Chapter 224: A World Where Only One Person Gets Hurt

“How many people do you need?” Mei Youqian asked, not daring to be negligent about a call from Chen Cong.

“Let’s start with two thousand people, twenty per hour,” Chen Cong calculated quickly. With two thousand people, they could open twenty rooms simultaneously. Even if he died quickly, he could form new teams soon enough.

“Alright, give me a group number. I’ll have them ready for you in ten minutes,” Mei Youqian replied efficiently. He didn’t ask how much he would be paid for bringing in the people. But he knew that in the game, Brother Hao wasn’t just a name; he never shortchanged anyone.

Chen Cong hung up and sent over the group number. In less than ten minutes, the group had already grown by two thousand people, and members were starting to talk.

Most of the chatter was about what game they would be playing. Chen Cong sent the game download link and some basic requirements directly to the group. He then transferred twenty thousand yuan to Mei Youqian. He calculated it at ten yuan per person, so two thousand people came to twenty thousand yuan.

However, it might take some time for the group members to download the game. Chen Mo opened Tianlong. Since he had been trying out “Extreme Survival” these past days, he had been spending less time on Tianlong. As the number of Tianlong players increased, he found his dominance in the game gradually being challenged.

The most threatening was a loose alliance of players. This alliance consisted of Grind Kings who didn’t buy equipment but circulated any equipment they obtained internally. The leader of this alliance already had five pieces of the Dragon Slaying Set. It wouldn’t be long before they completed the set. But there was nothing he could do about it.

However, he heard that Tianlong was developing a new equipment enhancement system, and the materials needed would drop from various monster bosses. Once the enhancement system was online, he could use his financial power to gain an edge over the Grind King players.

Entering the game, there weren’t many people online in the guild, as most had been pulled to try out the new game. The few guild members online couldn’t organize a team to take down large bosses. So he decided to venture into the wild alone. His exclusive, noble attire instantly attracted a lot of attention from other players. Before long, he received numerous team invitations.

“Big shot, please carry us!”

“Divine gear boss, help a little brother with some monster hunting.”

“All hail the boss.”

“…”

Reading the messages on the team invitations, Chen Cong finally regained a bit of his dignity in the game. No matter what, in Tianlong, as long as he was willing to spend money, he could still maintain a lead in combat power. But “Extreme Survival” was different. It wasn’t friendly to players like him who relied on money. He had no way to boost his combat power and was usually killed by others soon after entering. Whenever he managed to find some good supplies, he ended up being a delivery boy.

After playing Tianlong for over an hour, some people in the game group had downloaded the game. Seeing this, Chen Cong eagerly exited Tianlong and entered Extreme Survival. He shared a custom room in the group. Soon, a hundred players were gathered. This time, he switched from solo mode to squad mode. He thought to himself, with three teammates, surely he wouldn’t die so quickly.

Ten minutes later, Chen Cong watched the spectator screen as his three teammates looted his body. He was the only one who got hurt.

…

In the employee workshop, Luo Yuan took advantage of a break to chat with a team leader. These small workshop leaders were mostly the oldest employees and had the highest trust in President Chen. So, he planned to start with them.

“Chao, let me interview you. What do you think of President Chen’s Clothing Factory?” Luo Yuan casually asked the team leader, Yu Chao.

“Do you even need to ask? It’s definitely great. I’ve worked in no less than ten factories before, and President Chen’s Clothing Factory offers the best benefits, bar none.”

“My wife and I have already decided. As long as President Chen doesn’t mind us, we’ll be his employees for life,” Yu Chao replied without hesitation, his eyes full of admiration.

Both he and his wife worked at the factory. Before President Chen took over, their wages were calculated per piece. When there was a lot of work, they worked from 7 a.m. to eleven or twelve at night without a day off, and their combined wages could reach nearly twenty thousand yuan a month. But when work was scarce, their combined wages barely reached over ten thousand yuan. Sometimes, when there was no work, the boss would give them time off without pay.

Overall, their yearly earnings were enough to keep the family running, but there was no room for freedom. They spent almost all their time in the workshop, with no time to spend with their child, let alone go shopping.

But everything changed when President Chen took over the company. The most unexpected change was the insurance. Both he and his wife were illiterate, having not attended school for long, and they never thought about insurance. Shortly after taking over, President Chen enrolled them all in the five social insurances and one housing fund.

Then there were changes to wages and work hours. Wages were no longer calculated per piece but were fixed. The hours changed to 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with weekends off. Although the wages became fixed, they were higher than their previous average wages. After becoming a team leader and with several raises, he and his wife’s monthly salary, including all benefits, was close to twenty thousand yuan.

This salary was equivalent to their previous highest piece-rate wages. But the key was that the twenty thousand now was after insurance and personal income tax, the actual take-home pay. Plus, their work hours now didn’t include overtime, with weekends off!

This was much better than the previous two thousand earned with overtime. Now they finished work at five, and there was a shuttle bus to take them home, so they could spend evenings with their child. On weekends, the family could occasionally go shopping or hiking. The whole family not only experienced an economic change but also felt happiness in their lives.

They used to argue over trivial matters, but now such arguments were rare. With the one-thousand-yuan shopping card from President Chen, they had two thousand yuan between them, enough for their daily expenses. Even if someone offered them a factory job with forty thousand yuan a month, they wouldn’t go back to the old way.

Because working at President Chen’s Clothing Factory, they felt an unprecedented sense of respect. President Chen treated them, the grassroots employees, as people.