Wind Takers' Social Practice (Part 1)

After the business deal was settled, Li Wei went "offline" to attend to his own affairs.

Meanwhile:

Janna began teaching Seraphine magic, guiding her to grasp her innate talents.

And after a long wait, Erwin and his wife finally met their second business partner, Professor Viktor from Piltover University.

Viktor was gentle, refined, and possessed an extraordinary demeanor, with an air of scholarly sophistication in his speech and manner. He immediately won the favor of Erwin and his wife, both technically-minded entrepreneurs.

After delving into relevant technical issues with Viktor, and confirming and submitting to his background and academic abilities, Erwin finally dropped his last shred of caution:

"Professor Viktor, we can sign the contract now. I hope we have a pleasant cooperation!"

Erwin showed his sincerity.

But Viktor shook his head: "No rush, we can sign the contract later."

"Why?" Erwin asked, puzzled.

Viktor gave him a deep look:

Because signing this contract would officially drag this guy onto a pirate ship.

If anything happened to the Wind Takers later, Erwin's family would definitely be implicated.

The Wind Takers aren't Bilgewater's righteous heroes; they shouldn't use such deceptive methods to trick people into joining their ranks.

Otherwise, once Erwin discovers the truth, the trust they've painstakingly built would be completely shattered.

At that point, it would be hard to say whether he would simply accept his fate and stay on the mountain as a leader, or find an opportunity to surrender and be recruited by the imperial court.

In short, the Wind Takers need like-minded companions, not ticking time bombs with ulterior motives.

So...

"Mr. Erwin, I hope we can deepen our understanding of each other first, and then formally confirm our cooperative relationship when you fully agree," Viktor explained sincerely.

"This..." Erwin simply assumed that Viktor wanted to conduct more on-site inspections of his factory for a while: "That's fine. Both sides can have more time to consider."

"Then Professor Viktor, would you like me to accompany you on a tour of the factory now?"

"I was just about to mention that," Viktor said with a smile. "I hope the factory can temporarily suspend operations for a day, so that my students and I can go deep into the factory floor and understand the situation on the ground."

"You and your students?" Erwin asked curiously. "Are there Piltover University students involved in this project?"

"Yes, quite a few. It's kind of like a... social practice for our college?"

"Alright." Erwin thought for a moment. "Then I'll have the factory shut down now and let the workers go home to rest."

"No, you only need to let the local Piltover workers go home."

"What about the Zaun apprentice workers?"

"They need to stay. My students and I are here for them."

Hearing this answer, a strange glint flashed in Erwin's eyes.

Actually, he had already sensed something was amiss.

Because he already believed in Janna's existence, believed that Li Wei was the goddess Janna's chosen one.

That desperate night twenty years ago, his tears, his helpless prayers... besides himself, perhaps only the goddess knew.

So, just think about it:

Did the goddess Janna descend to the mortal realm again after hundreds of years just to open a factory in Piltover, make music, and earn herself some pocket money?

Li Wei and Viktor, and the goddess Janna behind them, definitely had a grand and magnificent goal.

Students, workers, professors... these people would all unite under the banner of the goddess. What exactly did they want to do?

Erwin didn't dare to think too deeply.

But after hesitating, he still extended his hand to Viktor:

"No problem, Professor Viktor."

"Although I don't know what you and your students want to 'practice' here, but if this is the goddess Janna's will..." The goddess Janna is Zaun's guardian deity, a symbol of kindness and mercy: "I am willing to believe."

"This factory, I'll temporarily entrust it to you."

"Thank you!" Viktor shook his hand gratefully.

Then, he took out two small booklets from his pocket.

One was Zaun, From Whence It Came?, written by Li Wei yesterday and printed by him this morning.

The other was Zaun, Whither It Goes?, compiled by Viktor based on Li Wei's speech this morning.

The former was about the "what" and "why," while the latter was about how to do it.

The content of the latter was obviously a bit sensitive.

After thinking for a moment, Viktor temporarily handed only the first booklet to Erwin:

"Mr. Erwin, perhaps you can take a look at this article."

