Sun Kangle

Zhou Qi still had no idea that Cao Song had actually planned to go to Northern Myanmar.

He searched through the group chat, found Sun Kangle's WeChat, and sent him a private message.

"How's the logo design coming along?"

"It's already finished. I handed it over to Linlang to apply for the trademark!" Sun Kangle replied immediately. "The new design has also been imported into the printing equipment on the production line. As for whether production has started, I don't know!"

"OK!" Zhou Qi nodded and went to contact Mo Jiakang.

"Director Mo, how are the production line adjustments coming along? Can we begin production?"

Mo Jiakang was slower to reply, since he was away from his computer. Sun Kangle, on the other hand, sent another message.

"Boss, I've noticed that a lot of your relatives have come over and joined various departments, and some have even become leaders directly. How much longer can I remain a department head?"

Zhou Qi had a pretty good impression of Sun Kangle. Though the man was a bit sloppy, he worked efficiently and wasn't a bootlicker.

So Zhou Qi responded, "Don't worry. Even if someone takes your position, your salary won't decrease."

"Alright!" Sun Kangle sent another message. "Then, General Manager Zhou, there's something I want to ask you. I'm not sure whether it's appropriate..."

"What is it? Go ahead and ask."

"Did you get some kind of Rich Tycoon System that gives you cash back whenever you spend money?"

"..."

"What the hell? Why would you ask that?"

"Because it doesn't make sense!" Sun Kangle said. "I can understand giving jobs to relatives, and I can understand taking back the supermarket, internet café, cafeteria, and so on. After all, why let the profits go to outsiders? But I can't understand the free meals, accommodation, and internet access. Then you suddenly raised wages so much and stopped workers from doing overtime. Even charity can't describe this kind of behavior. This is obviously squandering money! It's exactly like the Rich Tycoon novels I've read!"

"Is that even a thing?" Zhou Qi was speechless. "What nonsense are you guessing? Where would a system even come from in this world? We need to believe in science..."

"But science can't explain what you're doing!" Sun Kangle said. "General Manager Zhou, I understand this kind of thing. I won't report you. I just hope you'll give me a chance to be your lackey..."

Zhou Qi rubbed his forehead. This guy had quite the imagination.

The key was that his guess was pretty accurate.

Those webnovel authors, honestly. Wouldn't it be better to write romance? Why did they have to write Rich Tycoon novels?

"I don't have a system. Go report me if you want. A righteous man need not fear a crooked shadow!" Zhou Qi said.

"Don't worry, General Manager Zhou, I absolutely have no intention of reporting you!" Sun Kangle hurriedly replied. "Only an idiot would report you. What would I get out of it? A banner and five hundred yuan in cash? Then I'd offend someone with a cheat ability. What would be the point?"

Zhou Qi was helpless. The key was that what he said actually made sense...

Right. If someone around me had really awakened a system, I'd be scrambling to curry favor with him. Why would I report him?

But the key was that Sun Kangle's surname was Sun, not Zhou!

"I don't have any system. Don't overthink it. My family just happens to own mines!" Zhou Qi said.

"Alright, alright, no cheat ability!" Sun Kangle nodded repeatedly. "But, Boss, have you considered what would happen if this entire series of reforms were truly implemented in today's environment, where 996 is the norm?"

"What would happen?"

"As long as one person posts about it on their Moments, curious and enthusiastic people from all over will push it onto the trending searches. Our Morning Star Pharmaceutical Factory will instantly become an internet-famous pharmaceutical factory. And once it becomes internet-famous, all kinds of influencers will come here. It'll turn into an influencer attraction, an influencer check-in spot. By then, the front and back gates of our factory will be packed with influencers livestreaming. Every worker entering or leaving will attract a crowd of people trying to interview them..."

"Holy shit?" Zhou Qi was startled. Wait, something like that... actually seemed very possible?

"And I don't know whether you follow those official media accounts from Fresh Flower News, but just a few days ago, they announced that 996 was illegal. If we suddenly emerged at a time like this, they'd probably promote us as a model example. Their total followers across the internet number four or five hundred million!"

Zhou Qi's expression stiffened slightly. "N-No way, right? Wouldn't those big companies suppress the trending searches?"

"They might, but they might not!" Sun Kangle said. "You can't deny that this really could trend. Chairman Zhou, do you want our factory to live under the spotlight?"

