Janna is Improving

Li Wei and Baku turned to look, and were stunned to discover:

The middle-aged man angrily cursing in Zaunite was none other than their factory owner, who was usually impeccably dressed and refined in manner.

"M-Mr. Ervin, w-what are you doing here?" Baku was terrified. "W-we were just joking around—"

"Joking?" Mr. Ervin today had no patience for decorum. "Let me tell you—if I catch you making jokes about my daughter again, I'll have the Enforcers ship you straight back to Zaun!"

Baku shut his mouth, trembling.

Li Wei was equally embarrassed.

"Li Wei!" Mr. Ervin barked at him irritably.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Ervin."

"Enough, I don't have time for your nonsense." Mr. Ervin huffed angrily. "You little brat, you've got the nerve to stand here cracking cheap jokes—but I came all this way looking for you, you know that?"

Li Wei's heart sank.

A lowly apprentice getting a personal visit from the boss? That could only mean trouble.

Sure enough, Mr. Ervin asked with displeasure, "Li Wei, have you been borrowing from loan sharks outside?"

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

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

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

What would they pick?

The answer is D, fellow Zaunites.

The ones who treated Zaunite apprentices the worst in Piltover were their own countrymen.

These scumbags formed gangs and ran underworld operations in Piltover, but they never dared to bully Piltover citizens, let alone act up in front of the Enforcers.

They only targeted Zaunite apprentices in Piltover, ruthlessly squeezing their own people dry.

If Piltover's big merchants were vampires, then these Zaunite gangs were juicers—after the vampires had drained the blood, they'd come to wring out the last drop of grease from the body.

And unfortunately, Li Wei had gotten tangled up with these bastards.

Earlier, to pay for his sister's medical treatment, he'd borrowed from a Zaunite gang. With compound interest, that debt had become a number far more hopeless than any rent.

"That Iron Fist Gang bunch came straight to the factory in broad daylight—they named you specifically and came to collect!"

"Li Wei, I'm telling you to sort out your own mess, or if it disrupts production..."

"I won't keep you around either."

"I understand." Li Wei sighed.

He knew Mr. Ervin wasn't afraid of those gangs, but he certainly didn't want to offend them either.

At least, not for the sake of a lowly apprentice.

"Good that you understand."

"Good luck to you."

Mr. Ervin tossed out one last line, then turned to leave.

Baku and the other workers watching cast sympathetic glances at Li Wei.

Everyone realized Li Wei was probably done for.

"Wait, Mr. Ervin." Li Wei suddenly stood up and called out to his boss.

"What now?"

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

He didn't need to fake being pitiful now—he was already pitiful enough.

The other workers watched, their faces showing a shared sense of doom.

"Are you kidding me?" Without a moment's hesitation, Mr. Ervin coldly refused him. "Li Wei, you have the nerve to ask me for an advance? You know damn well how many boards you welded wrong last month and how much mithril you wasted, don't you?"

"I didn't dock your pay for the last two months to cover the losses—that was already more than generous."

"And now you want an advance on next month's?"

"Why don't you just rob me outright?"

Li Wei was speechless.

The boss he remembered from the original owner's memory as cold on the outside but warm inside now seemed to have only the cold left.

But what could he do? Tomorrow the landlord would show up with the Enforcers to evict him, and if he couldn't come up with the money, he'd be sent back to Zaun.

"Mr. Ervin..." Li Wei tried to plead further.

"Enough!" Mr. Ervin cut him off impatiently. "Don't play the victim in front of me."

Then he shot a vicious glare at the watching workers:

"What are you all standing around for? This is still work hours!"

The workers hurriedly buried themselves in their tasks, not daring to look up again.

Then Ervin turned back to Li Wei. "Li Wei, if you don't want to work, then don't. Don't stay here and disrupt production."

"I'm docking half your pay for today. Get out and stand in punishment!"

He didn't even wait for Li Wei to react.

The two factory security guards who had been trailing behind the boss immediately stepped forward with keen awareness, hoisting Li Wei up from his workstation like a chicken and carrying him straight out of the workshop.

A sharp intake of breath rippled through the workers. Even his best friend, Baku, shrank back, not daring to speak.

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

His worn work uniform was thin. The night wind, carrying the dampness of the harbor, made him shiver with every gust.

"Ah..."

