Chapter 765: Chapter 765: The Eve of the Riot
"Then what do you say we should do? If the factory really shuts down, what will we do?" Curly-haired’s eyes unexpectedly welled up with tears, and Qiao En, seeing the look in Curly-haired’s eyes, felt a chill down his spine.
"What do you mean what to do? We haven’t even gotten our wages for this week, if it really shuts down, we’ll just move all the machines out of the factory and sell them for money." Qiao En replied nonchalantly.
"But with so many of us, how much money could selling those machines possibly give us? If, if they move and sell the machines before we do, won’t we have nothing left?" Curly-haired said, his eyes red.
Qiao En wanted to curse Curly-haired as a jinx, couldn’t he say something nicer? But on second thought, he had a point. If everything was sold, they’d end up with nothing, losing their jobs without gaining anything.
Going along with Curly-haired’s line of thought, the more Qiao En thought about it, the more it made sense. Unconsciously, he loosened his grip on Curly-haired’s neck.
The beer can still lying on the ground had little liquid left to spill out. The beer puddle on the floor kept bubbling and bursting, leaving a whiff of its aroma in the air.
"You make a good point, we can’t just sit here and wait for death. Here’s the plan—I’ll go back with you, and we’ll check if the machines in the warehouse are still there. If they are, we’ll organize a protest with the other workers in the factory; if not, we’ll call the police."
"Why are we organizing a protest?" Curly-haired, rubbing his sore neck, dumbly asked.
"Why do you think? Of course, it’s to demand getting back to our jobs. We can’t lose this job nor let the factory close. If this drags on, it’ll only end in mutual destruction. As for dealing with this Asian guy, we’ll think about it slowly. The most important thing right now is to keep our jobs, understand?" Qiao En said, poking Curly-haired’s forehead with his finger.
Hearing what Qiao En said, and seeing his confident look, Curly-haired felt at ease and followed him as they walked out of the house towards the factory.
The factory gate was locked, with a new lock replaced. Qiao En looked around, saw no one nearby, and pulled out a piece of wire from his pocket, maneuvering it up and down in the lock. Soon, the lock was opened. Curly-haired was surprised by this skill Qiao En had, briefly stunned.
"Didn’t expect you could pick locks, impressive." Curly-haired gave Qiao En a thumbs-up, grinning.
There was a hint of a smile on Qiao En’s face too, "This is just the start, I have many more skills." Qiao En smugly raised an eyebrow at Curly-haired, and the two of them entered the factory one after the other.
They did not notice that above them, a Heavenly Eye flashed red, recording all their actions just now.
Xu Ke stayed in a hotel, holding a coffee cup while watching footage of the two entering the factory. His expression remained unchanged, but he saved the footage recording their actions in a folder.
Speaking of Qiao En and Curly-haired, they arrived at the factory and saw all the machines and tools were still there, alleviating half of their anxiety. They exchanged a glance and then backed out, relocking the gate to make it seem like they had never been there, then withdrew to plan their next move.
Since everything in the factory remained the same except for the absence of people, Qiao En and Curly-haired’s worries eased a bit, making the protest seem less urgent. They relaxed for another day, then casually contacted others in the factory to organize a protest to resume work, hoping to even get a pay raise.
Qiao En hung up the phone, his mind constantly scheming. However, thinking of a foreign Asian in charge of him at the factory made him uncomfortable, not understanding how the higher-ups could appoint such a person.
Qiao En took a sip of his drink, remembering tomorrow’s protest, and took another swig.
But what he didn’t know was that today, Xu Ke had, through an agency, gathered all the needed personnel. Although assembling so many people in such short notice was challenging, Xu Ke’s generous salary and benefits, along with the factory’s proximity to town, attracted many applicants.
Xu Ke spent a day observing this batch of recruits, eliminating those trying to slack off, and kept the ones who performed well.
"As long as you diligently carry out the tasks I assign you, your benefits will continue to improve. I won’t require you to be here for eight hours every day. As long as you complete the tasks I give you with quality and quantity maintained, you can leave early. If you finish five days’ worth of work in three days, you can take the remaining two days off while still receiving pay," Xu Ke said to the gathered factory workers.
"Each of you has a daily task quota; you can leave early once completed, or leave on time if you finish regularly, but you cannot work overtime to finish these tasks as I won’t pay overtime for this. Moreover, if you fail to complete the quota on three occasions in a month, I will have to ask you to leave—I won’t support slackers."
Xu Ke coolly added as the crowd began to stir, "Rest assured, the daily task quota is definitely achievable and not inhumane. In fact, as long as you don’t slack off during work hours, you can complete them quite easily, with perhaps some time to spare. Employees who can accept this may stay, those who can’t may collect today’s wages and I won’t force anyone to stay."
Perhaps Xu Ke’s assurances won their trust. Though they were somewhat anxious, they chose to stay and give it a try.
Seeing that none of them left, Xu Ke’s smile deepened, "Since you guys have no issues, see you tomorrow."
With his easy handling of the employees, next was the security issue. Xu Ke reviewed their resumes and let them demonstrate their skills to decide. Finding them competent, he kept them all and equipped them with guns.
"I assume the agency mentioned this during recruitment, that my factory might confront a riot soon. I must be honest, we expect around a hundred people involved in this riot," Xu Ke said.
Hearing Xu Ke’s words, the twenty security guards exchanged looks.
Without waiting for questions, Xu Ke continued, "I must admit this job might be dangerous initially, and you could get injured or even killed. What I can do is arm you with handguns to protect yourselves, and also hire the best medical and legal teams for you, while maintaining constant contact with the police. If anyone dies due to work-related reasons, I promise to compensate your family with half a million dollars, which is the best I can offer."