Every gift from fate has its price secretly marked.
And Sun Dasheng was reaping a massive windfall, because he had already paid the price more than a decade ago.
The airplane landed at the provincial capital, Luzhou, after which they transferred to a direct high-speed train. They didn’t buy a direct ticket from Shanghai City because they were impossible to get during the Spring Festival travel rush.
Li Sili’s hotown was in the mountainous hinterlands, part of an old revolutionary base area. It bore the reputation of being "the cradle of the Red Army and the holand of generals." However, places like this are usually economically underdeveloped. After getting off the high-speed train in the county town, one used to have to transfer to several buses to get ho. But that was in the past; of course, it was no longer necessary.
They hailed a ride-share car in the county town that took them directly to her doorstep.
"Uncle, co in and have a cup of tea," Li Sili invited.
Sun Dasheng glanced at the mourning banners displayed at the entrance and waved his hand in refusal. A funeral was being held at her ho, so it wasn’t appropriate to disturb them at this ti.
"There will be other opportunities to visit."
Sitting on the plane for the return trip, Sun Dasheng was lost in thought.
So that’s why I always felt there was sothing odd about that girl, Li Sili. It turns out we’re ’old acquaintances.’
In fact, on the village road to the girl’s house, he had already recalled the long-buried mories. It stemd from his volunteer teaching trip during the sumr of his junior year of college—an impulsive journey, yet an incredibly valuable experience.
「Back in Shanghai.」
The company began its annual holiday. He had no intention of making his employees work on New Year’s Eve like other companies. That was simply too cruel. Instead, he announced that everyone could return to work after celebrating the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month at ho. During the holiday, salaries would be paid as usual. The announcent was t with an enthusiastic response, instantly elevating the company’s reputation among its neighbors.
「Starlight Building, Tower A, 12th Floor」
This was Xiaoju Technology, the Livestreaming Departnt within the Live Comrce Division.
During the departnt’s morning eting, Departnt Manager Xiang Yunsheng was in the midst of a thunderous outburst.
"It’s the end of the year, and look at the crap report you’ve handed . A huge departnt, hundreds of online personalities, tens of millions invested, and yet you failed to produce a single big-na influencer for . At yesterday’s company leadership eting, General Manager Wu made do a public self-criticism on the spot."
He said this as he glanced over the crowd below.
"Since I’m having a hard ti, don’t you dare think you’ll have it easy."
"Xu Yongsheng!" he began calling nas.
The person he called on, Xu Yongsheng, had no choice but to stand up reluctantly.
"Present!"
"Your team has the most followers and the best foundation in the departnt, so why has your growth rate dropped so sharply recently?"
His pointed criticism was not without substance; it wasn’t random faultfinding. Recently, Xu Yongsheng had been playing favorites, squeezing out talented and capable livestrears one by one. Those who remained were the fawning yes-n who did his bidding. As the saying goes, like master, like man. His behavior in front of his own superiors was reflected in the kind of "reliable" subordinates he chose.
For instance, the group’s most profitable accounts had all been handed over to Ruan Bingran. Was it because this college freshman possessed exceptional livestreaming skills or an outstanding ability to sell products?
The answer to both was no.
There was only one reason: nepotism.
"What are you still standing there for, acting like a coward? Get on stage and deliver your self-criticism!"
Oh no! It seed things were getting serious.
The other team leaders below were abuzz with discussion, each one of them gloating. It was for no other reason than the fact that this guy was always the best at bootlicking, which won him the leaders’ favor. He may have skyrocketed to success, but he blocked the promotion path for his colleagues.
Impeding soone’s career is akin to murdering their parents. How could they not hold a grudge?
"Heh heh... Serves that guy Xu right."
"That suck-up is completely incompetent. He’s an absolute disgrace to our departnt."
"Eh, I heard he was the first apprentice Supervisor Sun took on. How are the master and apprentice so completely different?"
"Heh... Don’t even talk about Supervisor Sun. He was ’optimized’ by the company after the annual eting."
"What? I just transferred back from the branch office. Supervisor Sun is so skilled, and the company was willing to let him go? He was hired right out of college and worked diligently for ten years. Even if he didn’t have major accomplishnts, he put in the hard work. How can the company be so heartless?"
"Shush, keep it down! Are you trying to get yourself killed, talking about the company like that?"
"Hah, expecting the company to show any decency is like waiting for pigs to fly."
"Sigh, even the manager’s top lapdog is being called out. Looks like there will be major staff adjustnts after the New Year. I just hope our team doesn’t get cut."
...
The chatter from below didn’t affect Xu Yongsheng, who was on stage delivering his "sincere" self-criticism. As he spoke, he kept his eyes on the face of his forr "good leader." I took the fall for him, I put my neck on the line for him, he thought. He can’t just use up and throw away.
He was also terrified of being laid off. He was especially unlucky, having bought a house at the peak of the market in ’21, becoming a greater fool. He had just taken possession and finished renovations when—bam—its value plunged by 25%.
His down paynt was nearly wiped out. Burdened with a heavy mortgage, he couldn’t afford the slightest instability at work. Otherwise, he would instantly default, and the bank would repossess and auction the house. That would an losing everything he’d invested.
