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Three Years Later, Halfway Across the Globe: Encountering My Former Colleague
On becoming a Swedish Chef
You know I once worked in alcohol media — a blemish on my life’s record.
I voluntarily resigned from China’s premier geographic travel media company, where I had worked for over a decade. At the time, my husband was employed, and although our income would have placed us among the poorest in Sweden, in China, his earnings alone could support our family and care for his parents.
So, I was unemployed, gave birth to another child, and spent about a year at home. Occasionally, I still wrote articles for my former employer. The reason for my resignation, you see, was that my previous position required me to perform many difficult tasks for the government.
I could do them well, but I grew weary of it.
Later, a charismatic former male colleague with impressive sales records approached me. He had earned the leadership’s trust and was authorized to explore a new field — media expansion in China’s baijiu (strong liquor) market, which had annual sales of 800 billion yuan. He needed my help. While nursing my child on the bed at home, I helped them complete several books about the relationship between alcohol and geography. Later, he sincerely invited me to join his team full-time.
