Chapter 61: This Boss Really Received the Notice!

At the Everyday Cold Skin Noodles shop.

Boss Yu, a rustic-looking entrepreneur, and Shen Rui were deep in conversation. Eating five-yuan cold skin noodles, they discussed projects worth hundreds of millions.

Shen Rui and this Boss Yu had actually only met a few days ago, but they had been sticking together throughout these past few days.

They had already had many similar conversations over the previous few days, so neither felt any awkwardness about the topics they were discussing.

Boss Yu wore a very serious expression:

"High salaries are only part of it; we also need to start from the perspective of employee well-being and health. The legal requirement is an eight-hour workday, which is just the baseline. I want to push it towards a seven-hour workday, and for roles that are especially exhausting, six hours! Even five hours is fine!"

Shen Rui said, "Then your labor costs will be much higher, your profits will be diluted, and the enterprise's ability to withstand risks will decrease."

"What profits do I want? Is the money earned and given to employees called a cost? Why is it called a profit when I make money, but a labor cost when the employees make money? With a scale of one billion a year, I won't easily go bankrupt."

"Besides, what is the best defense against risk? Solidarity is the best defense against risk! Cohesion is the best defense against risk!"

Zhai Da looked around...

Were there hidden cameras nearby or something?

One billion a year... even calculated at a 10% profit margin, that's one hundred million earned a year. In a small place like Dongyang County, even the richest person isn't worthy of carrying this guy's shoes.

If someone could make one hundred million a year and then say they wanted to distribute 90% of their income to the employees...

Isn't this purely science fiction? Not even Bureau 749 would dare shoot something like this!

Zhai Da stared at Boss Yu, trying to find a trace of hypocrisy and exaggeration, but saw only passion.

The schoolteacher, who should have been more "idealistic," was trying to persuade the other party to be more cautious.

While the boss, who should have been more "realistic," was talking passionately about ideals.

And all this in a cold skin noodles shop...

Gradually, looking at Boss Yu's features, Zhai Da found them somewhat familiar, though he couldn't quite be sure...

In truth, he was bound to have seen this person on short-form videos in his future life, but that would be Boss Yu more than a decade later, looking much older than he did now.

Their discussion continued, with Shen Rui saying, "Looking at the market as a whole, enterprises like this are exceedingly rare..."

Boss Yu shook his head: "Weren't several of the former state-owned factories you took me to along the way similar before their restructuring?"

"After the factory made money, apart from what went to the state, everything else was spent on the workers: building schools, building hospitals, providing for the elderly, constructing residential complexes... How many towns across our country developed just like this? Yes, they have all collapsed now, but because they collapsed, does it mean their distribution method was wrong?"

"They weren't wrong; they just lost. Besides, I didn't say I'd copy them wholesale; I'm going to do it according to my own ideas."

The cold skin noodles were served. Boss Yu mixed them up while saying, "I don't expect others to understand me either. Let me tell you, there might even be people cursing me for this! But as long as my own employees and my customers can understand me, who gives a damn about anyone else!"

Shen Rui suddenly said to Zhai Da, "Zhai Da, can you understand?"

Zhai Da was stunned. How did this fire manage to spread to him?

"Or let me put it another way. If one day you do business, start a company, and make money—lots and lots of money—would you be willing to distribute 90% of the company's income to ordinary employees?"

Zhai Da frowned for a moment.

Even though saying "yes" right now would better fit the atmosphere... and smoothly integrate him into this abstract topic.

Zhai Da still chose to speak the truth, expressing what he truly felt inside: "Probably not."

Perhaps feeling a bit ashamed, Zhai Da added, "I might offer compensation and benefits higher than market value, but talking about giving 90% away to others is a bit like fantasy."

"Then do you like an enterprise like this?"

"I guess I do... Who wouldn't?"

Shen Rui smiled: "You like an enterprise like this, yet you wouldn't do it yourself?"

Turning back to Boss Yu, he said, "See, this thing is hard, right? Even the younger generation with more open minds, just thinking about it, find it unreliable."

Boss Yu slurped a large mouthful of cold skin noodles: "It's fine. Once I pull it off, younger people will see it, and in the end, someone else will do it too."

"Besides, I didn't think this way since I was young. This kind of thinking only came after I turned forty and wasn't short on money."

Shen Rui commented, "That's actually even harder."

Zhai Da suddenly felt a sense of discomfort... the discomfort of a realist being dragged into a conversation between idealists.