Of course not. Wasn't that exactly why I moved the pharmaceutical factory from Nanhe to Dongguang?

How could it still end up trending now?

"Too careless!" Zhou Qi broke out in a cold sweat. He had already seen that Linlang had nearly finalized the salary standards, and they were going to be announced within the next couple of days!

If he had discovered this a day later...

Right now, only Sun Kangle had noticed the issue. But by then, it would be internet users across the entire country.

Wouldn't they dig up everything about him?

They might even investigate the source of his funds!

Zhou Qi thought for a moment and first messaged Xu Shiqin. "Send me a copy of Sun Kangle's file!"

Then he asked Sun Kangle, "So what's the correct approach?"

"Just raise the base salary by three hundred yuan. Keep the overtime shifts, but working hours should still be eight hours. The remaining four hours can be changed into study time!" Sun Kangle said. "A lot of people talk about eight hours of sleep, eight hours of work, and eight hours for yourself, but that's all bullshit. Give them eight free hours, and they'll probably spend all of it on Douyin and Kuaishou!"

"Why not organize the workers to study instead? That way, they'll still be at work for the same twelve hours a day as before, but their actual working hours will only be eight. They'll also get four extra hours of study time, while their salary can still reach the standard you set. Wouldn't that be perfect?"

"This..." Zhou Qi stroked his chin. It actually seemed to make some sense?

After all, while he hoped the workers would have time of their own, he didn't want them wasting it on meaningless short videos.

If that was what they were going to do, then they might as well come back to work.

"The office staff should be the same. Their actual working hours will be eight hours, but they must remain seated for a full twelve hours. We can't be the first to stick our necks out. At the very least, before we grow bigger and stronger, we can't stand out!"

"That makes sense!" Zhou Qi nodded. He admitted that his previous ideas had indeed been a little naive.

He had clearly wanted to keep a low profile, yet his reforms had been far too unconventional.

His mind had only started becoming more flexible over the past few days. In the past, his thinking had indeed been too one-sided.

Ding...

Xu Shiqin's message arrived as well.

Zhou Qi opened the file and took one look, immediately crying out in surprise.

Sun Kangle, twenty-six years old, native of BJ City, SX Province, bachelor's degree, graduated from Heilongjiang University of Technology, Intelligent Manufacturing Engineering!

"You're actually from Heilongjiang University of Technology?" Zhou Qi asked. That university was no joke. Its graduates could build rockets!

"Yeah..." Sun Kangle replied.

"You're an outstanding graduate from Heilongjiang University of Technology. Why did you come to a pharmaceutical company to work in operations?" Zhou Qi asked. "Isn't that a waste of talent?"

"Take a look at my employment contract..." Sun Kangle said.

"Huh?" Zhou Qi froze for a moment, then hurriedly asked Xu Shiqin to send it over. This time, she sent it almost instantly.

Zhou Qi opened it on his computer and flipped through it page by page, eventually finding Sun Kangle's position.

Sun Kangle was hereby specially hired as a production line design, manufacturing, and maintenance engineer at Baofeng Pharmaceutical, with an annual salary of 240,000 yuan!

"You designed production lines?" Zhou Qi asked. "Why did you switch to operations?"

"Keep reading..." Sun Kangle said.

"This..." Zhou Qi was speechless and could only continue reading.

Then he saw even more clauses.

Sun Kangle must obey Party A's management, cooperate with Party A in completing all tasks, and must not refuse or resist any reasonable job reassignment.

Further down, the contract would take effect on June 22, 2017, and terminate on June 22, 2037. If either party breached the contract, they must pay the other party thirty million yuan in liquidated damages...

"Fuck!" Zhou Qi was speechless. "They tricked a talent into coming here, then made him do operations?"

"No!" Sun Kangle said. "He recruited me to show off. I came here with the dream of changing the domestic pharmaceutical landscape and expanding the market share of domestic drugs. But after I arrived, not only did he never let me touch the production line, he wouldn't let me touch any manuals or materials either. Every day, he made me dress in a suit and accompany him to business meetings. Whenever he met someone, he'd say, 'Look, this is Sun Kangle, an outstanding student from Heilongjiang University of Technology! Ordinary factories can't recruit someone like him at all!'"

"I was like a monkey. He took me around for people to look at for two whole months!"

Zhou Qi fell silent. He didn't know how to comfort the kid.

The key was that he knew Sun Kangle wasn't making this up. It was real.

