sbdcsierra Chapter 2 Who is the fish head facing?
Chapter 2 Who is the fish head facing?
1:30 a.m.
Zhou Lang paid for two bottles of Mengzhilan M6+ and then returned to the company.
The private kitchen downstairs in the office building was run by Tian Wenming's relative. Being woken up to open for business at this hour, the owner's attitude towards Zhou Lang was far from friendly; he looked utterly resentful, as if he had lost his parents.
Just as Zhou Lang was about to go upstairs, he received a message from his mother on WeChat.
[Mom]: Xiao Lang, are you still awake? (smiling)
[Mom]: I was afraid that calling you at this hour would scare you. Is everything alright?
Zhou Lang replied immediately.
[Zhou Lang]: Mom, is it okay if I call you?
When people leave their hometowns to work elsewhere, both parents and children are afraid of receiving a phone call from the other in the middle of the night.
"Hey, Xiao Lang."
"Mom, are you guessing? How did you know I wasn't asleep yet?"
"I see you're up so late, and your WeChat steps are still a few hundred steps ahead," the mother said.
Feeling cared for by his family left Zhou Lang speechless: "Mom, you should go to sleep early, I..."
Tell your mother that you're working day and night, like crazy?
Even if I tell her, there's nothing she can do; it will only make her more worried and anxious about him.
After a pause, Zhou Lang lied and said, "I went out with my boss and colleagues and splurgeed a bit, we had a big meal."
In fact, he had been revising the manuscript and was so hungry that he didn't order takeout until eight or nine o'clock.
The mala tang (a type of spicy hot pot) consists of four meat dishes and four vegetable dishes. After unpacking, you'll find two frozen meat rolls and two beef balls.
There are lavish meals, but the bosses do it behind closed doors, using employees' travel allowances and overtime pay to enjoy themselves to the fullest.
"By the way, Mom, I'm working overtime during the May Day holiday and can't go back home. I won't tell Xixi, you can tell her."
Zhou Xixi, his younger sister, is a senior in high school, preparing for the college entrance examination.
The sibling relationship in their family is a traditional love-hate one. Zhou Xixi is well-behaved and sensible, and has been both clingy and annoying to him since childhood.
I won't see my sister for several more months.
My younger sister is going to university in September, and as her older brother, I might not even be able to see her off...
Thinking of this, Zhou Lang cursed Wu Daxing and Tian Wenming's ancestors eight hundred times in his heart.
"Oh, I see." The mother said, her voice slightly drawn out.
"Yes... Mom, don't worry, my boss values me a lot, and my salary will increase by a few hundred yuan this year."
"Don't overwork yourself, son," she said slowly and earnestly. "A leader who doesn't even give you holidays is inhuman. You can't trust a leader who's inhuman."
Zhou Lang had mixed feelings. He understood this principle, but nowadays it's hard to find any job, so he felt powerless to quit his job and change jobs.
"Mom, my colleague is calling me back to the table to eat some more. I'll call you and Dad again when I have time."
"Well, you should drink less alcohol and go home to rest early."
The warm conversation didn't last long. A hesitant voice came from the other end of the phone again: "Xiao Lang, um, could you bring a daughter-in-law home for the Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival? Or, your Aunt Zhang next door wants to introduce you to a blind date..."
"Mom," Zhou Lang interrupted helplessly, "Let's not talk about this. We're still a model of motherly love and filial piety... We'll talk about it next time. I'm hanging up!"
……
Just as she answered the phone, a group of colleagues poured out of the door; Michelle and the others had gone home after get off work.
"Zhou Lang, is your aunt urging you to get married?" Michelle leaned closer with a beaming smile. "I overheard her!"
Zhou Lang shook his head, his gaze sweeping slightly upwards as he looked at Mi Xue.
Michelle's "money power" on her head is also prismatic in color.
Name: Michelle
[Money Power: Draw Your Sword!]
[Effect: Provides a series of missions related to challenging authoritarianism, resisting exploitation, and embracing freedom.]