Cold skin noodles are eaten quickly anyway. After a few remarks, they were finished, and the four of them walked outside together.

Pulling back the door curtain, Zhai Da realized that a Bentley Flying Spur was parked outside. He had seen it in his past life, though he ultimately ended up buying the slightly cheaper Maybach... which, of course, had completely nothing to do with the Maybach saleswoman trying harder.

To whom this car belonged was self-evident.

Boss Yu, the rustic entrepreneur, didn't have a driver. He walked over to the driver's seat himself and wanted to invite Shen Rui into the car, but Shen Rui said he had some things to discuss with his student and told Boss Yu to return to the hotel first.

Watching this absolute one-of-a-kind luxury car in Dongyang County drive away, Shen Rui suddenly asked, "Do you feel disappointed?"

Zhai Da withdrew his gaze: "What?"

"A guy who talks big about distributing 90% of his profits to employees is actually driving a luxury car like that?"

Zhai Da pondered for a moment: "Disappointed wouldn't be the word, it's just a bit of a contrast."

Shen Rui laughed heartily: "Well, if you knew he had served time in prison, the contrast would probably be even stronger..."

"A good person doesn't have to be a flawless person. If someone proclaims that a good person must be flawless and magnifies every tiny flaw they catch, chances are they are a petty villain."

"Facts have proven that even when wealth is distributed according to work, the boss can still make money."

Seeing the Bentley Flying Spur had proven that Boss Yu genuinely possessed the financial strength, and only then did he finally realize who this person was.

Yu Donglai.

A fat guy who ran supermarkets.

A boss who had received official notices.

Shen Rui turned around and said to Lu Wei, who had been out of it this whole time, "Can I borrow Zhai Da for a bit? We're going to my place. I'm leaving tomorrow, and I don't want to drag that matter out anymore."

Lu Wei looked at Zhai Da; clearly, she wouldn't make the decision on her own.

Zhai Da was also quite curious about the so-called "maternal grandfather's relic," so he told Lu Wei to hail a cab and go home first.

He himself pushed the Flying Pigeon bicycle and followed Teacher Shen Rui toward the latter's home.

Why didn't he let Lu Wei ride it back? It was very simple: because she didn't know how.

As for why he didn't give Shen Rui a ride on the back instead of walking and pushing it, that was also very simple: he was afraid of awkwardness.

What if the road was bumpy, and he was pinched around the belly by his ideological and political teacher? How embarrassing would that be?

"How did you and that Boss Yu meet?"

Shen Rui pushed up his glasses: "I originally wanted to introduce a client to the woolen textile mill, and the other party also gave my friend face by coming to inspect it in person. I naturally had to show my face as well. Later, as we chatted and hit it off, I took him around to a few places and shared some of my social science research findings from these past few years."

"As for now, we've agreed to go check out Xu City in Henan Province. I'm also very interested in his enterprise and plan to incorporate it into my research. The employee compensation in his company already far exceeds industry peers, but he plans to be even more radical."

Zhai Da nodded sincerely: "I feel like he can pull it off."

"I think so too."

Shen Rui's home was just two blocks away from the Hong旗 Shopping Mall, which was why he really frequented the "Everyday Cold Skin Noodles" shop so often.

Running into a teacher outside on a weekend and walking the same way felt quite novel. Pushing the bicycle while walking and chatting, Shen Rui even asked about things at school, since he hadn't been back for days.

Once he went to Xu City this time, who knew how long it would be before he returned.

As they walked, Shen Rui suddenly asked, "Are you and Lu Wei dating?"

Zhai Da gave a dry cough: "Not really."

"Oh, ordinary friends."

"Uh... that's definitely a bit higher-grade than ordinary."

Shen Rui wore an expression that said, "I understand you young people and your twists and turns." He had observed their state earlier, and as an amateur psychology enthusiast, it was easy for him to distinguish the bonds between them.

He could perceive things that the two of them might not even be aware of themselves.

Hesitating slightly, Shen Rui still decided to tell Zhai Da.

He was not a psychological counselor, and confidentiality was not his professional code of conduct.

He was simply a teacher; making sure every student lived well was his professional code of conduct.

At least at this moment, he believed that Zhai Da knowing certain information would be helpful to Lu Wei.

"You should have noticed as well that Lu Wei's personality differs from ordinary people in a certain way. She has previously undergone psychological counseling with me."

Zhai Da nodded. That was obvious.

"Zhai Da... have you ever heard of 'alexithymia'?"