Chapter 44: Work Hard Under Brother Zhou

From the beginning of May until now, exactly one month had passed since Zhou Ziyang arranged for them to enter the factory.

The day before yesterday, Zhou Ziyang had arranged for their wages to be paid in cash.

The young people working at the factory were, for the most part, honest kids who wanted to earn some money. They worked diligently, and the few who lacked a proper work ethic had been sorted out by Li Dongfeng with a few punches and kicks, and driven out of the factory.

Troublemakers could be found anywhere. The wages on Zhou Ziyang's side were undeniably high, but there were always those who resented Zhou Ziyang for taking a commission and badmouthed him behind his back.

When Li Dongfeng found out, he was so furious that without a second word, he walked up and slapped the guy twice. "Damn it! If you don't want to work, plenty of people do! My older brother went through all this trouble to find you a job, and somehow he's in the wrong?!"

"Fuck it, work if you want, get lost if you don't!"

In fact, Zhou Ziyang hadn't given Li Dongfeng any extra pay, but Li Dongfeng and his several friends who had gone south with him spontaneously formed a small faction to protect Zhou Ziyang.

Because they had truly benefited from Zhou Ziyang.

To say the least, they hadn't taken a small share of the recruitment commissions back then.

Later on, over eighty people arrived at the factory one after another, and after a few more people who wanted to follow Zhou Ziyang joined in, the group expanded to over a dozen core members.

These people were all simple-minded and came from clean family backgrounds. Having previously gone out to look for jobs, they naturally knew how hard it was to come by an opportunity like this.

Besides, before they left, their parents had given them earnest advice to work hard under Zhou Ziyang.

More importantly, Zhou Ziyang genuinely treated them well.

On the very first day they arrived, Zhou Ziyang had even treated them to fruit.

So throughout that month, while some people left, others quickly stepped in to fill their places.

Working an average of eight hours a day, Zhou Ziyang paid out a total of 380,000 in wages, plus 60,000 in other expenses, resulting in a final profit of 100,000 yuan.

However, Zhou Ziyang, who had already achieved financial freedom, actually looked down upon such small change.

Yet Li Dongfeng and the others remained fiercely loyal to Zhou Ziyang.

Especially at the moment they received their money.

Before getting the cash, these people had still felt uneasy inside.

They wondered if it could be fake. Where could such a good job possibly exist?

Indeed, not only was the pay 20 yuan an hour with no forced deductions of this or that, but the dormitory environment was also decent, occasionally accompanied by complimentary fruit and milk.

Before payday, quite a few of them had been terrified of being scammed.

It wasn't until the accountant came over and counted out each person's wages into their hands that they finally dialed home in an excited frenzy, shouting enthusiastically, "Dad! I got my wages! I made 6,050 last month!"

"That much?"

"You work hard out there."

"Remember to listen to Brother Zhou!"

The moment the money was in hand, whether it was the young people working away from home or the elders back home who had been worrying endlessly, their hearts finally settled completely.

That young man wasn't a liar.

He really was a good person.

"You must remember who found you this job. Make sure to buy something nice to thank him," the parents lectured earnestly, passing down their life experiences.

"Mm-hmm, I know, Dad!"

As for the temporary workers who had received their money, they also felt that since they had earned such a hefty wage, they truly ought to show some appreciation to Zhou Ziyang.

In response, Zhou Ziyang gained even more supporters.

After the college entrance examination ended, these kids took a day off to go home, where they still gathered with friends for wild feasts and drinking.

Compared to their classmates who had just finished the exams, they had already secured their first substantial paycheck. They looked toward the future with much more hope than those youths who had failed the exams and felt completely lost.

"Why go to college? I'm making five or six thousand a month right now!"

"Exactly, even if you go to college, you only make three or four thousand a month. You might as well make more money while you're young."

"Hey, Brother Yang, is the Brother Zhou you told us about still hiring? Do you think I'd work out?"

Most young people from ordinary family backgrounds still hoped to earn some money before going to university, and they had tried looking for jobs online as well, except the jobs they found were either too far from home or looked entirely untrustworthy.

Compared to the jobs they had found, the one their friend was doing seemed much more suitable.

Thus, looking at this well-off friend who had dropped out of school early a few months ago, someone proactively handed over a cigarette and asked cautiously in a hushed tone.

And the 'friend' seemed to thoroughly enjoy this kind of treatment. After being served a lit cigarette, he let out a long puff of smoke and said, "Sigh, Brother Zhou isn't lacking people right now, but seeing as you're my friend, I'll ask around for you."

"Right, right, thank you, Brother Yang."

"Brother Yang, should we go buy Brother Zhou a couple of packs of good cigarettes? Does Brother Zhou drink alcohol?"

These students, who had never worked before, didn't know the hardships of the factory, but having heard from classmates that they could make 6,000 a month, they felt it was only proper to spend a few hundred yuan to show their gratitude.

"Sigh, don't go rushing to suck up to Brother Zhou just yet, it's not set in stone. I can only say I'll help you ask, but whether it actually works out or not, I have no idea."

And so, in one way or another, they all had people around them eager to seize the gap right after the college entrance exams to find a job.

According to Li Dongfeng, there were quite a lot of people.

Zhou Ziyang asked how many.

"Probably over three hundred!" Li Dongfeng grinned.

"That many?"

"Of course! The college entrance exams are over now, and everyone wants to find a job. There are even people from out of town!" Li Dongfeng said.

"Out of town?"

Li Dongfeng meant that everyone had friends and relatives living elsewhere, and upon hearing about a good job, they all swarmed over.

"Brother Zhou, if you think there are too many people, I can turn a few away. But I do have a few folks here who are close friends of mine—can you help me arrange positions for them?" Li Dongfeng asked with a somewhat embarrassed smile.

Zhou Ziyang replied, "I can only help you ask around."

"Mm-hmm! (Grinning)" That left Li Dongfeng completely happy.

At that moment, Zhou Ziyang was still having dinner. The table was filled with uncles and elder relatives who all beamed at Zhou Ziyang with smiles. Zhou Ziyang's extended family was doing quite well; they either served as section chiefs in small government units or ran their own businesses.

One uncle, worth tens of millions and working in Nanjing, was thrilled to hear that Zhou Ziyang had been admitted to Nanjing University. He had made a special trip back from Nanjing and even said that Zhou Ziyang could look him up if he ever needed anything in Nanjing.

Zhou Ziyang never took the words spoken by elders at the dining table to heart, but basic politeness was still required. He nodded, exchanged a few polite pleasantries, and then, under his father's instruction, raised his glass to make a toast.

In doing so, he won the praise of all the elders at the table, who remarked that Ziyang had truly grown up.

"He's a handsome young man, and so well-mannered."

After finishing the toasts, Zhou Ziyang told his father he needed to use the restroom and left the table early.

As Zhou Ziyang walked out, he happened to pass by Xia Wei's table.

Xia Wei turned her head and locked eyes with Zhou Ziyang for a second. Neither of them said anything.

Xia Wei didn't know what her feelings were at that moment. Just then, Xu Qing, sitting right beside Xia Wei, seized the opportunity and quickly said, "Wei Wei, come on, let's go over to your Uncle Zhou's table. You should go toast your uncles and elders."

The money for Xia Wei's graduation banquet had been paid for by Zhou Guowei, but the two families had invited their own respective relatives. Naturally, women like them couldn't sit at Zhou Ziyang's table.

Xu Qing had been watching the movements at that table the entire time, and it wasn't until Zhou Ziyang left that they finally had a chance to go over and make a toast.