Chapter 3: The Joy of Laying Bricks

She stood up and said solemnly to Chen Xiao, "Thank you, Chen Xiao! Let's work hard together. I will also prove with facts that I, Feng Feifei, will certainly not let you down!"

*You’re just paying lip service without doing any real work,* Chen Xiao thought, feeling like crying. *You open your mouth and cost me 4,000 yuan a day.* He looked at that beautiful, moving, and incredibly sincere face before him. The image of the beautiful woman, delicate as a flower, flickered back and forth in his mind with stacks of banknotes. A battle between heaven and man raged within him!

Back at his desk, Chen Xiao was in a foul mood. Losing 4,000 a day meant losing over 1.3 million a year. "Feng Feifei, it wouldn't be too much to ask you to pay me back with your body, would it?" he began to fantasize again.

The company was essentially starting over, and the handover of existing personnel began today. As part of the business department, there were no ongoing projects to follow up on, so Chen Xiao was actually the most relaxed; there wasn't much to hand over.

Yuan Kai and Wang Jing returned from the finance office. They knew Chen Xiao had chosen to stay, and both looked at him as if he were a lunatic.

Wang Jing even teased, "Chen Xiao, don't tell me you think that just because Manager Yuan and I are leaving, you can stay and take the opportunity to climb the ladder?"

*As if. Only a fool would want to climb the ladder. What’s the benefit of that?* Chen Xiao shook his head.

Yuan Kai said with a look of disdain, "It’s good you don't think that way, otherwise you’d be disappointed. The company has already started recruiting a business supervisor on job sites! But you do have some self-awareness; even if I didn't care for this position, it wouldn't be your turn as a newcomer!"

Chen Xiao said with a straight face, "I'm not an idiot. Why would I want to sit in that position?"

"Damn it, what do you mean by that, Chen Xiao! Just because I’m resigning, you think I can't handle you anymore?"

Yuan Kai was instantly enraged. Wang Jing grabbed him. *Big brother, you’re 165cm tall, trying to get into a physical confrontation with his 178cm frame? Calling you an idiot isn't a miscarriage of justice.*

The reason Chen Xiao was unfriendly toward him was entirely because he looked down on Yuan Kai’s character. When Chen Xiao first joined the company, he had been very polite, asking for advice and wanting to learn from him.

At the time, Yuan Kai had bullied the newcomer, bluntly saying, "Teach you? If the apprentice learns everything, the master starves!"

From that day on, Chen Xiao had defined him as an idiot. Such a person was never meant to be a leader; his vision was just that limited.

"If you keep running your mouth, I’ll slap you across the face! Your name is Yuan Kai, not Yuan Shikai. You’ve got a tiny bit of authority, and you really think you were once a big leader?" Chen Xiao pointed at him, and Yuan Kai, conversely, didn't dare to make a sound.

"Fine, Chen Xiao, you’re ruthless. We’ll see!"

"See what? I don't even care to look at you!" Chen Xiao said with utter disdain.

Yuan Kai snorted coldly, shoved Wang Jing aside, and walked toward the general manager's office.

In the afternoon, Chen Xiao heard that Yuan Kai had abandoned his plans to leave, stating he would "weather the storm" with the company. He also accepted the company's salary adjustment for the marketing department. It was said his salary had also been cut in half, with his base pay dropping from 12,000 yuan to 6,000 yuan per month.

No wonder he had been scowling all day. The look he gave Chen Xiao even had a hint of "if I’m going down, I’m taking you with me." Chen Xiao felt nothing but contempt. *That little loss of yours, you small fry—do you know how much your grandpa loses a day? You want to play a war of attrition with me? Are you even in the same weight class?*

Wang Jing still left resolutely. Before leaving, he told Chen Xiao to be careful. Yuan Kai staying was purely out of spite; having lost so much, he would definitely try to get even with Chen Xiao!

Chen Xiao hummed and said, "Perfect, I’ve also lost a lot and have nowhere to vent. It’s good he’s staying; he looks like a punching bag to me!"

At exactly eight o'clock the next morning, Chen Xiao received a notification: "Your Huaxia Bank card ending in. has received a deposit of 8,000 yuan. Balance:."

*Hm? Didn't they cut the salary? Why is it the 8,000 yuan minimum guarantee?* He realized immediately that the salary adjustment started next month, meaning he could still collect the 8,000 yuan for the remaining 20-plus days of this month. Chen Xiao’s mood improved instantly.

Seeing his bank balance hit five digits, he laughed wildly for five minutes, only stopping when the person next door pounded on the wall.

He had gotten a bit carried away. But who could blame him? It was the first time his balance had reached five digits. Who could understand the joy of a "month-end pauper" at this moment?

Whistling and singing, he was a happy brick-mover!

"Yo, Chen Xiao, in such a good mood today? Win the lottery?" the uncle at the breakfast shop teased him.

"Uncle, give me four big meat buns and a bowl of spicy soup!"

*Since I’m rich now, I should buy two bowls of spicy soup—drink one and pour one out.* He pondered whether he should experience the "extravagance" of pouring out a bowl.

Hearing the uncle's joke, he said, "What’s there to be happy about winning the lottery? Small fry!"

"Alright, Chen Xiao, you’re acting pretty cool! If you really won the lottery, you’d probably be no better than Fan Jin passing the imperial exam!"

*Underestimating me? I’m already using a primordial treasure; who would still be interested in mere magical artifacts?* Chen Xiao scoffed.

The uncle brought over the spicy soup and meat buns, saying, "You kid, your face is glowing. You’re in a good state!"

Chen Xiao laughed, "Moving bricks makes one happy!"

The uncle just thought he was joking. *Happy moving bricks? My ass. I move bricks every day until my kidneys are sagging; I can't even enjoy the most pleasurable things anymore!*

Chen Xiao didn't go to the company in the morning; he had an appointment with a client. After a month of training, he was finally going into real combat today. He was looking forward to it; after all, bonuses would definitely be his biggest source of income in the future.

On the way to the Jiangzhou Traffic Design Institute, another text message arrived. He took a look—it was the 200 yuan phone bill subsidy from last month. *Small change, not worth looking at!*

"Ding~! Dedication blessing settlement: 200x2 = 400 yuan blessing reward. The reward has been deposited into the host's Huaxia Bank account!"

*Huh? There’s a reward for this too? Does that mean all subsidies outside of base pay count as bonuses, not just the narrow definition of commissions I understood before?*

An unexpected joy. He hadn't expected this, truly hadn't expected it!

The client Chen Xiao was visiting today was an assistant to the general manager at the Jiangzhou Traffic Design Institute. There was a testing unit under the institute, and this Assistant Bai was in charge of equipment procurement.

Chen Xiao pondered that the company's current drone R&D direction had problems, mainly because they didn't understand the client's needs and industry pain points well enough. Thus, the products they spent so much to develop couldn't improve productivity with existing technical means, leading to a lack of market.

But this "lack of market" was a generalization—it meant they couldn't replace existing technical equipment or achieve industry innovation that made everyone scramble to use them. It didn't mean there was zero demand. If a testing unit needed to purchase equipment, it was still worth a talk.

Chen Xiao entered the gate of the design institute and was let in after explaining his purpose to the guard. Just as he walked through the gate, he saw a Mercedes-Benz C-Class speeding straight toward him!

*Damn, I just got the system, I haven't even enjoyed life yet!*