[Current Task - Refuse and argue against one unreasonable arrangement. Reward: One special annual pass to a swimming and gym; exercising at the facility will improve your health.]
[Follow-up Mission - Flip the Table! Openly defy your unscrupulous superior. Reward: Permanent ownership of a special swimming and fitness center, with annual profits of 200,000 to 350,000 yuan. Exercising within the facility will improve your health.]
[Status: Inactive, 33% chance of becoming your girlfriend (Note: We're all buddies!)]
[Michelle, a free spirit and outspoken woman, hides a burning rage beneath her sunny and optimistic exterior. She's had enough of her current slave-like work situation and just wants to flip the table—difficult? Then don't do it!]
……
Michelle's financial power is exactly what he likes.
Unfortunately, this girl treats him like a good brother, so dating him is out of the question.
"It's so late, the streetlights are all off. Please drive carefully," Zhou Lang said goodbye.
He Susu stopped and looked at Zhou Lang: "You too, take care of yourself—have you heard? Old Yuan from the city headquarters died from overwork."
Zhou Lang was taken aback: "Old Yuan? You mean Old Yuan from the office who also writes reports?"
"Yes, that's right," He Susu said with a heavy heart. "It happened this afternoon, and they couldn't save him..."
"I remember he was only 36 years old?"
During the company's annual dinner, Lao Yuan was still feeling fortunate that at least the company hadn't laid him off at 35; being a little overworked was tolerable...
To have someone you knew, a living, breathing person, just like that, is a feeling that is far more heartbreaking than any news report of a sudden death.
He Susu spoke gently and earnestly, advising, "Zhou Lang, please take some time off and get some rest. Don't listen to Wu Daxing and Tian Wenming; sometimes you don't need to work so hard. With a salary of six or seven thousand, you don't need to sacrifice your health..."
"Actually, I got 5500." Zhou Lang shrugged.
Based on a standard eight-hour workday of 21.75 days, the hourly wage is around 31 yuan, which is not bad.
However, Zhou Lang works an average of 29 days a month, spending at least 15 hours a day at the company, resulting in a terrifying hourly wage of 12.64 yuan...
He graduated with a liberal arts degree, and his employment options were even narrower, except for taking civil service exams or applying for government jobs.
If he were to return to his hometown, a small county, the only jobs that could "take him in" would be telephone sales or live streaming for a small shop, with a monthly salary of just over three thousand yuan.
However, the emergence of the system gave him a great deal of hope.
……
Go upstairs and push open the door to the conference room next to the general manager's office.
Wu Daxing, who was sitting at the head of the table, didn't even look up. Tian Wenming, who was to his left, gestured with his lip and said, "Bring the dishes over."
The tone was the same as when instructing a servant.
Zhou Lang opened the exquisite food box on the next table. These two bastards hadn't finished the eight dishes and soup on the table, and they actually ordered four more dishes.
Snow crab prepared in two ways, steamed grouper, shrimp balls with egg white filling, and roast goose platter as appetizers.
With thoughts of "Old Yuan's sudden death, the money-power system, and resigning to go home" constantly on his mind, Zhou Lang casually served the dishes.
Tian Wenming glared at him and turned the steamed fish that Zhou Lang had placed 180 degrees around.
"The fish head should face the boss! You've been working here for years, don't you have any manners? Don't you understand these basic etiquettes? Huh?"
Zhou Lang remained silent and sat back down opposite him.
Two other newly hired graduates, Xiao Huang and Xiao Liu, were also present at the meal. Both were master's degree graduates and were assigned to work under Tian Wenming.
"Xiao Huang, Xiao Liu, your Deputy Director Zhou has some bad habits, don't follow his example." Tian Wenming tilted his head back and pointed, "He's become stupid from studying too much, he doesn't even understand the most basic social etiquette."
Xiao Huang and Xiao Liu looked at each other but didn't say anything in agreement.
Zhou Lang usually takes good care of them, is proficient in his work, has a wide circle of friends, and is approachable.
