Chapter 16: What Exactly Counts as Studying!

Looking at Director Wang, who was trying to persuade him, and that plain-looking old Employee, Zhou Yi suddenly stopped feeling angry.

Really, he felt that there was absolutely no need for him to be angry!

He was just a wage earner, working when on the clock, sleeping when off, just earning that paycheck.

Aren't there a few sayings that put it well? A monthly salary of 100,000, and the Company is my father and mother, I live and die with the Company; a monthly salary of 50,000, and the formaldehyde in the office can make me obsessed, 996 is as natural as breathing; a monthly salary of 20,000, and whatever the boss says is right, and if there's a mistake, it must be mine; a monthly salary of 10,000, and the boss says something a bit off, but I don't say a word.

A monthly salary of 2,000, and I am your father!

So, he didn't need to be angry at all; if he ruined his health from anger, he would have to pay for the medical treatment himself.

Therefore, under the gazes of Director Wang and the plain-looking old Employee, Zhou Yi, who had been like a volcanic eruption before him, suddenly calmed down.

A hint of happiness already appeared on Director Wang's face: "Isn't that right, Little Zhou? We old folks wouldn't lie to you. We've lived half our lives; what haven't we seen?"

"Right now, I'm advising you not to fix your eyes on money, advising you to study hard—that's all for your own good. Really, this is advice born of experience. If you were outside, I wouldn't even bother talking to those ordinary people."

"So you need to..."

While Director Wang was saying these things, Zhou Yi kept looking at the other party, the expression on his face very calm, waiting until Director Wang had spoken for a long time and stopped, only then saying: "Are you finished, Director Wang?"

Ah, this... the other party's reaction seemed a bit different from what he had imagined.

In Director Wang's imagination, as he educated the young man with such earnest, heartfelt words, the young man would at least be very grateful to him, especially a young man like this who had only graduated a year ago.

Don't look at these young people as having been to university; in fact, regardless of their character or anything else, they are very immature. If the old seniors put on a look of concern, it is very easy to make them grateful.

In the past, many young people in the Company had been educated by him, working hard, studying hard, and there wasn't a single problem.

As a result, now, this kid seemed a bit off...

With confusion in his mind, Director Wang still nodded.

Zhou Yi spoke up: "Director Wang, actually, what you said is very right. We young people have just come out of university, and indeed we cannot always fix our eyes on money; we must study hard..."

Upon hearing this, Director Wang nodded with satisfaction; young people are young people after all.

However, Zhou Yi changed the subject: "But Director Wang, could it be that only working for the Company for free during off-hours counts as studying?"

As he spoke, Zhou Yi picked up the task sheet on the table and said: "Things like this, work that has absolutely no technical content and only requires physical labor—I don't believe it will be of much help to my studies!"

"Moreover, I'm off the clock. In my spare time, I study hard, take some impressive certification exams, and do some impressive side jobs—doesn't that count as studying?"

"Or if I want to recharge my batteries during off-hours and study for a postgraduate degree, isn't that studying? Doesn't that help my future?"

"Director Wang, I suspect you are using a logical fallacy. You have already conflated studying with working. I still have that same question: does only working at the Company count as studying?"

Zhou Yi did not yell or shout; he was very detached, and his voice was very calm, but the meaning in his words left Director Wang stunned where he stood.

That's right, there are many ways to study; why is it that only working at the Company counts as studying!

Furthermore, it was work like this that had absolutely no technical content.

Of course, Zhou Yi himself knew why the Company didn't care about their lives at all and only blindly exploited them; the reason was that these people of theirs truly had no skills.

This job, he, Zhou Yi, could do it. If he turned around and left, they could recruit someone else, and after training them for a month or two, they could do it too; the only difference was how fast they could get started.

But at the end of the day, this Company was actually just doing some downstream, low-tech work—it was just a labor factory.

But talk is talk; Director Wang was truly stuck now.

Not only was he stuck, but the other Employees in the office were also stunned.

The youngest among them was still a senior to Zhou Yi, having joined the Company before him, so naturally, they knew these "educational" words of Director Wang. And don't you know, there really were people who had been fooled by them.

In today's society, it seems that the so-called "internship" or "work experience" for university students has reached a point of obsession.

It is generally believed that university students are out of touch with reality, that they don't understand anything at all, and that they need to be well-tempered and need work experience.

This kind of thinking itself doesn't have any problems, because one of the big problems with university students is that they are out of touch and lack experience, but at the very least, you have to make this "internship" useful!

Medical students should go to hospitals for internships, law students should go to the Court or law firms for internships. You take people who write code and drag them into a factory—is that f***ing called an internship?

The majors aren't even the same, and they are forced in to "intern"—that's already not bad!

Zhou Yi even knew that for some vocational schools, they simply treated students as free labor!

Every year, a batch of graduates is the biggest source of free labor, directly stuffed into places like electronics factories to stand on assembly lines. And don't talk to them about money; sometimes you even have to pay them...

Because this is an "internship" opportunity they found for you!

It sounds particularly fantastical...

But now, these colleagues in the office all understood a little; this... seems to make sense!

If the major matches, or if one is definitely going to engage in this industry in the future, that's one thing. But if the major doesn't match and one is forced to stay to "study," one immediately feels that something is wrong.

Director Wang was stuck, but he soon said: "That's not it, Little Zhou, look at this..."

However, Zhou Yi was already too lazy to speak; he directly started packing his things, then stood up and walked away.

"Little Zhou, where are you going?" Director Wang was instantly dumbfounded; they were still talking about his business.

Zhou Yi said with a strange look: "I'm off the clock. Look at what time it is—it's past six-forty. I've wasted forty minutes here with you for no reason."

"But, but this task..." Director Wang said, looking at the task sheet on the table, but he didn't know what to say for a moment.

"Director Wang, are you unable to understand my words? I'm off the clock. See you tomorrow, everyone!"

After saying this, Zhou Yi pushed the door open and left, without a hint of hesitation.

Watching Zhou Yi leave, Director Wang's face had turned livid.

The other colleagues didn't dare to speak, but at this moment, their hearts were extremely conflicted. This was probably the first person in the Company to stand up and push back hard.

It's just a pity that they didn't dare to now; with old folks above and children below, how could they push back? If they were fired, they wouldn't be able to survive.

Director Wang scanned the room and then took out his phone: "Hello, Manager Wu, notify Zhou Yi and tell him to come back to work, otherwise, don't come in tomorrow!"

On the other side, Zhou Yi, who had walked out of the office building, walked with a spring in his step, feeling that he had said everything he had been holding back for a year today—it was so refreshing!

Of course, he knew very well that if he just left like this, the Company would definitely cause trouble, and it was even possible they would make him get out.

After all, Director Wang, strictly speaking, should be Wang Zong, who was also one of the Company's leaders.

Just as he was thinking this, his phone rang. There was a message. When he looked, it was the Company's HR Manager who had recruited him in the first place.

"Little Zhou, you'd better hurry back to work. How did you manage to piss off Director Wang? He said it himself: if you don't go back to work today, you don't have to come in tomorrow!"

Today's update is here, the first update; I know the update speed makes everyone unhappy... I will try my best to speed it up, there will be another chapter in a while.

(End of this chapter)