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This post was last edited by Catalyzing a Grain on 2016-1-20 at 16:30. That year, I had just graduated and had been working for 2 years; there was no chance for advancement in my company over those two years. Additionally, many of my alumni left the company, which prompted me to decide to leave as well. So I ran from Jiading to Jinshan; the manager who interviewed me was my boss with whom I had worked for five years. My boss is 19 days younger than me. Coincidentally, once I went to their house to visit, and during our conversation he asked me what my birthday was. I told him, and he said that today was my birthday – the only time he forgot his own birthday. I didn’t believe him when he said it, so I quickly took out my phone to check the calendar – it was indeed my birthday. Then I had lunch at their house that day, and was supposed to go back in the afternoon. But when his wife came back from work, she said it was my birthday, and insisted that we have dinner first before leaving. It was the only birthday on which a friend helped out, and it remains unforgettable to this day. In our personal lives, we are friends; at work, he is my supervisor and mentor. When I first joined the company, I called him teacher, but he told me not to do that and asked me to call him Xiao*. Occasionally we call him boss, but more often we use the name Xiao*. In work, various problems of different sizes arise; the data obtained from experiments sometimes defy common sense, and it is then necessary to consider what factors in the experiment have led to such results. There are many uncertain aspects in work, but with his approval, I gain the confidence to succeed. We come across a large number of plans every day, and we carry out repetitive tasks on a daily basis. At such times, he assigns me a task: to use Excel to enter the known data and generate the final list of required plans. In my free time from work, I devoted myself to this complicated task. At that time I was working alone and had a lot of time each day; sometimes I would work until late at night, still thinking about the problems I faced. One weekend, after performing multiple searches, the data obtained was incorrect, and out of confusion I called my supervisor who quickly provided me with the formula. Excel has very powerful functions, and back then I learned while practicing; reaching an advanced level in Excel meant mastering the use of macros. This was truly a challenge for me; the final integration work was done by my boss. As a result, it saved a lot of time in terms of work, as the generated list could be printed directly in PDF format. In their free time, families often gather for meals whenever there’s an occasion; sometimes they go to the beach to enjoy the sea breeze and walk on the sand, or take their children to the park. Sometimes we go shopping at the supermarket together, but more often we just gather at home. I can’t remember what we did during those small get-togethers anymore; all I recall is that there was always a table full of dishes. Together, we have gone through over 5 years of ups and downs, leaving behind countless happy memories. I’m grateful for fate that brought us together; I will remember this for the rest of my life. (In the blink of an eye, it’s been over 3 years since we parted ways; now we stay in touch mainly when we encounter problems at work, and we keep in touch with each other through casual conversations with former colleagues.) I know we’re both going through tough times, but my concern for you remains unchanged. Wish my former colleagues success in their work and all the best. ）