By the coffee machine in the company pantry, Xiaomei’s most feared place to pass by every day became that spot.
She was an ordinary clerk in the administrative department, with delicate features and a gentle personality. But for the past week, whenever she went to get coffee, a male colleague would always slowly approach.
That man was exceptionally short; standing next to her, the top of his head just reached her waist. Each time, he would first take a deep breath, then say in an intoxicated tone:
“Your hair smells great.”
On the first day, Xiaomei thought it was just ordinary flattery and forced a smile.
The next day he came again, sucking even harder.
The third day, the fourth day... every day was like this, unwavering as thunder.
Xiaomei began to feel something was off. When that person spoke, he was too close to her, his breath hitting her clothes, and his eyes kept drifting upward. She tried changing the time she went to get coffee, but he would accurately appear; she deliberately stood farther away, and he would move closer to continue smelling.
A week later, Xiaomei really couldn't stand it anymore.
She stormed straight into the HR department and told the supervisor, Old Zhang, the whole situation exactly as it happened.
“He comes to smell me every day, and even says my body hair smells good! That’s already sexual harassment!” Xiao Mei said more and more angrily. “I’m going to complain about him!”
After hearing this, Old Zhang pushed up his glasses with a confused expression:
“He said your body hair smells good... What does that have to do with sexual harassment? He was just complimenting you on having nice-smelling hair.”
Xiaomei took a deep breath, lowered her voice, and almost hissed the next sentence through gritted teeth:
“He’s that dwarf in our company!”
Old Zhang froze completely.
Only after three seconds did he slowly show an expression of “I get it,” his mouth twitching several times. In the end, he couldn’t hold back, buried his face in his hands, and laughed out loud with his shoulders shaking.
“So...” Old Zhang raised his head, struggling to keep professional, “when he was standing there, the height of his nose was just...”
"Yes." Xiao Mei’s face turned livid. "It’s not the hair. It’s below."
Old Zhang was silent for a long time, finally squeezing out just one sentence:
“...I'll go handle it right away.”
That afternoon, the dwarf male colleague was called in for a talk with HR. No one knew the content, only that afterwards, when passing the pantry, he no longer dared to get close to the female colleagues.
But this matter quickly spread through the company.
Whenever someone goes to get coffee, someone always holds back laughter and reminds, 'Mind the height, mind the height.'
From then on, whenever Xiaomei smelled the aroma of coffee, she would instinctively clench her legs and silently vow:
If someone compliments her again on “how wonderful her hair is,” she will definitely check the other person’s height first.
Xiaomei's vow didn't last very long.
After the HR interview, that dwarf male coworker—everyone called him Xiao Guo—did indeed behave himself for a while. When he passed the pantry, he would deliberately take a detour, and his eyes no longer drifted toward Xiao Mei. But the people in the company had already turned this into a classic joke.
“Have you heard? Xiaomei was praised for having excellent body hair.”
“Which hair?”
"Who else could it be? You don't know Xiao Guo's height?"
Every time someone lowers their voice in the pantry to talk about this matter, as soon as Xiao Mei appears, the scene instantly falls silent, then erupts in suppressed laughter. Her face flushes red time and again, and she can only quickly leave with her cup.
What's even more critical is that she herself began to grow sensitive.
Before, when she took coffee, she would stand naturally; now she always unconsciously keeps her legs tightly together. Once she was wearing a skirt, standing in front of the coffee machine waiting for hot water, when footsteps suddenly came from behind her. Her body stiffened, and she instinctively squeezed her legs together, causing the hot water to spill and scald her hand.
“Are you okay?” a male colleague of ordinary height asked with concern.
Xiaomei shook her head, but her ears were burning red. She realized she had developed a conditioned reflex to the combination of "someone approaching + deep breathing."
Xiao Guo was actually quite wronged too.
During the talk, the HR manager laid it out plainly. He was completely stunned at that moment.
“I really just think her hair smells nice! I have rhinitis, I’m especially sensitive to scents...”
The supervisor rubbed his temples: “You were standing so close when you were smelling it, and the height was right there—who would believe you?”
Xiao Guo, on the verge of tears from grievance, said: "Can't I just stand farther away from now on?"
"It’s best to even go to the break room less."
Since then, Xiao Guo started going to the tea room upstairs instead. But once he left, the pressure on Xiao Mei actually became even greater—because the other male colleagues started joking about it.
Some would deliberately take a deep breath behind her and then say with a straight face, 'The coffee beans smell good today.'
When people passed by, they would glance down at their own height, then look at Xiao Mei's waist, and smile meaningfully.
