Chapter 1369: Daily Life

"Did you hire people to stir up the hype?"

Wei Lan scrolled through her phone, which was filled with news about Long Teng: various experiences with the Dragon Eye, educational content for the blind, the upcoming relocation of Long Teng, and the various subsidies the company was providing to its employees.

"No."

Wang Yan sat on the sofa, watching the two energetic children crawling all over the floor. "Long Teng naturally generates topics. This relocation news is significant, and the various subsidies we're giving employees make others envious. When employees start posting about it one after another, the concentrated bombardment inevitably causes the hype to explode."

"But it's too hot. It's just a relocation, yet it's been this lively for a week, and the hype still hasn't died down."

"Isn't that because various bloggers need to investigate and analyze, and idle reporters need to interview and report? Everyone needs to eat; it won't settle down for half a month."

The hype around Long Teng's headquarters was already high. Many villagers, and even people who traveled from afar, livestreamed the construction site all day long. Whenever there was a slight movement at Long Teng, their livestream viewership would surge to several thousand or even tens of thousands. Even during quiet, routine times, there were still a hundred or so viewers. Watching engineering construction is quite stress-relieving.

The hills surrounding the Long Teng construction site were completely occupied by livestreamers. It was said that fights broke out daily over good spots. Some people even took twenty-four-hour shifts to hold their positions, fearing someone else would snatch them away.

The main reason was that Long Teng's headquarters boasted many world-first achievements.

It had the world's largest land area and the world's highest construction cost, a super-project worth over two trillion. Meanwhile, the architectural styles published online blended ancient and modern, combining Chinese and Western elements in diverse ways.

Apart from the ancient-style buildings designed by Wang Yan, all other modern structures were handled by renowned designers. Working alongside urban planners, they ensured the overall aesthetic was harmonious and unified.

Finance, architecture, art, and technology bloggers interpreted it from every angle, drawing attention both domestically and internationally.

Wei Lan was not unaware of Long Teng's immense influence; she just couldn't understand how mere news of a relocation could sustain such long-lasting hype. Were people really this idle?

She shook her head. "I don't get it."

"Anything related to Long Teng generates hype; that's just how it is."

"Look, some employees have already gone to the construction site to check out their houses, livestreaming while arranging furniture. We should also look at our home furniture." Wei Lan changed the subject. "The designer sent over the list; take a look and see if we need to add anything."

Hearing this, Wang Yan picked up the tablet beside him. Looking at the VR real-scene images Wei Lan had sent, he saw the house was already fully renovated. It had undergone formaldehyde removal procedures and been left to air out for a while. Next, once the soft furnishings arrived, further formaldehyde removal and other procedures would be conducted.

Thanks to Long Teng's smart home business, the company maintained deep cooperative relationships with various home decoration, appliance, and furniture manufacturers. All adhered to Long Teng standards, resulting in excellent collaboration.

This large-scale procurement of home decorations, appliances, and furniture for Long Teng was all sourced from these companies.

It was true that Long Teng's employees were wealthy, and it was true that Long Teng itself was rich. It was also true that Long Teng provided subsidies for employee home decorations, appliances, and furniture. However, not every employee could afford Long Teng's own smart systems or high-end home decorations and furniture; they were simply too expensive.

Long Teng's expensiveness was equal. It did not change whether one was an employee or received subsidies.

Furthermore, Long Teng's high salaries were not absurdly high. An administrative position that originally paid five thousand monthly wouldn't suddenly earn fifty thousand just because it was at Long Teng. Wang Yan treated his employees well, but he wasn't throwing money around recklessly.

Previously, the post-tax salary was five thousand; at Long Teng, it was between sixty-five hundred and seven thousand, which was about right. Generally, salaries for equivalent positions at Long Teng were ten to fifty percent higher than market rates. That forty percent fluctuation depended on individual capability and corresponding professional growth.

Of course, this applied only to the vast majority of employees; talents were in a different category altogether, a matter of another dimension.

What made Long Teng popular were its benefits. The administrative department had a dedicated Group Welfare Department. It handled the overall scheduling of working hours, distinguished benefits for working at the office versus working from home, implemented various subsidies, and managed social security, insurance, maternity, and other related affairs.

Taking the simplest matter of eating: within Long Teng's internal office software, the Welfare Department had partnered restaurants. Employees could order whatever they wanted to eat, and could even reserve meals for the entire upcoming month, though this option was issued only when there was a need for overtime. Generally, people only ordered lunch. Flexible and relaxed working hours meant breakfast was not very popular.

