Chapter 5028: Advance on York, Advance (Sixty-Four)

The cultural and arts district of York City is concentrated in the metropolitan area. The streets here retain New York's refined bourgeois style while carrying a touch of Metropolis's languor. Summer is the most popular season for tourists; the most famous attraction here is the seaside boardwalk. Walking along the coastal promenade, the entire street is lined with restaurants and cafes. On sunny days, the sea surface beyond the glass shimmers with fragmented light.

Bruce and Selina walked into the shop hand in hand. Selina took off her sun hat, letting a head of black curly hair fall loose. She then removed the sunglasses tucked in her hair and accepted a wet wipe from Bruce to wipe away her sweat.

She was dressed coolly today: a floral strapless top with a sheer lace trim at the hem, and a pair of vintage wide-leg jeans pinned with various exaggerated cartoon patterns. To accentuate the retro style, she deliberately wore two huge, brightly colored earrings. These accessories didn't look jarring against her wheat-colored skin; they made her look vibrant and enthusiastic.

To match her style, Bruce wore an exceptionally loose short-sleeved shirt, his pants were also wide-legged and bunched at his feet, and he had a lei reminiscent of Elvis draped around his neck — clearly a souvenir just bought at the beach.

"A mojito, and an iced sweet orange sparkling water." Selina held the menu and looked at Bruce. "Want to order one for him?"

"Let him order when he gets here." Bruce also ordered a croissant.

After the drinks arrived, Selina fiddled with her straw listlessly. While looking at his phone, Bruce asked her, "What about that big gem you got last time? How come you're not wearing it?"

"It's that big, how would I wear it?" Selina shook her head. "Not all gems have to be made into jewelry; it's nice just to keep it at home and look at it."

"So that's the one you got from Loki. What did you trade him for it?" Bruce turned his head to look at her.

Selina tapped her temple with a smile: "Wits."

Bruce pulled her into his arms in one motion and kissed her cheek: "If you gave him some bad idea, and he causes trouble later, won't it come back to you?"

Selina rolled her eyes at him: "How are you any better? As Batman, shouldn't you be sternly reprimanding me for giving a villain advice?"

"If I reprimanded you, you wouldn't do it?" Bruce feigned surprise. "You forgot everything the moment you saw that big gem, right?"

Selina grinned like a cat that stole a fish. She reached out to adjust one earring, then said: "Bruce Wayne as Spider-Man? I think that's a good career path, better than Batman."

"Not necessarily. Batman lost his parents, while Spider-Man keeps losing." Bruce's hand paused, his tone somewhat low.

"At least he has superpowers." Selina propped her chin with her hand, looking at the seascape outside the window. "Actually, I sometimes envy superpowered people. If I could crawl up and down walls..."

"Then not a single piece of jewelry in Gotham would be safe."

"None are safe now either."

As the two spoke, the door was pushed open. Spider-Man walked in. He wore a white short-sleeved shirt, a bookbag slung over one shoulder, his black short hair a bit messy, and faint dark circles under his eyes.

"Here." Bruce waved him over.

Don't be fooled by their identical looks; because of the difference in age and temperament, they don't look that alike. Or rather, this Spider-Man is simply too callow — even college-era Bruce was far more mature than him.

Spider-Man walked over and sat down, setting his bag aside. The server handed him a menu; he glanced at it and randomly pointed to a name. Watching his movements, Bruce couldn't shake the feeling that, for some reason, he was already very far from Batman.

This Spider-Man carried a kind of green, youthful quality that Batman generally never had. Like that boy in a high school class who always keeps his head down, rarely looks anyone in the eye, and after school always walks out of the classroom and heads home alone.

But to say he's like Spider-Man isn't quite right either. Peter Parker is very lively; the comic book Peter isn't a bookworm. He's always smiling, sunny and talkative, loves cracking jokes, and is popular with girls. But this Spider-Man Bruce Wayne is instead more like the stereotypical bookworm who gets bullied.

Simply put, he lacks Batman's mature and deep aura, yet possesses Batman's melancholic temperament. He lacks Spider-Man's sunny cheer, yet shares the same callowness as a rookie Spider-Man — he looks like a melancholic youth.

"Where are you coming from?" Bruce asked.

"Wayne Enterprises." Spider-Man sighed. "I'm familiarizing myself with the business."

"How's the familiarization going?"

"Not well." Spider-Man took a sip of coffee. "Management and sales are all old hands; no one listens to me. Whatever I ask them, they give perfunctory answers, and I can't be bothered dealing with them either."

Bruce opened his mouth, as if momentarily unsure where to begin. This might be the curse of knowledge — when you're too smart, you can't imagine someone being utterly stumped by such a simple problem, so naturally you don't know how to teach them.

