Another year has passed

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This post was last edited by wc644307622 on 2015-12-18 at 15:31. Born in 1988, with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, I worked at a private design firm after graduation for about two years. Due to the poor financial conditions of the company, I had to change jobs and switch to work at an environmental protection company. The new company is also a private enterprise with a history of about ten years; it was listed on the New Third Board last year. Its promotional materials present it in a favorable light, but its scale is small and it has few employees. It mainly sells environmental protection equipment, so sales form the core of the company’s operations. There are only 5 people working on design, and since the projects are similar, it’s basically enough to make a few adjustments to the same set of drawings. The scale of these projects is quite small; the cost is usually around 1 million. You can simply purchase the equipment from our company. Although we don’t have design or construction qualifications, due to the small scale of the projects, we usually handle the construction work ourselves. Since I had worked at a design institute, it was easy for me to get started at my new workplace; I could solve the problems I encountered quite easily ； There are few people in the department, so everyone gets along very well. Overall, the work is quite comfortable; there’s no need for frequent business trips, and it’s a pleasant environment to work in – somewhat similar to working in a state-owned enterprise ； The overall economic environment is poor this year; although environmental protection is a hot topic, there are clearly fewer projects than before. This year, the company’s total contract value is not even half of last year’s. Since the company has a subsidiary that deals with hazardous waste treatment, it still made some profits this year, so salaries can still be paid as usual. 2015 is about to pass. People tend to become lazy when they are in a comfortable environment; it’s like a frog boiled in warm water. Even though they know that the outside situation is tough and that effort is required, the work environment is so comfortable that before they know it, another year has passed. This year, I really didn’t learn as much as I did in the previous two years. Recently, the subsidiary needs to expand its production capacity. Since most of the company’s employees have low educational qualifications, and I have a higher level of education, I have been sent there to assist with the design of new production lines. I will be staying at the subsidiary for 3 months (it’s quite far from home). I know it’s a great opportunity to learn, but having spent too much time in a comfortable environment, I’m a bit reluctant to travel for long periods of time. I live in Shanghai, have a low income, and am what’s known as a ‘moonlighter’. The ancients said, \"One should be established in life by the age of 30.\" But I’m about to turn 30 now. Thinking about my parents who are getting older, and my wife who is about to give birth, I still haven’t managed to \"establish\" myself yet; I still haven’t become the protector of my family. This makes me feel confused and frustrated. Perhaps everyone goes through such a phase