Chapter 3: A Bunch of Amateurs

Cheng Shi took the money and went straight to the factory director’s office.

The crowd from earlier was still there, making a scene.

As soon as the people on the outer ring spotted Cheng Shi, someone shouted, “Cheng Shi is back!”

The crowd fell silent again and parted to make way.

Everyone thought Cheng Shi would surely regret it, but no one expected him to come back so soon.

Cheng Shi stopped in front of Liu Jianshe, pulled out the cash, and said, “Five thousand. Money in one hand, goods in the other.”

Liu Jianshe was stunned. “Where did you get the money?!”

He had been so certain this boy had no way out, so certain he could force him out of his job without lifting a finger.

Now he had lost both the bride and the dowry, so to speak.

Cheng Shi said, “Don’t worry about that. Just calculate my severance pay and let me take the machine tool away.”

Liu Jianshe’s face darkened. “This is state property. How can you just take it away because you say so?”

Cheng Shi said, “I bought it under contract. The factory also has the right to depreciate and dispose of idle, useless assets. You are the legal representative. You signed it and stamped it with the official seal, so the agreement is valid. And the price I paid is exactly equal to its depreciation value—I’ve taken nothing from the public purse. It’s legal and proper.”

That was why he had not bargained with Liu Jianshe earlier.

Liu Jianshe said, “No.”

They had already spent the whole morning arguing, and everyone was full of anger. They also felt Cheng Shi had already swallowed his pride and bent over backward.

Now Cheng Shi had actually brought the money back, yet Liu Jianshe was still dragging his feet. The crowd grew even more furious and fearful, and the shouting only grew louder.

“You dare go back on a contract you just signed? Then in a couple of years, what protection will our contracts even have?”

“Did you take gifts from someone and give our permanent positions to others, which is why you’re forcing us out?!”

“That must be it. We’re going to the leaders above to demand justice!”

Liu Jianshe was frightened by their hysterical, twisted faces and took a step back.

Cheng Shi grabbed him by the collar.

The crowd instantly went quiet: he was about to hit someone.

Perfect.

The moment you throw the first punch, we’ll take the chance to land a few of our own and show him what it means that the workers have strength!

Cheng Shi fixed Liu Jianshe with a cold stare and said icily, “Director Liu, you’d better think carefully. Under the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China, if a party has the conditions to perform a contract and refuses to do so, that constitutes fraud. Fraud involving a relatively large amount of public or private property is punishable by up to three years in prison, criminal detention, or supervised release. Three thousand to ten thousand counts as a relatively large amount. Are you waiting for me to call the police, have them come here, and then perform the contract? Or would you rather abide by the agreement yourself so we don’t have to tear each other apart?”

The provincial leaders had already said that even the transition from permanent worker to contract worker had to be handled smoothly, and there must not be any trouble.

If they made such a huge fuss over Cheng Shi that he got criticized or even investigated, it would not be worth it.

Although selling the machine to Cheng Shi had cost him something, he could make it up by shaving money off Cheng Shi’s buyout pay.

Besides, the Cheng family still lived in the factory’s staff housing, and Cheng Shi’s father still drew a pension from the factory, so there were plenty of places where he could squeeze Cheng Shi.

The machine was useless anyway. By then, Cheng Shi would only be able to sell it as scrap, and then he could buy it back at a bargain.

He did not believe that this little monkey could翻 out of his palm-mountain.

Liu Jianshe hurriedly said, “All right, all right. Don’t get excited. We’ll follow the contract. But Cheng Shi, you’re the first person in the factory to be laid off and buy out your seniority. I can’t decide on the buyout pay by myself. I have to report it and get approval from above.”

Cheng Shi said, “Fine. But once the buyout pay is set, I have to agree to it. Otherwise, before you hand over the severance, I am still a formal employee of the machinery factory. My wages and benefits must remain exactly as they should.”

The others looked at Cheng Shi with new respect.

