Chapter 769: Chapter 769: Battle of Wits
"How is it? Not good. I don’t know where you got your conclusions from, I just find it funny. Saying that I’m at fault in this matter, what exactly is my fault? Do I really need to remind you about these common sense issues? Are you children? Or are you actually my children? I’m begging you to have some dignity." Xu Ke said seriously.
"Also, who says that just because you apologize I must accept it? Moreover, was what you just did even an apology? That was clearly a threat." Xu Ke sneered, looking at those who stubbornly refused to leave, speaking with a mocking smile.
"Each of you, I advise you not to harbor any bad intentions, or else I won’t spare any decency or mercy. You must understand, the reason you’re still standing here and not taken away by the police or in court, entering prison, is due to my kindness. Otherwise, just being absent without reason causing losses to the factory is already enough to give you a real headache, believe it or not." Xu Ke took off his glasses, staring sharply at everyone as he spoke.
"While my temper is still good, it’s best you leave immediately, don’t force my hand." Xu Ke said, looking at the people in front of him.
Were they afraid of Xu Ke’s words? In their hearts they were afraid, but this fear meant nothing in the face of interests. None of them retreated.
"I’ve been here for so long, I’ve developed feelings for this place, and we only did this wrong thing because of others’ instigation, we realize our mistakes now, what more do you want? Must you push all of us old employees to death before you’d allow us back to our positions?"
"I have three kids to feed at home, last week’s pay hasn’t been given to me. I can’t lose this job; if you’re determined to fire us, you’re pushing me to a dead end, you’re committing murder."
"Exactly, if you fire us and don’t give us work, you’re making it impossible for us to survive, that’s murder."
"We want work, we want our salary."
"We want work, we want our salary!"
It’s unclear who started shouting, but soon everyone joined in, raising their hands high, looking at Xu Ke with fierce momentum, as if the next moment, if Xu Ke doesn’t agree, they would pounce and tear him apart like they’ve wanted to do to Qiao En.
"You want work? You want salary?" Xu Ke held his glasses, his smile seemed somewhat cold.
In the next moment, Xu Ke pulled out a handgun from inside his coat and fired two shots at the toes of the person standing at the front.
The crowd that was clamoring just now suddenly fell silent, they looked at Xu Ke in shock, unable to believe Xu Ke had done such a thing. The man who was directly targeted by Xu Ke almost fell to the ground as his knees went weak, with the ground pierced by bullets just a centimeter from his toes.
"Your demands, in my view, are extremely unreasonable, so I won’t satisfy a single one of them. Your little salary isn’t even enough to cover the factory’s losses in these few days, yet you still want more? Where do you get the nerve to make such demands? Protest here if you want, but no one can cross where the bullet holes are. Whoever crosses those bullet holes might end up with two more bullet holes themselves. My newly hired guards’ aim might not be very accurate, so life and death is by fate. Anyone not afraid of dying can try crossing." Xu Ke said, looking at the crowd before him with a half-smile.
"Manager."
Perhaps their gaze was too terrifying, the youngest guard couldn’t help but take half a step back, showing a pleading expression to Xu Ke.
"Don’t be afraid, I bought plenty of ammunition, you can shoot as much as you like." Xu Ke walked over, patted the other’s back, and said gently.
"That’s not what I meant, they look so terrifying, I’m a little scared." The young guard’s expression seemed as though he was about to cry.
"Relax, it’s fine."
The situation had reached this point, and it was too late for the guard to back out even if he wanted to. Xu Ke wouldn’t let him leave easily, and this was a confrontational standstill. If he let the guard leave, other guards might follow suit, rendering Xu Ke hiring so many guards pointless.
The guard listened to Xu Ke’s words and knew he no longer had the chance to leave. He could only nod in agreement, blinking back tears that were about to fall.
"But if you just fire us like this, what are we supposed to do? How are we supposed to live?"
Xu Ke’s strong stance caused these people’s attitudes to soften quite a bit. People are like this: when you advance, I retreat; when you retreat, I advance. If Xu Ke had shown weakness, these people would have pushed further. But now, despite the unrest in their hearts, they had temporarily calmed down due to Xu Ke’s attitude and the gun in his hand.
"I thought when you decided to skip work, you’d already planned your way out. You’re all adults, not children. You should think beforehand about the consequences of your actions. Now that there’s a problem, who is to blame when you find you can’t resolve it? Is it my fault? Who am I to you? Why should I pay for your mistakes?" Xu Ke left them speechless.
What Xu Ke said made sense, but what good is reason when all they want is money, not logic?
They knew their actions were wrong, but they couldn’t care less now. Their only thought was to regain their jobs and money.
"This matter is indeed our fault, but we’ve already apologized and realized our mistakes. What more do you want? What else do you expect us to do?"
"We’ve worked in this factory for so long, everyone’s got feelings for it, we’re very familiar with it. The work content and process are very familiar to us. But can the new hires do what we can do? Do they also have feelings for this factory?"
Listening to them speak one after another, Xu Ke was really infuriated by their lack of clear self-awareness, but he held back, not interrupting them. Until they’d said everything they wanted to say, and for the moment had run out of things to say, Xu Ke then applauded their impressive speech with a clap.
"I originally thought you all were just foolish, but today I realize not only are you foolish, you are also shameless. You say you have feelings for this factory, what kind of feelings? The feelings of chatting, playing cards, and gathering? I vividly remember when I first came here, this huge factory was like a grand recreation area. The factory paid you daily on time, but you people had no intention of working timely."
"I don’t know how you all were initially recruited into this place, nor how your work attitude managed to sustain you here in the factory. But I know there’s no room for sand in my eyes, I can’t stand your idle behavior, and I don’t need employees like you under me. Although the new workers aren’t very familiar with the factory’s work yet, they have the advantage of serious attitudes and good characters. That’s why I’m willing to give them a chance to grow, but I won’t give you a chance to come back."
Xu Ke seemed completely unafraid of provoking these people further, loudly expressing his dissatisfaction, disdain, and ironic criticism towards their shamelessness.
Xu Ke’s words made many people’s faces turn red, even lowering their heads, not daring to meet Xu Ke’s eyes.