Chapter 455 - 208: Inspiring Hearts

Chapter 455: Chapter 208: Inspiring Hearts

Li Haoran, the manager of the Inspection Department, rested with his eyes closed. He knew this was a thankless job that was bound to make him unpopular, but someone had to do it. He quickly stood up. "I will now announce the various violations investigated by the Inspection Department this year..."

The crowd’s joy was instantly dampened. They all sat up straight and listened to Li Haoran’s speech.

Time ticked by, minute by minute.

The heads of the many departments that were publicly criticized looked crestfallen.

Li Haoran spoke for over two full hours. By the time he was done, 27 people had been fired, and another 49 had their bonuses, performance pay, and dividends docked.

Among them were senior executives, mid-level managers, and a few rank-and-file employees.

Jiang Miao had no intention of showing mercy to those who were disciplined. ’If these bad apples aren’t dealt with, how can I face the employees who work so diligently?’

Dealing with these bad apples was a necessary part of the company’s internal cleansing process. If that process were to fail, the company would sooner or later be brought down by such parasites.

And Jiang Miao was extremely pleased with the results the Inspection Department presented today.

This was because more than half of the issues had been uncovered independently by the department itself, rather than relying on his appraisal panel. This proved the department now possessed considerable oversight and investigative capabilities, meaning he, the big boss, no longer had to personally monitor the situation all the time.

Having doled out both the carrot and the stick, Jiang Miao finally announced the end of the meeting, and everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Li Zixuan stopped him. "Boss, wait a second."

"Zixuan, what is it?"

Li Zixuan quickly explained, "Boss, how about we record a video wishing all the employees a Happy New Year? I’ve already recorded your speech announcing the dividends and year-end bonuses. I’ll have it edited and sent out to the company group chats to cheer everyone up."

"Sure," Jiang Miao said with a smile and a nod.

The video was recorded in no time.

Li Zixuan told his team to edit the video right away.

...

「Monan Branch.」

By now, the weather was freezing cold.

Several heavy snows had fallen over the Kerchin Desert that December.

In the dormitory buildings next to Tamin Chagan Base, all 1,800 units were now fully furnished. Though the furnishings were simple, the underfloor heating was already operational.

Many of the employees who remained on-site had brought their families over to avoid the Spring Festival travel rush.

In total, 1,109 employees were staying on at the Monan Branch, and 479 of them had chosen to bring their families to Tamin Chagan Base to spend the winter.

This caused the population at Tamin Chagan Base to increase rather than decrease, swelling from nearly two thousand people to over two thousand eight hundred.

Dormitory Area, Building A12, Unit 501.

A middle-aged woman was preparing vegetables, casually snapping the ends off pea shoots grown in a nearby greenhouse. "Honey," she asked, "are you really planning for us to settle down here?"

The middle-aged man, busy preparing sausage filling, let out a breath. "SIGH... The company’s just going to have more and more employees in Zhelimu City. We’re not like one of those mining operations that has to pack up and leave once the ore runs out."

"Mm," the middle-aged woman said, nodding slightly.

The couple had previously worked as drivers at a small iron mine. A few years ago, its iron ore deposits were completely exhausted. The owner who operated the mine couldn’t secure the rights to another one, so he had no choice but to lay off all the employees involved in the mining operation.

That’s how it always is with mining companies.

Many small cities that had once boomed because of their mineral resources quickly fell into decline after those resources were exhausted.

But an agricultural company was different.

As long as nothing unexpected happened, an agricultural company could operate in one area for the long term. That meant the jobs it offered would be very stable.

Some people love adventure, while others prefer stability.

"After you’ve worked for the company for a full year, you can apply to buy one of the apartments in the residential area. I’m planning to get a mortgage on one here."

"Then what about our house back home?"

"We’ll rent it out."

"What about An Qing’s schooling?" the woman asked, raising another concern.

"That shouldn’t be a problem. I heard from my supervisor that the company is going to build a school in Yangxumu Village next year. It’ll have a kindergarten, an elementary school, a middle school, and a vocational high school."

"For real?"

"It’s probably true. After all, the Monan Branch is only going to get more employees. If they don’t make proper arrangements for that many people, it won’t be good for stability."

"The company’s benefits are pretty good, like the old state-owned enterprises," the woman said as she finished trimming the pea shoots and began to wash them.

The man squeezed out another long link of sausage meat. "That’s exactly why I’m planning to settle down in Monan. A company this good is really hard to find these days, especially at our age."

SIZZLE...

The pea shoots and minced garlic hit the wok.

"That’s true. If they really build that school next year, let’s settle down here for good!"

DING!

A notification sounded from a WeChat group.

The man immediately stopped what he was doing, wiped his hands on a rag, and picked up his phone. He opened the WeChat group and watched for a moment.

The woman, having just finished stir-frying the pea shoots, heard the sound of a video playing from her husband’s phone. "What are you watching?"

"It’s a speech from the boss."

"What’s the boss saying?"

"He said we’re getting an extra two months’ salary as a year-end bonus, plus virtual dividends."

"We don’t have any shares, do we?"

"We haven’t even been here a full year, so of course not. But we still get the two months’ salary. Let me calculate..."

"What’s the point of calculating it now? You could just go ask the finance office, or just wait until payday. You’ll find out then, won’t you?"

"The finance office is swamped. Better not to add to the chaos."

The two went back to cooking.

Just as they finished preparing the meal, they called their son over to eat.