Janna Was Improving

Li Wei and Baku turned around and were shocked to discover:

The middle-aged man angrily cursing in Zaunite was actually the factory owner who usually dressed in a suit and acted so refined.

"M-Mr. Ervin, wh-why are you here?" Baku was scared stiff. "W-We were just joking around..."

"Joking?" Mr. Ervin had no manners at all today. "Let me tell you—if you dare make jokes about my daughter behind my back again, I'll have the Enforcers send you straight back to Zaun!"

Baku shut his mouth, trembling.

Li Wei felt awkward too.

"Li Wei!" Erwin called out to him irritably.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Ervin..."

"Enough. I can't be bothered to listen to your nonsense." Mr. Ervin snorted. "You brat, you're still in the mood to make such filthy jokes. But I came here specifically to see you this time, understand?"

Li Wei's heart sank.

He was just a lowly apprentice, yet the boss had come looking for him personally? Something bad was probably about to happen.

Sure enough, Boss Erwin asked unhappily, "Li Wei, did you borrow from loan sharks outside?"

"I..." Li Wei's expression darkened further.

If you asked a Zaunite who the worst people they encountered in Piltover were:

A. Piltover business owners. B. Piltover landlords. C. Piltover Enforcers.

What would they choose?

The answer was D: Zaunites.

The people who treated Zaunite Apprentices in Piltover the worst were their fellow Zaunites.

Those bastards formed gangs and ran criminal organizations in Piltover, yet they did not dare bully Piltovans, much less act up in front of Piltover Enforcers.

They only targeted Zaunite apprentices in Piltover, viciously exploiting their own countrymen.

If Piltover's wealthy merchants were vampires, then these Zaunite Gangs were juicers—the vampires sucked their blood, and then these people came along to squeeze out every last drop of profit from their bodies.

And Li Wei had unfortunately gotten tangled up with those bastards.

Earlier, to treat his sister's illness, he had borrowed from a Zaunite Gang at usurious rates. After the interest kept compounding, the debt had long become a figure far more despairing than his rent.

"Those Iron Fist Gang punks even came straight to the factory in broad daylight—they specifically named you when they came to collect!"

"Li Wei, I advise you to handle your own affairs properly. If you delay the factory's production..."

"I won't keep you around anymore."

"I understand." Li Wei sighed.

He knew Boss Erwin was not afraid of those gangsters, but he certainly did not want to offend them either.

At the very least, there was no need to offend them for the sake of a mere apprentice.

"Good that you understand."

"You're on your own."

Erwin tossed out those final words and turned to leave.

Baku, along with the other workers watching, all cast sympathetic looks at Li Wei.

Everyone realized that Li Wei was probably about to get kicked out.

"Wait, Mr. Ervin." Li Wei suddenly stood and called after his boss.

"What is it now?"

"Mr. Ervin." Li Wei carefully chose his words. "Could I get an advance on next month's wages? You know my situation."

He did not even need to pretend to be miserable. He was already miserable enough.

The other workers looked on as well, their faces full of shared sorrow.

"What kind of joke is that?" Erwin rejected him coldly with almost no hesitation. "Li Wei, you still have the nerve to ask for an advance? Last month, you ruined several plates while welding and wasted who knows how much mithril. You know that yourself, don't you?"

"I already showed you enough mercy by not deducting two months of your wages and making you compensate for it."

"And you still want next month's wages in advance?"

"Why don't you just rob me?"

Li Wei could not say a word.

The kind boss who was cold on the outside but warm inside, as the original owner remembered him, now seemed to have only coldness left.

But what could he do? Tomorrow, the landlord would come with Enforcers to evict them. If he could not pay, he would have to crawl back to Zaun.

"Mr. Ervin..." Li Wei still wanted to try and plead his case.

"Enough!" Boss Erwin impatiently cut him off. "Stop pretending to be pitiful in front of me."

As he spoke, he glared viciously at the workers watching:

"What are you all standing around for? It's still work hours!"

The workers hurriedly lowered their heads and got back to work, not daring to look again.

Erwin then looked back at Li Wei. "Li Wei, if you don't want to work, then don't. Stop affecting production here—"

"Half of today's pay is deducted. Get outside and stand there as punishment!"

Before Li Wei could react,

the two factory guards who had been following the boss stepped forward with great tact. They hauled Li Wei up from his workstation like a chick and dragged him all the way out of the workshop.

"Damn..." All the workers were frightened.

Even Baku, his best friend, shrank back and did not dare say anything.

And so, Li Wei was roughly thrown out of the workshop and forced to stand outside as punishment.

His worn work uniform was thin. The night wind carried dampness from the harbor, making him shiver as soon as it blew over him.

"Sigh..."