This was impressive. As long as no agreement was reached for one more day, Cheng Shi could collect one more day’s wages.

Still, this little troublemaker seemed to have thrown away the melon and picked up a sesame seed.

Even if he could get two extra months’ pay, wasn’t he still going to be laid off in the end?

Not to mention he had already spent five thousand on a piece of junk.

If he could not repay the loan, the credit union would seize the machine, and wouldn’t he end up empty-handed and still owe interest?

Having finally dealt with the hardest person, Liu Jianshe suddenly felt emboldened. His cold, disdainful gaze swept over everyone.

“Anyone who doesn’t want to become a contract worker can get laid off just like Cheng Shi.”

What right did you bunch of discarded leftovers have to come here and make a fuss?!

I’ve already shown the greatest goodwill by spending a whole morning explaining this to you.

The crowd instantly fell silent, all of them grumbling inwardly: Cheng Shi, you little bastard, you’ve really ruined us.

-----

Cheng Shi borrowed a handcart and spent ten yuan hiring two coworkers from among the crowd to help him haul the machine tool back.

The residential building where the Cheng family lived had two apartments per stairwell, each with two bedrooms, a living room, and a bathroom. The first floor held storage rooms for each household, and only from the second floor upward did people live.

This place had originally been reserved for factory leaders like Liu Jianshe and the senior technicians.

Later, after the leaders moved into new welfare housing, these apartments were given to older workers whose families were in difficult circumstances.

The machine tool was placed in the storage room.

Cheng Shi was very polite to those who helped him move it. After paying them, he kept thanking them, then bought cigarettes and drinks from the corner shop and handed them out. He was utterly unlike the rebellious boy who usually looked as though he answered to no one.

The coworkers were all astonished.

Among those helping was a man surnamed Zhou, who usually could say a few words to Cheng Shi in the workshop. When he left, he could not help reminding him, “Cheng Shi, you know this, right? Foreign companies install a locking mechanism on these industrial mother machines to prevent us from copying them. Once they’re moved away from their original installation site, the whole machine locks up and becomes as good as scrap.”

Cheng Shi smiled. “I know. Thanks for the warning, Brother Zhou.”

In the storage room, Cheng Shi examined the machine tool carefully, as though it were a priceless treasure.

Sure enough, the machine had already been remotely locked.

Seeing that it was getting late, Cheng Shi decided to deal with that problem in the afternoon and first went to the market to buy some meat and fruit.

On the way home from lunch, several coworkers from the same workshop spotted Cheng Shi from afar and immediately said with mockery, “Well, well, isn’t this Manager Cheng? He’s got a machine tool of his own now and can open a factory. The only question is whether Manager Cheng knows how to use a machine tool. After all, you’re usually too busy sleeping on the job.”

“Exactly. Manager Cheng has always had ambition. Unlike us, who only want to cling to our iron rice bowls and draw our dead-end wages.”

“Since Manager Cheng is so promising, he should buy himself a new pair of shoes first. Those Liberation shoes of yours are nearly worn through.”

If it had been any other day, Cheng Shi would have thrown down his bicycle, single-handedly beaten them all until they could no longer speak, and then strolled off in high dudgeon.

But today he answered calmly, “Thanks for your concern. When my factory opens, I’ll hire you all as gate guards.”

And he thought to himself: How ridiculous.

You people have no idea that it was only because I worked overtime every night that the tasks got finished, the bonuses were earned, and the vote put me out. Now you come to mock me, and tomorrow you’ll be crying your fathers’ names and your mothers’ names because you can’t meet your quotas.

The faces of those few people turned green with rage.

Their technical skills were poor and they were rather lazy, so their masters often scolded them: “If it weren’t for the communal pot, no one would even want you as gate guards.”

Cheng Shi laughed to himself.

So that was all it took to leave them speechless?

Truly all mouth and no skill.

In both skill and insults, I’ve long since leveled up to the king tier. You little trash don’t even deserve to shine my shoes.