The partner restaurants were not mere takeout joints but established, somewhat famous establishments that administrative staff had inspected to ensure cleanliness, hygiene, nutrition, and health. The delivery personnel were part-timers hired directly by the group. The group had purchased many vans; whenever needed, these drivers would deliver the meals.

This was an alternative implemented since the group did not have its own canteen. In any case, employees paid nothing. The cost of one lunch, averaged out per employee, amounted to over a thousand yuan; the dining benefit was very generous.

There were also housing subsidies, with amounts determined by rank. The minimum was one thousand yuan per month, while the maximum was no more than five thousand yuan. Without special requests, the money was directly deposited into salary cards each month. Those renting used it for rent; those who had bought homes used it for mortgage payments.

There was also a special situation: a considerable portion of employees worked while traveling. This subsidy solved some of their problems regarding accommodation rent. If conditions allowed, no one wanted to live in a vehicle constantly; even an RV wasn't ideal.

Statistics showed that a significant portion of Long Teng employees who traveled adopted a nomadic living style. They would stay in certain cities for one or two months before migrating elsewhere. One month they might be by the seaside, the next in the desert; their lives were truly like an open wilderness.

Powerful infrastructure capabilities ensured the continuity of network information. Since they did not participate in high-level classified work and faced no intense supervision, they enjoyed genuine freedom.

At the same time, their room for advancement was vast; as their skills improved and their contributions grew, they naturally upgraded.

However, most of these people chose to upgrade only their rank without adjusting their job title. This was because upon reaching a certain level or position, one was required to work onsite rather than from home. Clearly, more people preferred this nomadic lifestyle, free as the wind.

Those able to work from home mostly held technical positions. Their salaries were generally not low, averaging around twenty thousand yuan post-tax. Adding housing subsidies, dining subsidies, and various other allowances, they had no worries about food, drink, and entertainment. Their daily workload was not saturated, making them very happy.

A considerable portion of them simultaneously worked part-time as self-media bloggers. Leveraging Long Teng's hype, they performed quite well. The best few had even amassed several million followers; the income from self-media advertisements exceeded the combined value of their benefits and salary at Long Teng.

Yet not a single one resigned.

Since its founding, Long Teng had only dismissed employees for various reasons; not one had voluntarily resigned.

This was a powerful guarantee.

Long Teng possessed various powerful biological and life science research laboratories, having assembled a luxurious team of Chinese and Western medicine experts. It had a formidable legal department, abundant resources of all kinds, and political resources that reached the very top.

Long Teng's care for its employees was not just talk. Taking the simplest aspect, healthcare: Long Teng's concern for its staff was exceptionally high, essentially providing free medical care. Social security covered part of the costs, and the group subsidized the remainder.

The group had grown to over twenty thousand people. With two annual health check-ups, some employees were diagnosed with terminal illnesses. They entered relevant Long Teng laboratory research projects, spending not a penny, and could even earn money to leave for their families.

As for employees' families, the group also provided corresponding benefits. After medical insurance reimbursement, if an employee still could not bear the costs and faced poverty due to illness, the group would offer considerable support, striving to cure the disease to the maximum extent possible. If a cure was impossible, they ensured the person passed away with dignity.

Then there was the recently most hyped Dragon Eye. The first batch of experimental subjects were all blind employees of the group. Their equipment cost them nothing, and they even earned money during the experimental period. Furthermore, in the future, for iterative product experiments of the Dragon Eye, they would all be the first batch of experiencers and the first batch of installers, completely free of charge!

Additionally, there was the legal team. Group employees could apply for legal consultation and assistance. In the short history since the Legal Department's establishment, the powerful Long Teng Legal Department had fought several hundred lawsuits on behalf of employees. The cases covered many types, including divorce and asset division, financial traps, family inheritance disputes, unfinished building conflicts, and being framed after helping an elderly person who had fallen.

Of course, all cases had to be positive and proactive; the employee had to be in the right. Those caught soliciting prostitutes or gamblers who lost their shirts and borrowed money from colleagues were all dealt with severely. After all, Long Teng had not only a Legal Department but also a Party Committee and a Trade Union. Those whose actions did not align with core values naturally would not receive Long Teng's help.

Overall, these systems were similar to those of Jin Ling in the Great Rivers.

Basically, it was Wang Yan's consistent policy: taking care of everything for a lifetime.

There was even an internal matchmaking service. At Long Teng, there were no men who couldn't afford to marry, and no women who dared to demand excessive bride prices. Marriage within Long Teng, to a certain extent, touched upon revolutionary concepts.

After all, the nature of the Long Teng Group was different, the work it did was different, and the responsibilities it bore were also different...