The original owner had thought Erwin was a good boss, cold on the outside but warm inside. He believed that if he brought up his difficulties, the boss would definitely help him. But now, it seemed that the original owner had simply been wishful thinking and misunderstood him...

Erwin might have been a good boss, but not as good as the original owner had imagined. Such good bosses were usually generous with small favors for their employees, but once real trouble arose and an employee no longer had any value to offer, their kindness reached its limit as well.

It could not really be blamed on the boss for being heartless. After all: Those damn thugs actually came to the factory to collect a debt...

Boss Erwin is obviously afraid of getting dragged into trouble and wants to have me "graduate" immediately. Why would he make a losing deal by advancing me next month's wages?

Li Wei lamented helplessly to himself.

But just as he was grumbling inwardly, footsteps approached from behind him—

When he turned around, the person who had come was actually Mr. Ervin!

After inspecting the workshop, he had come over alone.

"Boss?" Li Wei was somewhat surprised. "What the—cough, cough... Why are you here, sir?"

Erwin said nothing. He merely walked over with a cold expression and handed him a small cloth pouch.

Only when Li Wei took it did he realize that the pouch had some weight to it.

"What is this?"

"Your wages for next month," Erwin answered.

"You're willing to give it to me?" Li Wei did not understand. "Then just now..."

"There were too many people inside just now."

"I run a factory, not a charity. I can't hand out money whenever someone comes to me with a sad story."

"At the very least, I can't set that precedent in the factory. Otherwise, if everyone came to ask me for money whenever their family had difficulties, I wouldn't be able to manage this factory."

As he spoke, Erwin gave him an unhappy look.

Li Wei froze for a moment, then gripped the money pouch tightly with a complicated expression. "Thank you, Mr. Ervin."

"I swear I won't tell anyone about this." Seeing the sincerity in Mr. Ervin's eyes, he could not help feeling ashamed.

"That's good." Mr. Ervin's expression eased somewhat.

After thinking for a moment, he asked again, "Will one month's wages really be enough to solve your problem?"

"It's enough for an emergency. I'll think of a way to handle the rest." Li Wei sounded confident. "Don't worry. I won't come bother you again."

"Hah, what way could you possibly think of?" Erwin scolded him with genuine feeling. "Once you get involved with loan sharks, you're finished. How could you be stupid enough to trust those fellow Zaunites of yours?"

"I didn't trust them either. But I had no choice. My sister was sick then."

"You have a sister?"

"Yeah. She's already eighteen."

"She's here too?" Erwin actually began patiently making small talk with a mere apprentice like him.

"Yes, I brought her here."

"An apprentice?"

"No, my sister is an international student. She's studying Hextech Mechanical Engineering at Piltover University."

"Your sister is at Piltover University?" Erwin paused slightly. Then, as if he had remembered something, he said to Li Wei with feeling, "Not bad. Your sister has a bright future."

"Zaunites have to be willing to work hard at their studies. They have to study better and harder than every Piltovan if they want a chance to stay here. Piltover is, after all, a place where anyone can realize their dreams—as long as they persist."

"Hm?" Li Wei paused. He seemed to vaguely hear something beneath those words.

"Work hard." Erwin gave his shoulder a final pat. "Everything will get better."

With that, the boss finally turned and left.

Erwin's back gradually faded into the distance.

Suddenly, Janna poked her head out of Li Wei's pocket.

"He's a Zaunite too," she said with a sigh.

"You know him?"

"Yes. I happened to meet him more than twenty years ago." Janna had always been active in the Twin Cities, and goddesses never forgot anything. "He was an apprentice back then, just like you, supporting his girlfriend while she attended university."

"They were all working desperately so that their next generation could be born in Piltover."

"But... after more than twenty years apart, he has changed somewhat."

"How has he changed?"

"Erwin used to be a good person."

"Isn't he still?" Li Wei thought this boss was already quite decent. He was a good man.

"He is still a good person, that's true." Janna merely sighed.

"But he is no longer pure."

"He clearly sympathizes with Zaunite apprentices, yet he is still only willing to pay you wages barely enough to scrape by. Even when he kindly helps a worker, he has to do it secretly, away from everyone else. He is afraid that his good deed will ruin the factory's 'rules,' afraid that his conscience will keep him from making more money."

"It is as if the only meaning left in his life is making more money. For that, even if he does not want to, he has to make himself cold and heartless."

That was true. But was it Erwin's fault?

Had he himself become less "pure," or had something forced a pure, good person to become what he was now?

"Wait." Janna suddenly seemed to think of something. "Mr. Summoner, is this what you called..."

"Human alienation?"

"Huh?" Li Wei froze, then could not help laughing. "You really are learning fast, Janna."