My birthday, I received a termination notice

On the 11th day of the first lunar month, which was my last day working at this company. The moment I shut down my computer, I transformed from an operations manager pushing forward with performance, to what others call a "jobless drifter"—though in reality, my heart is full of longing.
Just two days ago, on the 9th day of the lunar new year, was my 31st birthday according to the lunar calendar. I was first called into that small meeting room with the door closed and received the cold, unexpected birthday gift of a lifetime: Your contract expires at the end of March, and the company will not renew it.
Before I started in operations, I spent nearly ten years in HR, most of my days immersed in recruitment. Early on, I helped pioneer a new company, single-handedly building an entire team, transforming a vacant office into a combat-ready squad. During the worst of the pandemic, while others quarantined at home, I stayed at my post, working nonstop. I ended up coughing all night, unable to sleep, and developed health issues that forced me to leave and recover.
After recovering, I joined this company starting from HR and political commissar roles. At that time, the company was expanding rapidly, and I gritted my teeth through all the pressure, never missing a deadline or dropping the ball, pushing every detail to the limit. Later, when the company paused expansion and an operations position opened up, the leadership asked if I was willing to take it on. I hesitated—switching fields meant starting from zero, enduring more late nights and hardships. But I’ve never feared challenges; I fear my abilities have nowhere to show, or that I can’t provide a better life for my family. So I took the leap, diving into a completely unfamiliar operations field. No one taught me, so I studied materials myself, explored markets, and learned the patterns; no one guided me, so I led my team through trial and error, refining our plans. Over a year, I was often still working on operational summaries and analyzing recent data with colleagues past 10 p.m.
And I delivered a performance I am proud of, one that drew industry attention:
I doubled the performance of my assigned region from 12 million to 24 million. A full doubling.
Not just impressive numbers—
Within the company, I outperformed all other operations, truly ranking Top 1;
In the entire industry, my core metrics far exceeded the average, achieving growth rates others dare not imagine.
What’s even more remarkable is that I’m not the reckless type who only cares about scale and ignores life or death.
While my performance doubled, my gross profit doubled as well—every increase was solid, healthy, and sustainable.
This isn’t luck, nor inflated figures built on throwing money around; it’s the result of countless late nights, bearing immense pressure, and executing with real skill—hardcore achievements earned through genuine effort.
Honestly, I was mentally prepared for the current environment this year. I’ve seen too many colleagues laid off or terminated, even prepared my worst-case scenario. But when this notice actually hit me, I was stunned. My original plan was steady and reliable: work peacefully, earn a stable income to support my family; in the evenings after my child sleeps, update content on X, gradually shifting toward AI + Web3, completing my transition, and leaving a backup for my family. But now, all those gradual, cautious plans have been shattered by this notice.
This New Year, I received the most precious, weightiest gift of my life: my wife is pregnant with our second child. I will become a father of two. The moment I got the news, I quietly told myself I must work even harder—to shield my two children from wind and rain, to give my wife enough security, and to ensure this family always has warmth and confidence.
Many ask me, with the environment so tough, why am I so determined on AI + Web3? Because I’ve tasted the helplessness in the traditional workplace. I’ve pushed my performance to double, shoulder all responsibilities, and do everything to the extreme, but ultimately, my fate and value are still decided by someone else’s notice. I’ve seen too many diligent people lose their jobs due to a strategic shift; too many results from sleepless nights dismissed with a single dismissive remark. I don’t want to live like that anymore, to have my life in someone else’s hands.
AI + Web3 give me another way to live. AI is the most fair productivity tool of this era—it doesn’t care about your background or past. Whether you’re a newcomer or not, as long as you have ideas, experience, and execution, it can amplify my nearly ten years of recruitment, operations, and growth-from-zero experience infinitely. No longer limited by a company platform, no longer dependent on a leader’s opinion, no longer confined to a small workspace—one person can become a team.
Web3 is the most valuable self-sovereign space of this era. It’s decentralized, open, transparent—your contributions and value create your rewards. It won’t dismiss your efforts due to company strategy; it won’t take away your foundation just because of someone’s words. Here, your value is always defined by yourself, and your life is always in your own hands.
More importantly, the combination of AI and Web3 is the biggest growth market for the next decade. Traditional industries are shrinking, laying off people, pushing hardworking individuals out the door, but here, there are always new opportunities, new tracks, new possibilities—leaving room for those who dare to fight, capable, and unyielding.
I was hesitating before, trying to leave a backup plan, afraid of failure and disappointing my family. But this unemployment, instead, has completely eliminated my fallback. No backup means I have to forge ahead. Plans disrupted? Then I’ll take a more direct route. The gradual approach? Now, I choose to go all in.
I know the road ahead is full of unknowns, challenges, and setbacks. But I’m no longer afraid. Behind me are my wife waiting for me, my eldest about to start kindergarten, my second child on the way, and nearly ten years of skills I’ve accumulated, along with my stubborn spirit of not accepting defeat.
And here, I also want to say to the senior colleagues and leaders on platforms like gate and other exchanges: I’m coming. The person who once worked tirelessly in the traditional workplace, whose value was once denied, now comes with a wealth of experience and a determined, all-in mindset. Next, I will rely on my own skills in the track I believe in, to earn my money—money that can shield my two children from wind and rain, money that keeps my life firmly in my own hands.
At 31, I received a termination notice on my birthday, and my last day at work has ended. But my life is not over; it’s just beginning.
May everyone like me, who has been unexpectedly slapped by life, have the courage to break the pot and sink the boat, and take back control of their lives. #深度创作营