The most excessive time, a salesperson who usually loved to stir things up loudly asked in the break room, 'Xiaomei, what shampoo do you use? Please recommend it. My friend is 1.3 meters tall and wants to give it to his girlfriend.'
The whole venue burst into laughter.
That same afternoon, Xiaomei went to her supervisor and demanded an official reprimand.
The supervisor smiled bitterly and agreed, but also privately persuaded her: “The matter has already become such a big mess. If you keep pressing it, it won’t look good for you either. Everyone will forget it in a couple of days.”
Xiaomei knew he was right, but still felt wronged.
She tried to avoid going to the pantry alone. Either she would wait for colleagues to go together, or simply bring her own thermos. But the more she avoided it, the larger the shadow of the matter grew in her heart.
Until the team-building event a month later.
The company organized a barbecue outing in the suburbs. During free time, Xiaomei sat alone in a corner, lost in thought. Xiaoguo somehow walked over, carrying two drinks in his hands.
He stopped two meters away from her, put one of the cups on the table beside him, and then took a step back.
"I... I didn't mean it." Xiao Guo's voice was very soft. "I really just thought you smelled nice. I won't come near you again."
Xiaomei looked up and stared at him for a few seconds.
When this person stood, he indeed only reached her chest. If he got any closer, any lower, his nose would land in an extremely awkward place. She had always found it disgusting before, but now, seeing his awkwardness, she suddenly felt it was a bit absurd.
“Are you really just smelling my hair?” she asked.
Xiao Guo nodded vigorously: "I really have rhinitis! I even specifically asked the doctor, who said I'm allergic to certain plant fragrances... It seems like the shampoo you use has some."
Xiaomei remained silent for a long time.
Finally, she sighed: 'Next time you want to compliment someone, first make sure where your nose will stop.'
Xiao Guo felt as if granted a pardon, nodding repeatedly before turning and running off.
From that day on, the jokes in the break room gradually became fewer. Xiao Mei also slowly returned to her normal habit of taking coffee. It was just that occasionally, when someone behind her let out the sound of a deep breath, she would still unconsciously clamp her legs together, and then silently repeat that vow in her heart:
If someone compliments her again on how “wonderful her hair is,” she will definitely check the other person’s height first.
Better check one more time.
Another two months passed.
The jokes in the tea room eventually faded. New colleagues didn't know the old story, and old employees couldn't be bothered to bring it up again. Xiao Mei regained her ease, even able to chat with others while waiting for hot water when getting coffee.
Until one afternoon.
She was standing in front of the coffee machine when very light footsteps suddenly came from behind, followed by a deliberately suppressed deep breath.
Xiaomei's body instantly stiffened, her legs subconsciously clamping together. She slowly turned her head—
Standing behind her was the new intern.
The boy had just turned twenty, tall and thin, completely normal height. Seeing Xiaomei turn around, he smiled somewhat awkwardly and pointed to his own nose:
“Sorry, I’m a little stuffy-nosed. I just wanted to smell the coffee fragrance a bit. I didn’t scare you, did I?”
Xiaomei stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly laughed out loud.
After laughing, she felt her previous nervousness was ridiculous.
"No." She shook her head. "You can keep smelling it. The coffee is freshly opened; it really smells good."
The intern breathed a sigh of relief, actually took another breath, then nodded in satisfaction and left.
Xiaomei stood alone, watching the coffee drip slowly into the cup. She suddenly realized that some shadows don't follow a person forever. They can be gently lifted on an ordinary afternoon by an ordinary deep breath.
Returning home at night, she posted about it on her social media, with only one caption:
"I checked it. The height is fine."
Soon afterward, familiar colleagues below left a comment: “Finally done?”
Xiaomei replied: "Yeah. Next time someone says my hair is fantastic, I'll check their height first, then decide whether to call the police."
After sending it, she laughed first.
Since then, the break room became, for her, just the break room again.
Occasionally, someone still brings up that dwarf and the line “the hair is really great,” but it has already become a pure joke, no longer carrying any meaning that makes her uncomfortable. Xiaomei even sometimes takes the lead and answers:
“So yeah, measure someone’s height before you praise them. A lesson learned the hard way.”
After everyone laughed, the topic moved on.
Later, Xiao Guo was transferred to another department. When they met again, they would only nod from afar. He never approached her coffee machine again, and Xiao Mei no longer clenched her legs because of the breathing behind her.
Some awkwardness gets smoothed over by time, some jokes stay.
What was left was only the occasionally remembered, wry smile at the corner of the mouth.
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