Drawing a Pie

Before starting work, the many miners would eat in the Cafeteria in the Camp Area.

Under normal circumstances, the miners' breakfast consisted of five corn buns, a little pickled vegetable, and a bowl of vegetable soup.

They ate so poorly, yet still had to do heavy labor.

The money they earned in the mines truly was blood-and-sweat money.

After receiving their wages, these ordinary miners could at least treat themselves to something better and replenish their strength. Those slave convicts had no such privilege. With no wages, they could only endure by draining their lives and burning through their blood essence, never knowing when they might collapse from exhaustion and die.

Yet today, although they still received several corn buns and a little pickled vegetable, the soup unexpectedly contained some meat.

It smelled of eggs and pork bones, and there was plenty of salt too!

Some people's eyes lit up. It felt as though the sun had risen in the west—the stingy overseers had actually improved their meals!

And that was not the only change.

When work began that day, the overseers still shouted at miners who were obviously slacking off, but throughout the entire day, they did not casually whip or beat anyone.

This left some miners even more confused. Had these overseers truly changed their ways?

Then, during the lunch break, something happened that left the miners even more stunned.

Not only was today's meal rich in oil and salt, but every miner's bowl actually contained a solid slice of pork!

Many people grew deeply uneasy, feeling that this was no good thing. It felt like they were being served a final meal before execution.

The slaves in particular were so frightened that they began working desperately. Though they did not know whether it would matter, they still tried to make a last-minute effort to prove themselves.

By nightfall, their doubts had reached a peak.

After work, the overseers recorded each miner's output as usual. But they warmly praised and encouraged those who had mined more than normal, handing them freshly written certificates and telling them that they had received a Grade A Evaluation that day.

When the many miners returned to camp, they discovered that the entire Camp Area had been completely transformed. It had been cleaned and organized, looking far neater and tidier than before.

"Could some important figure be coming to inspect the place?"

Many miners speculated.

"All Grade A recipients, bring your certificates and eat within the black line over here."

An overseer from the Cold Iron Mine spoke to the miners who had come to the Cafeteria to collect their meals.

Some miners hesitated, but they did not dare refuse. They slowly shuffled over and sat down at the tables within the black-lined area.

In the end, among the group of more than five thousand miners, over fifty people were seated within the black-lined area.

Soon, the other miners collected their meals and began eating. To everyone's surprise, dinner was just like lunch: delicious food heavy with oil and salt, with meat added as well. Every miner eating felt that the meal tasted wonderful.

But before long, the food in their hands no longer seemed so appetizing.

Not only did the miners seated within the black-lined area not need to collect their own food, people from the kitchen actually brought their meals to them.

Furthermore, they were not eating the same food from the communal cauldrons. They were served individually prepared dishes, with larger portions that looked far more delicious.

Soon, the many miners seated within the black line began devouring their food with great relish.

Nearly every miner noticed them, all staring over with green eyes.

Meanwhile, the miners eating there felt as though they were floating on air, their vanity and material desires both thoroughly satisfied.

Chi Bencheng, the chief overseer of the miners, looked coldly at the crowd and rebuked them. "Are you jealous that they eat better and more than you? You stand here envying them now, so why didn't you work harder in the mines during the day? No one had a whip on you, so you slacked off."

"Are you all donkeys? Do you have to be whipped before you'll move?"

Seeing everyone turn their attention to him, he stopped wasting words and directly announced the new rules.

"Starting today, the daily meal standard across the entire Mining Area will be raised by one level. As long as you are mining normally, the overseers will no longer casually beat or kick you."

"After each day's mining is finished, you will be evaluated according to the Cold Iron you turn in. Those with a Grade A Evaluation will receive special meals like theirs to improve their food. Those with a Grade B Evaluation will eat from the communal cauldrons, but they will get meat. If you receive a Grade C Evaluation, then go hungry. As for a Grade D Evaluation, I assume none of you wish to experience confinement in the Water Prison."

"When wages are distributed at the end of the month, three Grade C Evaluations will earn only seventy percent of normal pay. Two will earn eighty percent, and one will earn ninety percent."

"If you receive Grade B Evaluations for the entire month, you will receive an additional ten percent of your wages as a bonus. More than ten days of Grade A Evaluations will earn another ten percent wage bonus, twenty days will earn twenty percent, and if every day of the month is Grade A, your wages will increase by fifty percent outright."

After saying that, Chi Bencheng posted the new rules directly at the Cafeteria entrance.

Once the overseer left, the entire group of miners erupted into an uproar.

Everyone discussed whether this was real.

If the overseers had announced these new rules outright in the morning, the miners would have thought they were talking nonsense.

After all, the overseers' credibility in the eyes of the miners was practically nonexistent.

But now that the rules had been implemented for a full day before being announced, they gained a certain degree of credibility in everyone's eyes. Suddenly, blazing motivation ignited in many hearts.

On the high ground behind the Camp Area, Shi You and Chi Bencheng stood beside Lin Lin, watching the many miners below chatting animatedly.

"Senior Brother Lin, will your method really work? After there was no whipping today, many miners became even more brazen in slacking off. Today's Cold Iron output dropped by quite a lot." Shi You spoke anxiously.

Lin Lin smiled. "Today was meant to announce the new rules and establish their authority."

"Over the next few days, reward those who deserve rewards, and throw those who deserve it into the Water Prison. That will make the new rules truly sink into everyone's hearts."

"Once they realize that working hard is useful, that it can genuinely change their lives, they will naturally gain hope and keep working hard. We may not increase efficiency by several times, but raising it by at least several tenths should not be a problem."

Lin Lin described the experience he had gained in his previous life, from being manipulated with empty promises by parents, teachers, and bosses from childhood through adulthood.

The difference was that in his previous life, he had truly been fed empty promises. Now, he intended to make those promises a reality.

Seeing that the two beside him were listening intently, Lin Lin paused before continuing. "Once the atmosphere in the entire Mining Area has improved somewhat, our good reputation will spread. At that point, it will be much easier for us to recruit miners from the surrounding areas."

"We can use those newly recruited miners to gradually replace all the lazy ones. Then the entire Mining Area will operate at peak efficiency, and we can obtain more Cold Iron ore at the same cost."

"The only part of this system that could go wrong is if we make promises but cannot fulfill them. If our credibility collapses, every miner in the Mining Area will lose their motivation."

"And I will supervise you to ensure that these promises are carried out. That way, we can achieve our ultimate goal and obtain higher Cold Iron output."

"In the short term, we lose the profits we get from withholding these miners' benefits. But in the long term, we will gain several times the returns distributed by the sect at the end of the year. The profits will be greater."

At this point, the two beside him finally understood Lin Lin's way of doing things.

But whether it would work still depended on whether events developed as Lin Lin had said over the coming days.

With that said, Lin Lin did not linger any longer.

He turned around.

Time to get off work and go home!