Zhou Yong had offered a monthly salary of 7,000 yuan, which was what several of Chen Jue's current subordinates earned.
If he let himself get carried away and took Zhou Yong's rosy promises at face value, it would be like taking a step backward and returning to the待遇 of a fresh graduate.
Besides, General Manager Zhou hadn't mentioned subsidies at all. Chen Jue could guess that the man was probably short on funds. Starting a new venture elsewhere would likely mean betting his entire livelihood on it.
Bosses like him were impressive. They had ability, ambition, and connections, but they were usually extremely stingy.
People who rose from humble beginnings were often especially meticulous with money. Once they made their fortunes, they would definitely exploit their employees mercilessly.
So after chatting with General Manager Zhou for a little over ten minutes and taking a few sips of tea, Chen Jue used the excuse, "I'll go back and think it over. I'll give you an answer in a few days," to leave the office.
Chen Jue wasn't capable of making a living by feeding people empty promises.
But after all these years in the workplace, he wasn't some clueless kid anymore.
When a boss made promises, he'd respond with evasions.
Besides, Chen Jue had already made up his mind: if he couldn't find a suitable job, he'd take some time off and clear his head.
He'd worked hard for several years, and had managed to save a little money.
He couldn't afford a home in Hang City, but he could still afford to go out and enjoy himself for a while.
"Gold will always shine!"
"I'll wait and see!" Chen Jue reassured himself.
He was somewhat hoping to play hard to get, thinking that with his skills, abilities, and work experience, it shouldn't be hard to find another job.
And since he'd inexplicably awakened a strange Attribute Panel, he no longer felt as awkward as he had earlier when discussing severance pay in the HR office.
Back at his workstation, he went back to slacking off as usual.
Word had already spread that Taisheng Finance was about to liquidate. The company's finance department had stopped advancing funds for loans, and the salespeople at the partner stores and agencies were all as sharp as monkeys.
By this point in the afternoon, they'd already started slowing down the submission of applications.
With no client information coming in, the people in the Risk Control Department had all become useless.
With no clients, what was there to review?
The three teams, more than a dozen employees in all, were sitting at their workstations chatting, shooting the breeze, and joking around.
Some were busy applying everywhere for new jobs.
Some were openly playing mobile games, switching between Genshin Impact, Honor of Kings, and PUBG.
And some, like Chen Jue, were being summoned again and again to the offices of the general manager, directors, and chairman.
Before the company liquidated, the bosses and shareholders all wanted to squeeze every last bit of value out of its remaining resources, so they were showing off their culinary and artistic talents, making all kinds of rosy promises.
After all, human resources were resources too.
But when Chen Jue heard that his young apprentice, Jiang Lin, had gotten a verbal promise from Zhou Yong of 6,000 yuan a month, with meals and accommodation included, his expression instantly turned sour.
According to his naive young apprentice, General Manager Zhou thought that as a fresh university graduate, Jiang Lin was open-minded and conscientious, and had great potential. He planned to keep him close and give him special attention.
Once Zhou Yong's new company had grown big and strong in a few years, he might even make Jiang Lin the risk control director.
Unlike workplace veterans like Chen Jue, who were jaded and restless, Jiang Lin was being offered slightly better terms.
"Isn't this just deliberately rubbing salt in my wound? I turned him down once, and now he's pulling this?"
"Just as you'd expect from a boss! He really knows how to play people!" Chen Jue had to hand it to those executives when it came to making empty promises.
He slacked off until six, when it was time to clock out. Beyond the broad windows, the sun was setting, and the whole business park was bathed in the evening glow.
It got dark early in Hang City. Night would fall in another half hour.
Chen Jue clocked out on DingTalk and squeezed into the elevator with his colleagues.
"Brother Jue, want to grab dinner together?"
"I don't have much experience with what General Manager Zhou brought up. I'd like to hear your advice, Brother Jue. Dinner's on me!" Jiang Lin said after they left Huaye Building, having spent a long time thinking it over.
Chen Jue glanced at him. He could tell his young apprentice had been tempted by Zhou Yong's promises, so he agreed, intending to help him think it through.