"Once you understand it, you'll know what we're doing."

An afternoon passed, and night quietly descended.

The Erwin family's Hextech Sound Factory was still brightly lit and bustling with activity. But today, it wasn't workers toiling away, but rather the group of Zaunite students Viktor had brought.

They were trying to confront and solve a problem:

How exactly should the Wind Takers begin their work?

No one knew.

This was everyone's first time; they had to accumulate experience through practice.

Fortunately, these students all came from humble backgrounds and could easily chat with the apprentices.

They were also future scientists and knew how to conduct investigations scientifically.

And the Zaunite apprentices, seeing that they could receive their wages today without having to work, and that these students were introduced by Boss Erwin, were happy to chat with them as well.

For these still green and inexperienced students, this was undoubtedly the best starting point for their future work.

And after this afternoon of communication and investigation, everyone finally had an understanding of the factory's specific situation.

"Professor Viktor!" Lina, carrying the opinions everyone had summarized, found Viktor, who was in charge here.

She reported the results of everyone's afternoon investigation in detail:

"The investigation shows that this Erwin Hextech Sound Factory has a total of 51 local Piltover employees and 148 Zaunite apprentices."

"Wait." Viktor heard something amiss as soon as the report began. "How are there so many Zaunite apprentices?"

"Doesn't Piltover have a regulation that the ratio of local employees to foreign labor must not be less than 50%?"

To prioritize local employment, Piltover did indeed have such a regulation.

"But those are just regulations on paper..."

When Viktor was a boy in Zaun, he had followed a teacher. So he didn't suffer too much in the factories and successfully got into Piltover University.

After coming to Piltover, he hadn't left the school gates for more than a decade and hadn't seen what a factory looked like.

Compared to Viktor, who had been in the ivory tower for too long, Lina, this poor Zaunite girl, was more aware of Piltover's social reality:

"Zaunites are cheap and work hard."

"Who wouldn't want to hire fewer pampered Piltovans and more hardworking Zaunites?"

"So, despite Piltover's regulations, these business owners can secretly expand the proportion of foreign labor in their factories through various means such as false reporting, registered workers, and indentured laborers."

"False reporting? Registered workers? Indentured laborers?" Viktor was completely confused.

He had been a scholar for too long and really didn't know what these operations were.

"False reporting is the simplest." Lina explained, "It's hiding those smuggled workers who don't have legal apprentice qualifications at all and hiring them to work illegally in the factory at half the price of normal apprentices."

"Mr. Erwin might be a bit timid and didn't dare to do that."

"But of the 148 Zaunite apprentices in his factory, 32 are 'registered workers'—"

"They are nominally registered with Mr. Erwin's family and the families of several of his acquaintances as 'domestic servants,' but in reality, they are working as apprentices in Mr. Erwin's factory."

"In addition, there are 65 'indentured laborers'—"

"That is, they sign contracts with labor contractors in society, and those labor contractors with power and background dispatch their workers to work in the factory."

"These people are also not considered formal Zaunite apprentices and do not occupy the factory's quota."

"So, if you calculate carefully, the factory only has 51 formal apprentices in name—exactly 1:1 with local Piltovan workers, accounting for 50%, and does not violate Piltover's local employment protection regulations."

"This..." He didn't know until he investigated, and he was shocked when he did.

Viktor really didn't expect that Mr. Erwin, who seemed kind and honest on the surface, could actually play so many tricks behind his back.

And he looked so sincere when he mentioned the goddess Janna.

Oh no, did he give that booklet to the wrong person?

"No, you really can't blame Mr. Erwin for this." Lina shook her head helplessly. "All Piltover business owners do this. He's already considered honest."

"This is called honest?"

"In Piltover, yes."

"."

Viktor was silent for a long time, then sighed:

"I thought I was the teacher in this practice."

A great professor, a great intellectual, should naturally be the leader of everyone, the enlightener of the masses.

Even the gentle and humble Viktor had instinctively thought before that he stood higher and saw farther than those students and workers, that he was more intelligent.

But now, truly stepping out of the campus and into the factory, Viktor realized:

"So... I'm the student."