A week later, at 8:57 am, Yang Ruoqian and Chang Zhiqing arrived at the company as usual.
"Mr. Yang!"
"Good morning, Mr. Yang."
"Good morning, Ms. Chang!"
The most eager greeting came from the newly hired Shao I-qi.
Even though Yang Ruoqian made an exception by hiring this unstable element into the company to keep an eye on him, there were still basic ground rules. The two most important being that he must follow the leadership's arrangements and not reveal to the company the extent of their closeness.
Yang Ruoqian nodded at the employees.
Everyone seems very enthusiastic about their work, which is good...
Wait, that's not right!
If you all work this hard, wouldn't I lose even the small savings I have left?
"What time do you all come to work?" Yang Ruoqian asked after realizing the implications.
Shao I-qi quickly replied, "I arrived at 8:40 am!"
"8:35."
"8:50."
The employees eagerly reported their clock-in times, trying to show their dedication in front of the boss.
You all come this early?!
Is this even sustainable?!
Using elementary math, if one person comes 10 minutes early, ten people would be equivalent to coming 100 minutes early. If this happens every day, wouldn't that mean an extra 3000 minutes of work time in a month?
Such overzealous work ethic needs to be curbed.
Yang Ruoqian's tone became serious: "From now on, no one should arrive at the company earlier than 8:55 am."
All employees nodded subconsciously.
Given the high salary, it's reasonable to expect punctuality.
Wait...
What did the boss just say?
Not earlier than 8:55?
Before the employees could process this, Yang Ruoqian continued, "Our health is vital. Coming to the company a minute early means you lose a minute of sleep at home. Do you think this can improve work efficiency? No. Security, from now on, don't allow anyone to enter the company before 8:55 am."
"I'll reiterate, at Xplendi Group, we don't encourage coming early or leaving late. You've managed not to leave late, which is good. I hope in the future, you all try not to come early."
"As long as there's a valid reason, the company allows up to 2 hours late for work or leaving 2 hours early."
Having said that, Yang Ruoqian confidently walked into his office, leaving behind a group of puzzled employees.
At first glance, Mr. Yang's words might seem outrageous. But thinking more deeply, they might even seem more so.
It's as perplexing as saying, "If you don't eat enough, how can you have the energy to lose weight?"
And allowing a 2-hour margin for coming late or leaving early? That's hilarious.
The company claims to have an 8-hour workday, from 9 am to 5 pm, but everyone knows that this includes the 12 pm to 2 pm lunch break.
So, the actual work time is just six hours.
Mr. Yang just said employees can be 2 hours late or leave 2 hours early.
Doesn't that mean there's only one hour of work in the morning and one in the afternoon?
What can you even accomplish in such a short time? It would go by in a blink.
But... these words came from Mr. Yang. With his capability to operate two profit-generating streamers in a month, his words must hold some merit, right?
The employees watched their confident boss walk away, and began to question their previous understanding of work.
Perhaps, just maybe, working only 2 hours a day can indeed improve efficiency?
...
Inside his office, Yang Ruoqian opened his system panel, silently staring at the data for Gao Naiyun and Huang Rushi.
[Gao Naiyun (Streamer), Real Fan Count: 428,712. Status: Newcomer (Bonus: 50,000).]
[Huang Rushi (Streamer), Real Fan Count: 887,643. Status: Rising Star (Bonus: 5,000).]
The data looks promising. Even though it doesn't indicate a sudden fortune, a bonus of 55,000 every month ensures a decent lifestyle.
However, on a closer look at the real fan count, it's evident that Yang Ruoqian's income is on thin ice.
Gao Naiyun is just over 70,000 fans away from reaching the next level, which would decrease Yang Ruoqian's income from 50,000 to a mere 5,000. Huang Rushi's fanbase is growing even more rapidly. If this continues, the system's monthly bonus might plummet to a meager 500.
In total, that's just 5,500 in revenue – a figure that would be laughable in the rebirth community.
"This won't do. If this continues, I'll starve next month," a rare sense of urgency arises in Yang Ruoqian's heart. "The system states that I can only recruit one streamer per month, meaning my chance for a turnaround is only next month."
The search for a new streamer is of utmost priority.
But what about this month?
He can't possibly survive on just 5,500, right?
He must find a way to curb the rise in their fanbases within the month!
What's a valid and reasonable excuse to halt an employee's work?
"Paid leave?" Yang Ruoqian pondered. "But an unexplained paid leave seems too contrived... I need a reason."
What excuse could justify granting employees a paid leave?
An idea suddenly popped into Yang Ruoqian's mind.
"A company-sponsored trip... No, team-building!"
By organizing a team-building trip under the guise of learning and exchanging ideas, he can convert precious time meant for gaining followers into unproductive hours.
Preparations for the trip, like packing and planning, would take time. That time can be given to the employees as paid leave.
With this strategy, he can waste at least a week of work time!
Yang Ruoqian immediately called Chang Zhiqing into his office: "Chang Zhiqing, come to my office. There's something important."
Both of them had silently agreed not to mention the "drunken" incident from a week ago. While Yang Ruoqian was playing the long game, Chang Zhiqing pretended to have forgotten the incident due to the alcohol.
In the privacy of their room, Chang Zhiqing was more relaxed: "What's up, boss?"
"I believe that for a company to prosper, working in isolation isn't effective," Yang Ruoqian began. "So, I'm planning a company trip to learn from successful businesses elsewhere. Where do you think we should go?"