“Black-Hearted Boss, give me back my hard-earned wages! Come take a look, everyone! This Black-Hearted Boss is withholding a college student’s hard-earned pay!”
“Come take a look, students passing by…”
It was class dismissal time, and the playground was already full of people coming and going. Now, with Meng Ran shouting through a megaphone, he drew everyone’s attention.
After all, enjoying a bit of commotion was something Huaguo people had in their blood.
Once he’d attracted a sizable crowd, Meng Ran pointed the megaphone at Gu Chuan’s face and shouted.
“Everyone, take a look! This is the Black-Hearted Boss who’s withholding my wages! He has to give me an explanation today!”
Gu Chuan’s head was buzzing. With the megaphone blaring right at him, his ears had nearly been blasted deaf.
Gu Chuan looked at Meng Ran with three parts scorn, three parts impatience, and four parts disdain. Though he wasn’t a capitalist yet, he’d already perfected the look of one.
“You’ve got the nerve to say that? I hired you to handle operations, and what kind of shit did you come up with? You didn’t bring in a single visitor, so why the hell should I pay you? Want your wages? I’ll burn them for you after you’re dead!”
Meng Ran seemed to glare in fury, then turned to face the students gathered around.
“That’s outrageous…”
Before he could finish, Gu Chuan sprang forward and kicked him hard in the butt. Meng Ran went sprawling face-first onto the ground.
There was no acting in Gu Chuan’s kick. It was entirely personal.
After delivering the kick, Gu Chuan took off like a shot.
Still sprawled on the ground, Meng Ran was stunned by the kick. That wasn’t in the script!
But as the crowd grew larger, he had no time to think about it. He picked up the megaphone and launched into an almost tearful denunciation.
“I’m a fourth-year student at Jin University. I worked for this Black-Hearted Boss for a month and a half, and he hasn’t paid me a single cent.
My wages are 3,000 a month, so a month and a half comes to 4,500 yuan. Rounded up, that’s two months! He owes me 6,000 yuan…”
Most of the students watching sympathized with his plight, though some noticed something was off.
“Rounding 4,500 up to 6,000? This guy’s really pitiful, but he’s also something else! Ha ha! If he rounds up again, will the boss owe him 10,000?”
“Am I the only one wondering where he found a part-time job that pays 3,000 a month? I want in!”
“I’d think twice. Didn’t you hear? He hasn’t gotten his wages back yet.”
Regardless of the crowd’s chatter, Meng Ran continued to wail.
“You heartless boss! My gambling-addict dad, my sick mom, my little sister in school, my broken family—they’re all counting on this paycheck…”
Some of the softhearted girls in the crowd had tears in their eyes.
“That’s just awful! He’s already having such a hard time, and the boss is still withholding his wages. He has no humanity!”
“But why does this plot feel so strangely familiar? Never mind, this is too sad. I’m going to cry first!”
Just as everyone was sympathizing with Meng Ran, he wiped his face and slowly stood up, his gaze turning vicious.
“Heh. I was involved in developing the project, too. Since you’ve shown me no mercy, don’t blame me for showing you none! I’m going to…”
The crowd fell silent, all straining to hear what he’d say next. It was obvious he was about to take revenge!
How would he do it? Secretly cut the other guy’s internet connection and destroy his data? Hack into his system? Change the data behind his back and crash the system?
Just as everyone was anxiously waiting to hear what came next, Meng Ran suddenly pulled a stack of flyers from behind his back.
“Students, want to know how I’m going to get revenge on the Black-Hearted Boss? Visit this website, register an account, and hear my revenge plan!”
Everyone: “???”
What was this supposed to be???
Ignoring the crowd’s bewilderment, Meng Ran shoved a promotional flyer into each person’s hands.
Everyone looked at the flyer in their hands, then at Meng Ran’s retreating back. Finally, someone spoke up.
“He’s just asking for his wages, but he’s making it all so mysterious. It’s like a secret-agent rendezvous!”
“Should we check it out?”
“Could this be some kind of virus website?”
“Forget a virus website—even if it were shit, I’d still have to see what it tastes like. I’m heading to the internet café to see what this website’s all about!”
…
A huge wave of students flooded into the internet cafés near the school.
Once they turned on the computers, they all went to the Campus Network using the URL on the promotional flyer.
Ruan Tingting was among them. After following the prompts to register an account, she exclaimed in surprise.
“Huh? This looks like a social networking site—and you have to use your real name?”
She scrolled around with her mouse. The site was clearly new, and there was only one post so far, from someone named “Campus Network Operations—Meng Ran.”
The title read: “What do you think of my revenge plan?”
His profile picture was a personal photo, clearly showing the same employee whose wages had just been withheld.
She clicked on the post. There were already quite a few comments beneath it. Ruan Tingting skimmed them; some offered advice, while others simply vented their anger by cursing the Black-Hearted Boss.
She was a part-time worker herself and spent nearly all her free time working. Putting herself in his shoes, she could really relate to Meng Ran.
After working herself to the bone for over a month and still not getting paid, she could feel her anger rising just thinking about it.
She opened the comments and furiously typed out a long reply. Then she read through everyone else’s comments before finally logging off.
“Sigh, never mind. I should stop worrying about other people’s business and get to work myself.”
Just as she was about to leave the website, a chime sounded, and a notification popped up.
When she opened it, she saw that the person who’d replied to her had a classmate’s profile picture.
【Tingting, is that you? Weren’t you going to work? Did you come here to hear the revenge plan too? snickering.jpg】
【Yeah, I came on to curse out that dog of a boss. Now I’m going to look for work too. I hope I don’t run into another dog of a boss who withholds wages. Anyway, I’m off to work.】
Ruan Tingting left the comments and returned to the homepage. It refreshed, and several new posts appeared.
Ruan Tingting paused with her hand over the close button and muttered to herself.
“I’ll look at these few posts, then go find work.”
But as she looked, one post led to another. Some people had even written journal entries, and she spotted several familiar faces. In the end, even she couldn’t help posting an update of her own.
【I’m looking for a job. Quick question: what should I do if I run into a dog of a boss like this?】
As soon as she posted it, she received a comment.
It was the same classmate who had just been chatting with her.
【Tingting, did you find a job and come back online again?】
Ruan Tingting checked the time. The entire afternoon had already passed…
Luckily, she didn’t have classes that afternoon. Otherwise, she’d have been done for.
【Would you believe me if I said I never left? I wanted to, but my hands wouldn’t obey me… crying.jpg】
【Same here… I even ran into several classmates on the Campus Network this afternoon.】
This time, Ruan Tingting really was about to leave. Just before she closed the page, she suddenly noticed a job listing at the top.
【Campus Network is hiring one temporary actress. Paid daily.】
Ruan Tingting’s hand stopped. Wasn’t the whole reason they’d come to this Campus Network the issue of the site withholding wages?
But how had she somehow forgotten why she came here while browsing?
Even more outrageous, the website was hiring?
What idiot would take that job?