"The above is my profound self-criticism. In my future work, I will rember the lessons I’ve learned, heed our leader’s guidance, regroup, and lead my team’s performance to new heights."
The round of applause Xu Yongsheng had hoped for never ca. Not a single word of encouragent ca from the leadership.
Only a single, ice-cold sentence.
"The future? You still want a future? Your entire team is being laid off to serve as an example to others."
Now it was Xu Yongsheng’s turn to be stunned. He knew the situation was serious, but he hadn’t anticipated it being this severe. If it weren’t for all the eyes on him, he would have knelt before his boss and shouted, "I’ve made contributions to the departnt! I’ve bled for you, boss! Please don’t lay off!"
His protest went unheard. Before he could make a move, security guards who were already on standby dragged him out of the eting room.
Seeing the deathly silent room, Xiang Yunsheng nodded to himself. This act of "killing the chicken to scare the monkeys" had worked well. It was a pity about his loyal lapdog. But there was no other way. If the man had just been a bit more competent, if his team’s performance hadn’t been dead last in the departnt, Xiang Yunsheng would have protected him.
Unfortunately, the guy was a complete disappointnt. If he didn’t get serious, the higher-ups were going to get serious with him. He knew the ruthless nature of this company. Forget about ten-year veterans; even founding mbers who had grown with the company could be fired on a whim. This place was a jungle where the strong devoured the weak, with no room for sentintality.
The morning eting was dismissed.
Without a word, the departnt team leaders received their new targets for the coming year. They hurried back to their own teams to convey the eting’s spirit and assign the tasks.
Unsurprisingly, cries of despair erupted throughout the departnt.
"Are the higher-ups trying to kill us? This year’s follower growth target is 50% higher than last year’s, but our budget has been cut. How is that even possible?"
"Those damn leaders are completely out of touch. The tasks they assign are like castles in the air. I really want to drag them down to the front lines to see what it’s like for themselves."
"I think the company’s recent decline in performance is all because of these amateurs trying to direct professionals. If I were the boss, I’d fire those useless managers. Performance would probably turn around."
"Huh! You make a good point. I can’t even argue with that."
"These clueless leaders earn the biggest salaries for doing the most inhumane things. I say just fire them. What’s the point of laying off us grunts? One of their salaries is equal to ten of ours."
"Alright, that’s enough complaining. The tasks have been assigned, and we don’t have a choice. If we want to keep our jobs, we have to grit our teeth and complete them. And if gritting our teeth isn’t enough, we’ll have to risk our lives to get them done."
"Otherwise, we’ll all be left with nothing to eat! You all know Xu Yongsheng’s team, right? They used to be the most profitable team in our departnt. And now? With just one word from above, they were all sent packing."
The team leader’s words silenced so of the complaints. Although no one spoke up, their dissatisfaction grew heavier in their hearts. All it would take was a single spark to ignite their emotions.
「Lunch Break」
The break had shrunk from its original two hours to just one. After eating, with little ti to rest, everyone gathered to chat and shoot the breeze.
The biggest topic of conversation today wasn’t about buying New Year’s train tickets, nor was it the bad news from the morning about having to work even more overti next year. Instead, it was about the neighboring company that had recently blown up on social dia: Xinli dia.
It was rumored to have been founded by Sun Dasheng, their departnt’s forr supervisor and an old employee who had just been laid off. As an employee who had been with the company for a decade, most people in the departnt were familiar with him. Everyone loved this kind of underdog-makes-good story: laid off by the company, bounces back to start a business, becos the CEO, marries a beautiful, wealthy woman, and reaches the pinnacle of life.
"Hey, did you know? Several of his old subordinates have already jumped ship to his company."
"Oh? I heard it’s just a small company. How are the benefits? Can they compare to our Xiaoju Technology?"
"Ugh, don’t even ntion this trash company. It looks big, has tons of employees, and is even a high-market-cap listed company, but what good does any of that do for us regular employees? The salary we take ho is still pitifully small. We work way more overti than small companies. Don’t even ntion 996; that’s just the baseline. 007 is our normal state."
"So, you still haven’t said what their benefits are like."
"Tsk, tsk. From what I’ve heard, the benefits there are amazing. If you switch, not only do you get a raise, but you also work nine-to-five, have weekends off, and get a month of paid annual leave."
"And here we are, still slogging away until New Year’s Eve, while they’ve already started their holiday. I heard they’re on paid leave until the Lantern Festival!"
"My god, the benefits are that good? The résumés must be piling up. The competition must be fierce, right?"
"Of course! I can’t speak for elsewhere, but compared to the other companies around here, it’s like finding gold in a pile of shit."
It was a colorful comparison, and everyone roared with laughter.
The lunch break ended, and it was ti to get back to work. The chatting crowd dispersed.
They all paid lip service to working hard for a promotion and raise next year, but the calculating looks in their eyes betrayed their true intentions. During work hours, they secretly began looking up details about that other company. Although none of them were planning to jump ship just yet, a seed had already been planted in their minds.
Reviews
All reviews (0)