Wang Yan reviewed the various furniture brands selected by the designer, nodded, and said, "This is fine. Also, ask them to build a tool room in the garage. When the children grow up, we can take them there to do crafts and cultivate their hands-on abilities."

"Okay." Wei Lan agreed, then asked, "What about our parents? Are there any special arrangements?"

"No special arrangements for my parents. You can ask about yours."

"They don't have any either. They come here to stay only a few times a year; they aren't particular about such things."

The houses were adjacent. Wang Yan and Wei Lan's family lived in the middle, with both sets of parents living on either side. The decoration styles were largely similar, and various items were directly transferred. All expenses went through the company account, technically constituting the private use of public funds.

After all, he did not hold one hundred percent of the shares; thirty percent was state-owned capital.

However, no one would say anything about these issues. Compared to how other businessmen at his level lived and how they siphoned off funds—matters clear to anyone who had reached a certain tier—Wang Yan and Wei Lan, given their status and importance, truly lived like ascetics, drawing annual salaries of merely ten or eight million.

In fact, both Wang Yan and Wei Lan had moved beyond vulgar tastes. In the past, Wei Lan might have purchased some luxury brands or high-end custom items, but now she wore clothing and shoes produced by Sun Yi's factory.

Sun Yi's side was constantly expanding its product categories, offering everything from clothes to shoes and hats. She knew Wang Yan and Wei Lan's body measurements, and whenever there was a new design, she would make a set for each of them.

It could be considered custom-made; the materials were the best, different from mass-produced items, and very comfortable to wear.

This was, of course, a different kind of luxury.

Yet Wang Yan remained very low-key; after Sun Yi gave him that first set, he hadn't asked for more, barely wore them at all, and stuck to the group's work uniforms instead—short sleeves and shorts at home, plus a few tracksuits, nothing more.

The online buzz surrounding Long Teng continued for over half a month; matters related to employees relocating were mostly settled, though quite a few staff still purchased cars due to the incomplete public transportation system.

Wang Yan, however, issued an announcement stating that once their own vehicles were produced, no other cars would be permitted on roads within the future Long Teng District, as they intended to implement a fully intelligent transportation system where smart buses, ride-hailing services, and subway networks interwove to pick people up right at their doorsteps, leaving private cars with no purpose and even disrupting overall dispatch efficiency.

Even so, wealthy employees still bought cars, a matter over which Wang Yan had no control.

On this day, June sixteenth, Wang Yan sat at home watching an online livestream—the official broadcast of Long Teng Group.

"Dear viewers, what you are seeing now is the launch site of the Long Teng–Longxun No. 1 satellite; the Longxun No. 1 satellite was jointly developed by Long Teng Aerospace and our nation's aerospace 【authorities】..., integrating the world's most advanced communication and observation technologies, along with... lenses co-developed with Long Teng Imaging, capable of ultra-high-definition ground observation.

Henceforth, the Longxun No. 1 satellite will serve Long Teng Headquarters' smart city initiative; this launch mission is being carried out by our nation's... using a Long March...

Here, I once again report to our viewers Long Teng Group's vision: to dive into the seas and soar into the sky, conquering the stars and the vast ocean; next, we will also research new types of rockets, spacecraft, and various other satellites for different purposes..."

"Very well, dear viewers, on-site preparations are complete; let us now connect with our reporter at the front to observe the latest developments..."

Wei Lan was watching too and remarked with emotion, "So fast; in the blink of an eye, our satellite is already in the sky. What is the next launch mission?"

"There will be another in a few days; launching satellites will become routine thereafter—we must either circle the entire Earth with them or at least cover every inch of our own map."

"Aren't you also researching rockets? Any results yet?"

"Of course there are; by year's end we'll be able to launch two to test their quality."

"Ah, I just remembered—what about the cars?"

"The prototype vehicle has been built; generally speaking, car manufacturing isn't difficult for us, especially since we're producing electric vehicles—the main challenges lie in battery technology and software; software is our forte, with intelligence levels far ahead of the competition, while battery research is ongoing and should yield some results by next year."

"How is construction of the super factory over there progressing?"

"By the time we move over, it should basically be completed; then we can commence trial production for testing, with mass production starting next year, just in time to utilize the newly breakthrough battery technology."

Wei Lan nodded, then straightened her posture: "It's launching, it's launching!"

Watching the rocket ignite and ascend, she said, "If it were our own rocket, we could be there watching in person."

"Great; we'll go see it at year's end—mark it on your calendar and don't forget."

And so, a month passed uneventfully until the timely arrival of the "living father" of his beloved "great son."

"\"Ever Young, \" Xiao Qianxi: Alive!"

(End of Chapter)