The original owner had thought Ervin was a good boss—stern on the outside but warm-hearted inside—believing that if he brought up his troubles, the boss would surely help. But now it seemed that was just wishful thinking, a misunderstanding.

Ervin might be a decent boss, but not as good as the original owner had imagined. This kind of boss didn't skimp on small favors for his employees, but when real trouble came and an employee lost their usefulness, his kindness had its limits.

He couldn't really blame the boss for being heartless. After all: "Those damn thugs, coming all the way to the factory to collect debts."

"Now Boss Ervin clearly wants to avoid trouble and just 'graduate' me outright. Why would he make a losing deal and advance me next month's salary?"

Li Wei sighed helplessly to himself.

But just as he was grumbling internally, he heard footsteps approaching from behind—

Turning around, he saw that it was Mr. Ervin himself!

After finishing his inspection of the workshop, he had come looking for him alone.

"Boss?" Li Wei was a bit surprised. "What the—ahem—what brings you here?"

Ervin didn't answer. He just walked over with a cold expression and handed him a small cloth pouch.

When Li Wei took it, he realized the pouch had some weight to it.

"What's this?"

"Your salary for next month," Ervin replied.

"You're willing to give it to me?" Li Wei was confused. "Then just now..."

"Just now, there were too many people inside."

"I run a factory, not a charity. I can't just hand out money to anyone who comes crying about their troubles."

"At least, I can't set that precedent in the workshop. If everyone acted like you, coming to me for money whenever they had family problems, I wouldn't be able to manage this place."

With that, he shot Li Wei a dissatisfied look.

Li Wei was stunned for a moment, then clutched the money pouch with a complicated expression. "Thank you, Mr. Ervin."

"I swear I won't breathe a word of this to anyone." Looking into Mr. Ervin's sincere eyes, he couldn't help but feel a pang of shame.

"Good." Mr. Ervin's expression softened slightly.

He thought for a moment, then asked, "Is one month's salary really enough to solve your problem?"

"It's enough to tide me over. I'll figure out the rest," Li Wei said with confidence. "Don't worry, I won't bother you again."

"Hah, and what are you going to figure out?" Ervin's genuine feelings slipped out as he scolded, "Loan sharks—once you're tangled up with them, you're done. How could you be stupid enough to trust those Zaunite countrymen of yours?"

"I don't trust them either. But I had no choice—my sister was sick back then."

"You have a sister?"

"Yeah, she's eighteen."

"Is she here too?" Ervin actually took the time to chat casually with him, a mere apprentice.

"Yes, I brought her here."

"An apprentice?"

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

"Your sister's at Piltover University?" Ervin paused briefly, then, as if recalling something, said to Li Wei with feeling, "Not bad. Your sister has a bright future."

"Zaunites have to put in the effort to study—learn better and work harder than any Piltover native—to have a chance to stay here. Piltover is, after all, a place where anyone can realize their dreams, as long as you persevere."

"Huh?" Li Wei blinked. He thought he caught a hint of something.

"Keep at it." Ervin finally patted him on the shoulder. "Everything will get better."

With that, the boss turned and left.

Ervin's figure gradually faded into the distance.

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

"He's a Zaunite too," she remarked.

"You know him?"

"Yes, I met him by chance over twenty years ago." Janna had always been active in the Twin Cities, and the goddess never forgot a thing: "Back then, he was still an apprentice, just like you, supporting his girlfriend through university."

"They both worked themselves to the bone so that their children could one day be born in Piltover."

"But after more than twenty years without seeing him, he's changed."

"Changed how?"

"The Erwin of the past was a good man."

"Isn't he still?" Li Wei felt the boss was already decent enough. He was a good man.

"He's still a good man, yes." Janna only sighed:

"But he's no longer pure."

"He clearly sympathizes with the apprentice workers from Zaun, yet he still only pays you barely enough to scrape by. Even when he wants to lend a hand to the workers, he has to do it in secret, avoiding others. Afraid that his good deeds might break the factory's 'rules,' that his conscience might get in the way of making even more money."

"It's as if the only meaning left in his life is to keep piling up money, and to do that, even if his heart resists, he has to force himself to become cold and ruthless."

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

Had he made himself "impure," or had something forced a pure-hearted good man to become what he was now?

"Wait." Suddenly, Janna seemed to think of something: "Summoner, is this what you meant by—"

"The alienation of man?"

"Huh?" Li Wei was taken aback, then couldn't help but laugh: "You catch on fast, Janna."