm was envious. I was surprised and excited. "Right now?" "Yes, right now! This position is a golden ticket. If you miss this window, it's gone. Get over here ASAP. Grab this opportunity, and we can hang out every day again." Her tone was urgent, but she added a playful note at the end: "Plus, this counts towards my KPI, so don't embarrass me, okay?" I laughed. "I won't let you down." Hanging up, I looked at the cherries in my hand. No time to go home and drop them off. Whatever. The interview was more important. Thirty minutes later, I stood panting in the lobby of NovaTech. Walking into an interview with a grocery bag felt unprofessional, so I approached the front desk. "Hi, I'm here for a last-minute interview. Could I possibly leave this here for a bit?" The receptionist was friendly and took the bag with a smile. "Of course." She quickly wrote my last name and the time on a sticky note, slapped it on the bag, and set it aside. Relieved, I snapped a quick photo of the bag and texted Sarah. [I'm here! I left a box of cherries at the front desk. Keep an eye on them for me~] Sarah replied instantly: [Don't worry. Good luck!] 02 The interviewer was a middle-aged man. His nameplate read: HR Director - Brian Lee. He took my resume, flipped through it carelessly, and tossed it aside. "I see you graduated from a top university. Why haven't you found a job yet? Are your standards too high?" I frowned slightly but kept a polite smile plastered on my face. "I believe job hunting requires careful consideration. It's not about being picky; it's about being responsible to myself and my future employer." He let out a dismissive scoff, leaning forward to scan me up and down like a searchlight. "Do you have a boyfriend?" I paused. Ignoring my reaction, he continued: "When do you plan on getting married? Do you have plans for children?" "I don't want to train an employee only for her to run off on maternity leave. It impacts projects significantly." The implications in his words made my skin crawl. I suddenly remembered how much Sarah hated hearing people talk like this back in college. Did she know her boss was like this? She was so good to me; I couldn't let her be kept in the dark. Thinking this, I quietly started recording on my phone, planning to let Sarah listen later. Then I looked straight at Director Lee. "I don't believe my personal relationship status has any direct correlation to my professional abilities. If you're concerned about stability, I can walk you through my five-year career plan." Unfortunately, he wasn't interested in listening. He leaned back in his chair and dropped an even bigger bomb. "Five-year plan? Easier said than done." "I'm not looking down on you, but the fact is, women have limited energy. Plus, if you get married, you have to balance the family." He paused, his tone turning preachy. "Or do you think a woman's ultimate place isn't in the home?" I was so angry I almost laughed. What century was this? I took a deep breath, sat up straight, and stared him down. "First, I don't believe energy levels are tied to gender. That depends on individual capability and drive." "Second, where my 'ultimate place' is, is for me to decide, not my gender." Brian Lee’s face darkened instantly. He probably hadn't expected an interviewee to push back so directly. "In that case, go back and wait for a notification." He clearly didn't want to talk to me anymore. He stood up, dropped that line, and walked out of the room. My impression of this company had hit rock bottom. I just wanted to tell Sarah what happened. [Interview's over. Are you free?] [That was fast. What's up?] I told her I needed to talk and asked to meet in the lobby. I left the interview room. 03 To my surprise, when I got to the front desk, the company had another surprise waiting for me. Seven or eight employees were gathered there, laughing and eating something. I thought it was an office snack break until I got closer. They were eating my cherries. The clean countertop was littered with pits, and the fancy packaging was tossed to the side. The friendly receptionist from earlier was shrinking into the corner, head down, avoiding my gaze. My blood pressure spiked. "Excuse me, who said you could touch my things?" I walked up quickly and asked them directly. A man with slicked-back hair popped another cherry into his mouth without pausing. "Yo, is this you? The new interview candidate?" He glanced at me dismissively, his tone flippant. "Newbies should bring a greeting gift. It's standard. Why are you being so petty?" As soon as he finished, someone else chimed in with a laugh. "Exactly. So stingy. You're going to have a rough time if you get hired." These unapologetic remarks only fueled my anger. Just then, Sarah walked over. She saw me, and for a split second, I saw a look of amusement in her eyes—like she was watching a show. But it vanished so fast I thought I imagined it. Seeing her felt like grabbing a lifeline. She was a full-time employee; surely she had more authority than me. "Sarah, perfect timing. You be the judge." I grabbed her arm and pointed at the cherry carnage on the desk. "I left my stuff at the front desk. Why did they eat it without asking? And now they're saying I don't understand 'human interaction.' That's unreasonable, right?" But Sarah frowned. Instead of backing me up, she pulled me aside forcefully, signaling me to stop talking. In a tone dripping with "disappointed parent," she lectured me: "Stella, what are you doing? It's just treating colleagues to some fruit. You're about to work at a big tech company; don't be so small-minded." She paused, then added: "Besides, you left it on the front desk. It's normal for people to think it was for everyone." I stared at her in disbelief. The humiliation from the interviewer and the theft of my cherries paled in comparison to these two sentences. My best friend from college didn't defend me. Instead, she blamed me. While I was speechless, a female colleague smirked and raised her phone, pointing the camera right at me. "Everyone look, the top-tier grad is throwing a tantrum over a box of cherries. I have to record this; it's going to be my entertainment for the week." Everyone around us laughed. 04 I glanced at Sarah, who hadn't managed to hide her smile in time, and I started laughing too. Confused by my reaction, the laughter around me died down. "I think you're right." I stared at her, enunciating every word. "I am small-minded. Too small-minded to accept theft being rebranded as 'office politics.'" I shifted my gaze from her paling face to the group of stunned "tech elites." "Newbies should bring gifts? Who made that rule?" "Labor laws? Or company policy?" "If I had left a stack of cash here today, would you have felt entitled to divide that up too?" Slick-back Hair opened his mouth but couldn't find words. I turned back to Sarah. She instinctively took a step back. "In college, if someone made a joke that crossed the line, you'd argue with them for three days." "How is it that now, when my property is stolen and eaten, you say I'm the one who doesn't get it? You need to educate me?" I stepped closer to her, trying to suppress my rage. "Your idea of 'big picture' is stepping on your best friend's face to fit into your corporate family?" Sarah panicked. Her eyes darted around, avoiding mine. She stayed silent. The woman recording probably thought the drama was getting good, so she raised her phone higher. I ignored her and looked around. On the other side of the front desk was a spread of bubble tea and fancy cakes—clearly their afternoon tea order. Without a word, I walked over. Under everyone's confused gaze, I picked the most expensive-looking bubble tea and the biggest cake. "You ate my cherries. I'm taking your afternoon tea as compensation. That's fair, don't you think?" Without waiting for a reaction from the stunned group, I hugged my "spoils" and walked out the front door without looking back. As soon as I got home, I blocked Sarah on everything. I thought that would be the end of it. But that night, I got another surprise. I was gaming when my other college roommate called, interrupting me. "Stella! Check Weibo! You're trending!" Confused, I opened the link she sent. It was a video from a gossip account, with a clickbait title: [Entitled Gen Z Destroys Workplace? Grad Throws Tantrum Over Fruit, Steals Colleagues' Tea!] The video showed me holding the cake and tea, saying, "That's fair." But not a single word about the context. Worse, even though my face was blurred, the top comment doxxed me completely. [I recognize her. That's my college classmate. She's always been self-centered with zero EQ. She thinks she's better than everyone because she went to a good school. Guess she hasn't changed.] They even posted a photo of me from college. Soon, my phone started vibrating uncontrollably as messages from strangers flooded in.
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