I am a demonic cultivator, not a capitalist with a conscience.

Chapter 654 Those who weren't bullied can sit down now (16)

The effects of morality first appeared near Tianyuan, with loggers and forest rangers in Sangmu City being the first to sense that something was wrong.

In the "Big Wine Vat" tavern that Wang Ma used to frequent, Boss Liang looked at his wine vat meter and couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Not much wine sold today."

The drinks here are cheap, made with high-quality alcohol, a world apart from other taverns that use industrial alcohol.

Because of its high quality and low price, his restaurant is famous for miles around. It is usually packed with people, and selling nine barrels of wine is not a problem on holidays.

Moreover, today is payday, and usually the neighborhood friends would come over for a drink, and then fight over who would pay, so I could earn some money for bandaging up.

But today, it's very quiet here.

The silence lasted until Boss Liang thought everyone was dead.

The second hand of the clock ticked away slowly, making a dry, rustling sound. The 52-inch television was still playing the latest news, with the anchor excitedly announcing that our economic situation was steadily improving this year, urging everyone to go and spend!

However, unlike their impassioned tone, each customer in the chair seemed to be deep in thought.

They ordered little alcohol and few other items, each meticulously calculating their wages, their eyes brimming with seriousness and bewilderment.

Boss Liang didn't know what was wrong with them, so he could only wipe the cups and occasionally look at everyone with a puzzled expression.

Finally, a lumberjack stood up and said, "Gentlemen, I have a question."

“Don’t ask questions,” a lumberjack interrupted him. “Don’t forget, the boss forbids us from asking questions in private. Violators are fined two thousand yuan.”

"Then I can ask a question once a month."

"I've been pregnant for a month and a half."

"Why do I need two months? Are interns really that miserable?"

"I only work for half a month, but I'm the foreman."

……

The lumberjacks present were roughly equal in gender, but workers in this industry are generally large-bodied, and steroids and veterinary drugs are often mixed with protein in their diet. Even with their clothes off, it might be difficult to tell the difference, let alone now.

In this environment brimming with testosterone, everyone finally took the opportunity to speak freely and ask the questions they had been wanting to ask.

Fifty-odd people confirmed the number of questions they asked each month and then discovered a startling fact.

Only one person can ask two questions; others can only ask one or one and a half.

Someone rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a crumpled flyer, which turned out to be the advertisement from when he was recruiting workers.

High-paying job, monthly salary of 6 to 8 yuan!

The work environment is relaxed; you only need to work eight hours a day.

Excellent benefits package and clear promotion criteria.

The suicide rate has been as low as 3% in the past decade.

[Overtime is required, but overtime pay will be double.]

After reading the above content aloud, he said in confusion, "Strange, why do I feel like none of these things have come true? Have we been misled by false advertising? Can I sue the boss?"

"It's not false advertising."

As soon as Boss Liang, who was wiping the cups, opened his mouth, he quickly attracted everyone's attention.

Under everyone's gaze, Boss Liang calmly said, "Six to eight thousand, not six thousand to eight thousand, so there is no problem."

"What do you mean by working eight hours a day?" a lumberjack asked, puzzled, holding a wine glass. "I feel like I work at least sixteen hours a day. Sometimes I'm even controlled while I'm sleeping, and then I'm dragged over to work."

"The number of hours in a day can be defined. Your contract should have a line of small print specifying that a day in the contract is twelve hours long."

After someone took out the contract and looked at it, they couldn't help but exclaim, "Damn it!": "There's only one hour a day here, and 720 days a month? So, if I work one day, I'm causing the boss to lose seven hours of work?"

Boss Liang looked at the other party helplessly: "This contract of yours is indeed a bit unreasonable. You should have read it carefully before signing." "Then what about the promotion conditions? Could you explain them, Boss Liang?"

"It's simple, you can get promoted just by being a relative of the boss."

"It doesn't matter if I know someone."

"That's what you think."

Seeing that others still had questions, Boss Liang decided to explain them all at once.

Taking the advertisement from the other party, Boss Liang continued, "The suicide rate is as low as three percent, but he didn't mention the missing persons rate, which means that if a lumberjack dies, it doesn't matter if his body is dumped in the mountains."

"The meaning of 'double overtime pay' needs to be considered in context. If it's only one hour a day, then it doesn't count as overtime at all."

"An excellent workplace environment means you're the only person within ten miles, isn't that excellent?"

After explaining, Boss Liang returned the contract to its original owner and then asked, puzzled, "What's wrong with you all today? Why are you suddenly concerned about this?"

The sounds in the tavern disappeared again, leaving only the ticking of the clock and the host's excited shouts.

A lumberjack took a sip of his drink and suddenly said, "I don't know why, but from the very beginning, I felt that the world shouldn't be like this."

“Me too,” his companion said, sipping his cheap liquor. “Is the world going to continue like this forever?”

"Let's talk about how to prevent the world from continuing like this."

One person stood up and said loudly, "Everyone, please stand up."

The drinkers sensed something and then stood up one after another.

Mr. Liang recognized this person.

The other person was someone he had met once before, someone he had met during a "private opportunity," and someone who was his fellow demonic cultivator.

The other person glanced at him, then turned around and, standing among the men who stood like monuments, asked in a serious tone, "Gentlemen, if you feel you have done something wrong, please sit down."

No one sat down; they simply stared at each other, silent as iron towers.

"Then, those who feel they haven't worked hard enough can also sit down."

"If you have savings but no loans, you can sit down."

"If you have no injuries, you may sit down."

……

As questions were asked one by one, everyone present, except for a few people, remained standing still.

They remained silent, but their silence at that moment was deafening and deeply moving.

Looking around at everyone, the comrade smiled and said, "One last question. Anyone who can ask a question without being affected can sit down."

No one moved; they simply looked at each other in silence.

With a slight bow, the comrade said, "Alright, I've said what I wanted to say. Gentlemen, what should we do now?"

"...A raise! At least two hundred yuan!"

"Redefine how many hours a day is! It should be at least four hours."

"We need medical insurance and social security! We just need reimbursement for fifty yuan worth of those 'powerful pills'!"

Boss Liang squinted at the crowd, feeling that their demands were really low.

Despite being bullied like this, their expectations are still so low.

However, one must take things one step at a time, and one must eat one bite at a time. It is a good thing to realize that you are being exploited. Let's take things slowly from here on out.

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(End of this chapter)