He patiently taught them how to do difficult tasks and took the blame for them. They always felt that Director Zhou was a good team leader and a good older brother.
Tian Wenming continued his rambling: "Look at me, even though I only have a junior college degree, which is lower than yours, I achieved what I have today through my own hard work. I'm a specially appointed engineer in the group, and the combined salaries of the three of you don't even equal mys, you know?"
At this, Xiao Huang and Xiao Liu nodded in agreement, praising him and agreeing that Director Tian was right.
"These days, PhDs and Masters degrees are commonplace. Academic qualifications don't equal ability. If you have talent and strong abilities, the company will promote you."
Tian Wenming sucked on his chopsticks and picked up a piece of roast goose.
He said to General Manager Wu Daxing, "Dad, try this, it's delicious!"
Xiao Huang and Xiao Liu: ...
Zhou Lang ignored him, treating it as mere nonsense.
Wu Daxing and Tian Wenming are biological father and son. Everyone in the group knows how Tian Wenming was exceptionally admitted to the company and how he was promoted before Zhou Lang.
He separated a pair of serving chopsticks and served food to his two junior colleagues, saying, "Eat more, you've worked hard tonight."
Wu Daxing, who had been silent until now, spoke up. His voice was hoarse and affected: "An employee at headquarters has died suddenly. Revise tomorrow's speech and add a few sentences."
Zhou Lang nodded and took out his small notebook.
"The entire company must learn from this lesson and take it as a warning."
Wu Daxing dictated the story, and Zhou Lang recorded it.
"If any employee experiences physical discomfort, it must be addressed immediately—"
Zhou Lang thought to himself, "Wu Daxing finally acted like a human being, saying a few polite words and telling the unwell employee to go home and rest or seek medical attention immediately..."
"Save the data from the computer or workshop machines as soon as possible to prevent disruption to normal operations."
Zhou Lang stopped writing and looked up in disbelief at the old man.
The way Wu Daxing continued to speak was utterly repulsive to Zhou Lang and the others.
"Section Chief Yuan from headquarters died suddenly because he forgot to back up his data in time. As a result, a crucial PPT with hundreds of pages was accidentally overwritten by the person who took over the project. It almost delayed the chairman's report to higher authorities the day after tomorrow."
Zhou Lang put away his notebook and gave a mocking laugh.
He genuinely felt that the company was utterly rotten and should be destroyed.
The two seemingly respectable leaders ate and drank, clinking glasses and exchanging toasts, while Zhou Lang had no appetite and instead kept his head down, typing messages to Mi Xue.
After venting to her about what had just happened, Michelle replied with a few angry face emojis.
[Michelle]: I really don't want to do this anymore.
[Michelle]: I've lost so much hair (poor thing)
[Michelle]: I'd rather quit my job and drive for Didi to deliver food than see these inhuman bastards every day here.
[Michelle]: Seriously, Zhou Lang, are you afraid that after you quit your job and go home, your aunt will ask you: "You've been out there for so many years and haven't even had a girlfriend. You must have saved up a lot of money, right?" (covers mouth and giggles)
[Zhou Lang]: ...We're just friends. Your question is presumptuous and crosses the line.
[Michelle]: At worst, I'll pretend to be your girlfriend and help you fool your uncle and aunt for a while?
[Michelle]: Your aunt will be so happy to know you're dating. She probably won't care about things like quitting your job or saving money anymore.
Zhou Lang chuckled, but before he could continue typing, the system in his mind suddenly emitted a notification.
[Active cash ability detected. Bind?]
"Um?!"
Name: Michelle
[Money Power: Draw Your Sword!]
[Effect: Provides a series of missions related to challenging authoritarianism, resisting exploitation, and embracing freedom. (Click to expand for more details)]
[Status: Activable, 99.99% chance of her becoming your girlfriend (Note: As long as you don't do anything funny, she will definitely say yes)]
Zhou Lang was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed.
"Rent-a-girlfriend system?!?"
"A girlfriend for one day, does that even count as a girlfriend?!"