Facing this kind of problem, Bruce has many solutions, but they're limited by the hardware condition of brain folds. For instance, just by observing them for a while and exchanging a few words, Bruce could roughly judge what kind of people they are, what personalities they have, what weaknesses they'd have, who has a clear conscience and who feels guilty — and naturally formulate a response.

But if Spider-Man could observe these things in a short time, he wouldn't be unable to handle this bunch. Plus, he's young to begin with, and his face reads "easy to bully" — he has zero authority; he'd struggle to haggle at a wet market, let alone negotiate with elite graduates from top schools.

At this moment, Selina gave Bruce a "let me handle it" look. She placed both hands on the table and said to Spider-Man: "Then have you looked into what backgrounds these people have?"

"They're all Wayne Enterprises employees."

"I know, but employees differ from employees, right? Some have no ability, just seniority; some are highly capable but lack connections; some have connections but only know how to slack off; some work hard but don't understand office politics."

"I don't know." Spider-Man said. "I also noticed some of them don't get along, but I don't know what to do about it."

"You can divide them." Bruce spoke up. "Those with very deep seniority — you can't touch them. They know the company better than you; they can trip you up casually and you'll make a fool of yourself."

"Technical backbone staff need key attention, but you absolutely cannot promote them right out the gate. Good positions are limited; if you bring up this bunch with no connections, the ones with connections will definitely make trouble for them, and you'll end up putting them in an unjust position."

"You can't offend the ones with connections, or the decision-makers and shareholders will be displeased. But you can't let them occupy posts idly either, or work efficiency won't improve and the group will go under all the same."

"So isn't it that no one can be touched?" Spider-Man asked.

"That's where you're wrong. The most crucial key is the last type." Selina snapped her fingers. "Those with ability who are willing to work, but because their personalities are too upright, they don't know how to flatter and curry favor, have offended too many people, and ended up in a bad spot — they are the key to breaking the deadlock."

Spider-Man frowned slightly. Bruce continued: "These people often harbor a cynical mentality. They're unaware of their own personality issues, offend leaders at every turn, yet think it's the leaders who are narrow-minded and can't recognize talent."

"They're neither as slick as the old employees, nor do they hold the important status of technical backbone, much less have the hard connections of the connected ones. Among all employees, their situation is bound to be the worst. If you extend an olive branch at this time, empathize with their plight, they'll feel you're worth their loyalty."

"Of course, these people have low EQ and are difficult to get along with, but that's precisely what can be exploited..."

Spider-Man leaned forward more and more, as if waiting for Bruce to say how to exploit them. But Bruce stopped and looked at Spider-Man: "How do you think they should be exploited?"

Spider-Man sighed. If he knew, he wouldn't be unable to handle it. Still, he's good at thinking; he thought for a moment and said: "I think we can have them work with the old employees. Old employees are slicker in handling affairs, while these people have ability — the two complement each other."

Bruce also sighed: "You still don't get it. Improving work efficiency is your long-term goal, but what's most important right now is making this group listen to you. Understand?"

Selina gave Bruce another look and said: "No need to be so pedantic now. Put simply, you've got to find a way to make them fall apart and have fire under their asses, make it so they can't do anything without you. For that, you can't let them complement each other — you have to make them mutually exclusive."

Spider-Man frowned. He said: "That doesn't seem right?"

"Good people can't be bosses." Bruce was a bit helpless.

"Then what do you say I do." Spider-Man was a bit discouraged.

"You put this bunch and those connected ones together." Selina tapped the table with her fingertip. "One has low EQ, one has a bad temper — how could they not fight?"

Bruce nodded: "Those people already don't know how to flatter, while the connected ones have hard backgrounds and have always had smooth sailing. Running into these stubborn mules, they're bound to be unable to take it."

"But what good does it do me if they fight each other?"

"Some of the connected ones will leave by pulling strings because they can't stand working with this group. The ones who stubbornly stay will choose to fight these people to the end. There's an obvious benefit: both sides' energy gets tied up, which keeps them from focusing on work."

"At that point, if there's a good project, you can boldly throw it to the technical backbone to handle, let them shoulder the heavy lifting, while marginalizing the remaining three types entirely."

Spider-Man suddenly understood. Selina added: "Treating the technical backbone as confidants makes it easier to produce results. Once there are some results, those slick old employees who go with the wind will also gravitate toward you, and you can use their knowledge of the company and their slick interpersonal skills to further open up the situation."

"By that time, the remaining two types won't pose any threat to you. On the contrary, they'll need you to judge between them, and to suppress the other side they'll compete to curry favor with you — that's when you'll call the shots in the department."