He had experienced something similar himself. Back when he was at Jiancheng Machinery, a boss had brought a top student along to discuss business.

That top student wasn't from Heilongjiang University of Technology. He was from Tsinghua University.

"I couldn't afford the penalty, and I was too embarrassed to ask my teachers for help, so I just gave up!" Sun Kangle chuckled. "I stopped wearing suits, stopped washing my hair, stopped bathing, and walked around filthy every day, so he couldn't take me anywhere."

"He scolded me a few times, but I didn't care at all. The contract was right there. Thirty million yuan—I couldn't afford it, and he wasn't willing to give it up either! Besides, I cooperated with him in everything. Other than refusing to bathe, if he told me to work on the production line, I worked on the production line. If he told me to guard the gate, I guarded the gate. Anyway, twenty thousand yuan a month was free money..."

"Awesome!" It really was impressive. After all, a life where one wore a suit every day, got treated to meals, and still earned twenty thousand yuan a month was once the sort of life Zhou Qi had envied.

All he could say was that he had not reached Sun Kangle's level. Geniuses and ordinary people were ultimately different.

"Not really. After all, I'm just an ordinary person..."

"I thought I'd have to waste another fifteen years here, but I didn't expect my luck to turn around so quickly..." Sun Kangle said. "Chairman Zhou, over the past five years, I've never stopped studying. I can guarantee that my knowledge hasn't fallen too far behind. I can definitely be of use to you!"

"..."

Zhou Qi sent an ellipsis. He had never encountered this kind of situation before and had no idea how to respond.

"I can do anything. If I don't understand something, I can learn it!" Sun Kangle said. "I understand the rules too. I can sign a confidentiality agreement!"

"You can do anything? Can you kill someone too?" Zhou Qi asked.

"Yes!" Sun Kangle replied instantly.

"Huh?" Zhou Qi froze, then replied, "Something's wrong with you. You have issues!"

"There's nothing wrong with me. I simply believe in you. Someone willing to insist that workers work five days a week, eight hours a day, wouldn't make me slaughter innocents indiscriminately!" Sun Kangle said. "I can also see your ambition. You're declaring war on the capitalist system! Even if you told me to kill someone, it would probably be some capitalist."

As he typed on the keyboard and entered a string of symbols onto the screen, Zhou Qi's feelings became incredibly complicated. After a long while, he deleted every symbol.

"You're too awesome. I'm afraid I won't be able to control you..." At that moment, Zhou Qi inexplicably understood the Third Hokage a little.

With such an incredible disciple, of course a teacher wouldn't be able to sit still!

Zhou Qi was afraid that he might accidentally reveal something one day, or say something slightly off and have Sun Kangle analyze it all.

His personality wasn't complicated, and he had never studied the arts of rulership. Before a truly high-IQ talent, he was no different from a blank sheet of paper.

"Was Liu Bang stronger than Han Xin?" Sun Kangle asked in return. "Or was Liu Bei stronger than Zhuge Liang?"

"Chairman Zhou, your circumstances are extraordinary. You're destined to soar into the clouds someday. My abilities are only a little better than those of ordinary people. If even this makes you afraid, what will you do when you encounter people from top universities in Beijing, Stanford, or MIT in the future? Turn them all away?"

"Besides, no one is born with management ability. But if you don't train it, you'll never have it!" Sun Kangle said. "Since you'll have to train it sooner or later, why not start with me?"

Zhou Qi was silent for a long time before asking, "Are you sure you're an engineering student?"

"I'm an engineering student, but that doesn't stop me from reading Strategies of the Warring States..." Sun Kangle said.

Zhou Qi had to admit that he was somewhat persuaded.

Right. If he was already so timid around someone from Heilongjiang University of Technology, what would he do when he met people from Princeton or MIT in the future?

If talents like Lu Zhou or Wang Hao came to join him, would he refuse them out of fear as well?

What was I afraid of? How bad could things really get?

At worst, I'll just come clean to the country!

"OK!" Zhou Qi replied directly. "You've successfully convinced me!"

"Long live the boss!" Sun Kangle immediately asked, "Boss, do you have any tasks for me? I'm highly efficient!"

"I'll add you to Linlang's group. Tell them your suggestions!" After making the arrangements, Zhou Qi thought of Cao Song again.

After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Come to think of it, someone might expose my secret, but they aren't one of us. What should I do?"