They didn't go far. At the food court on the first floor of Huaye Building, they ordered grilled fish and a few side dishes. The bill came to a little over a hundred yuan.
The first-floor food court was run by outside vendors. With tens of thousands of office workers in the business park bringing in customers, business was booming.
Rumor had it that renting a stall cost as much as 500,000 yuan a year, and it was still nearly impossible to get one. That showed just how profitable these semi-monopolistic food businesses were.
In short, it was much better than working for someone else!
As for the food, it was just average.
Hang City was a culinary wasteland, and the people who came here to run restaurants were all from elsewhere.
The food was heavy on oil and seasoning, with a little numbing spice. It was a bit better than university cafeteria food, and more than good enough for a cash-strapped fresh graduate like Jiang Lin.
But Chen Jue was nearly thirty. After eating out so much, he still felt that home cooking tasted better.
Still, they were both working away from home, trying to put down roots in a big city. They couldn't afford to be too picky.
After downing two beers, Chen Jue began earnestly advising his naive young apprentice.
Chen Jue had personally interviewed Jiang Lin when the company was hiring.
He knew Jiang Lin was a shy homebody, much like himself, and wasn't good with words.
People with that kind of personality were suited to technical jobs like programming.
If he really followed General Manager Zhou into a startup, he might end up helping count the money after someone sold him off.
So Chen Jue advised him that if nothing else worked out, he could go back to his hometown and take the civil service exam, or get a job at a major bank.
Jiang Lin had only graduated this year, and he had a bachelor's degree. He was still young, with plenty of time and opportunities to land a secure government job.
In Chen Jue's experience, financial companies in the startup stage had too little ability to withstand risk. They could dissolve and liquidate at the drop of a hat, without giving a damn about their employees.
If he passed the civil service exam or got into a major bank, he could work steadily until retirement, as long as he didn't make any serious mistakes.
Besides, salaries and benefits in Jiangsu and Zhejiang were already high. The annual salary and various less visible benefits of a low-level civil servant could nearly reach 200,000 yuan, making that a far better prospect than being a white-collar worker trying to make it on his own.
By the time they finished dinner, Jiang Lin seemed to have grasped something.
Looking at his thoughtful expression, Chen Jue couldn't tell whether he'd taken any of an older man's advice to heart.
Chen Jue had said all he could. As his mentor, he'd done his best.
If they hadn't been hometown fellows and mentor and apprentice, and if Jiang Lin hadn't diligently helped him with miscellaneous work, Chen Jue wouldn't have bothered sharing his life experience with an outsider.
He himself had worked hard until nearly thirty without succeeding, and he wasn't qualified to enlighten anyone else.
At most, he could advise others to avoid some of the same wrong turns he'd taken.
They left the business park and went their separate ways.
One headed for the Jianye Road subway station; the other got on a HelloBike shared bike.
The next two days were the weekend. Chen Jue had originally planned to keep applying for jobs.
But after this sudden awakening of an Attribute Panel, he felt that maybe he could try doing something different for once.
"Where can I go stone skipping?"
Sitting on the bike, Chen Jue suddenly had no idea where to go.
He'd worked in the business park for more than two years, spending most of his time in his rental apartment and at the company.
Every now and then, he'd meet up with a few classmates and friends who had stayed in Hang City for a meal or to play games at an internet cafe, but he'd barely explored the area.
The neighborhood was all industrial parks, high-rises, and residential districts. There weren't any interesting attractions.
He opened the map and searched for ponds and rivers. A few kilometers away, he found White Horse Lake Park, not far from his home in Changhe Residential District.
It took him more than twenty minutes to ride there. By the time he got off and locked the bike, he was sweating all over.
"Huff... huff..." He panted a few times, then paused to catch his breath.
Chen Jue realized he hadn't exercised in far too long. His body was in pretty bad shape.
He'd only ridden five kilometers, yet his legs were already weak and he was sweating all over.
But to Chen Jue's surprise, only a few seconds after he stopped to rest, the Attribute Panel in his field of vision suddenly stirred!
[Ding~] [Completed one qualifying aerobic workout] [Free attribute points available to allocate +0.01]
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