No Reimbursement? Where's the Justice!
Corridor.
Sing Sing was holding the train ticket and receipt in his hand.
"One hundred and eighty-two yuan and fifty cents!"
"There's also an 83 yuan maintenance fee for the cold-weather protection equipment!"
Sing Sing pressed his face against the corridor wall, his features contorted.
Secretary Liu, carrying a stack of documents, slipped over along the wall.
"Brother Zhou, stop yelling. The director said if you continue to disrupt office order, your performance bonus for this month will be deducted as a disciplinary violation."
Deducting performance bonuses?!
Sing Sing jumped up from the ground, staggered back two steps, and leaned against a potted tree in the corridor.
"Heavens above! This is utterly outrageous!"
"I shed blood for my country! I sat in a hard seat for almost thirty hours! My feet are so Lao Gao!"
"Not only will they not reimburse me, but they're also going to deduct from my hard-earned money?"
"Who's in charge of the 749 Bureau? Where is justice? Is there no law?!"
Sing Sing looked up and sighed deeply.
He felt a pang of regret; if he had known this would happen, why had he given the suitcase to Xiao Liu in the first place?
All the secret stash of money I had painstakingly saved up had vanished.
Why...
The world is going to the dogs, and people's hearts are no longer what they used to be...
The office door was pushed open from the inside with a muffled thud.
Director Wang stood at the door with his hands behind his back and an expressionless face. "Have you had enough howling? If you have, get back in here."
"Yes, sir!"
Director Wang sat back down at his desk and pointed to the stack of forms on the table.
Sing Sing looked over and saw several large characters printed at the top of the form:
First Round Follow-up Record Form for Overseas Special Talents
Oh?
Sing Sing's eyes shone.
Having forms and tasks means there will be business trips!
Business trips come with a stipend!
Maybe we can find a pretext to cover up those messy accounts!
"Boss!" Sing Sing rubbed his hands together and leaned closer.
"What kind of glorious organizational test is this? I, Sing Sing, will brave any danger!"
Director Wang snorted coldly.
"You little brat, don't think I can't guess what you're thinking! You dare to think about getting reimbursed? First, you'll figure out who these people are one by one."
"These people have been settled, but this is just the beginning."
"Can you get used to the food in the canteen? Can you maintain good relationships with the local people? Is there any sign that murderous rage surfacing within you?"
Did the receiving unit view them with prejudice, treating them like monsters?
Director Wang grabbed a stack of forms from the table and slammed them in front of Sing Sing.
I want you to see these things for yourself.
"Director..." Sing Sing began dryly.
"This job sounds... um... a nationwide begging tour by a vengeful scoundrel?"
Director Wang glared at him. "This is a crucial project for the stability of the nation's rear! Don't try to find fault with it!"
"What? You can't do it? If you can't, I'll send Lingling Liu and Ling Lingjiu! Humph!"
Sing Sing panicked. He had brought the people here first; how could he let others reap the benefits now?
Lingling Liu is out of the question; he's a brute who likes to fight in furniture stores and isn't very good with words.
Ling Lingjiu?
Sing Sing recalled his first mission, when he was supposed to be paired with someone else.
Result?
The first thing this guy said when we met was, "Brother, the higher-ups said the funding for this trip was 50,000, and I got it for you. I wasn't very lucky, though, and I only have 500 left."
That kid is cunning; who knows what kind of bad things he'll say about me to others!
Even worse!
Sing Sing has started haggling.
"Wow! Serving the country is no problem!"
"But I have a reasonable request! This time, when I'm running errands across the country, the travel expenses must be charged according to the standard for Deputy Division-Level!"
Director Wang laughed in exasperation, "You're just a Chief Section Level field clerk, where do you get the airs of Deputy Division-Level? Would you sleep soundly even if you had a suite?"
"I had already spoken to the finance department. For this job, I would receive an additional 2,000 yuan as a hardship allowance for each completed follow-up report, which is equivalent to each person visited."
"Chief! I'd go through fire and water for you!"
"Don't get too excited. Any money you spend on foot massages, back massages, or hot springs outside will not be reimbursed."
Hateful!
This Old Six actually predicted my cash-out route!
Director Wang waved his hand. "Alright, the first stop is at the bureau. Visits within the bureau don't involve traveling across regions. These two people won't receive travel expense subsidies for their visits."
Having compromised, Sing Sing picked up the follow-up form.
The questions on this form are completely different from those on a typical performance evaluation form within the system; they lack any sense of identification with the organization's culture or the goals for the next stage of work.
The first column asks whether you can sleep for more than eight hours continuously.
The second column shows the daily changes in food intake.
Third column: Have you recently unintentionally displayed superpowers and damaged public property?
This...
That's so real!
This is the kind of question Mutants who suffer from workplace injuries and psychological trauma!
Xiao Liu walked over with a paper cup and handed it to Sing Sing.
Seeing that Sing Sing had stopped joking around, he poured him a cup of hot tea. "Brother Zhou, have some water to soothe your throat."
Sing Sing took it, blew on the tea leaves, and took a big gulp.
"Xiao Liu, let me ask you something. Is this tea dust left over from last year's bureau's year-end summary meeting?"
Director Wang's previously softened expression was completely reversed.
"Get out here and get to work!"
"Say another word and I'll snap your head off!"
Fifteen minutes later.
Sing Sing sat on a stone bench with a national map spread out in front of him.
Fire brigade, sinkhole construction site, Jiuquan Space City, Ministry of Water Resources engineering team, Northwest China desertification control and afforestation base, Institute of Plant Protection of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences...
It's so far...
Oh, and there's also Peach Mountain Forest Farm.
Sing Sing is holding a pencil and drawing lines on a map.
"Guiyang to Jiuquan... Holy crap, this old-fashioned green train takes more than forty hours? And once we get to Jiuquan, we have to transfer to a bus to get to the desert?"
Secretary Liu stood beside him, watching his calculating manner, and said, "Brother Zhou, this is business."
"These damn official business matters are the most expensive!"
Despite the scolding, his hands didn't stop moving.
He opened his suitcase, took out his notebook, and rewrote his name.
Anton Quest.
Nina Stewart.
Lorna Dane...
Each name will no longer be followed only by its superpower and job value.
He wrote a note after Anton's name: Check his sleep; pay attention to the dampness in the archives.
Write after the Polaris: Pack plenty of sunscreen, the ultraviolet rays in the Gobi Desert are toxic, and absolutely do not mention blood tests.
Sing Sing is slowly transforming from a contractor who lures workers with empty promises into a responsible and capable neighborhood committee auntie.
Hiring people is one thing.
Getting people to settle down and live on this land is another matter entirely.
Sing Sing closed the notebook and put it away, then looked at Xiao Liu.
"Guess what these foreign monks, whom I tricked into coming all the way from overseas, are lacking in their hearts?"
Xiao Liu thought about it seriously for two seconds.
"Sense of security."
"They've suffered too much and need a strong sense of security."
Sing Sing rolled his eyes at him.
"Wrong!"
"Full reimbursement!"
Sing Sing got up and walked towards the archives.
"They won't even reimburse for expenses like foot baths to keep warm; this lousy company is doomed!"