At the start, I had to choose one of four options, and I immediately picked the Brahmin from the cou

There are only five minutes left before Xinglan Technology officially closes for the day.

The sky over Jiangyang had completely darkened, and the north wind outside the window, carrying fine ice shards, was frantically pounding against the panoramic glass curtain wall of this office building in the South City High-tech Zone.

But in the Xinglan office area, where the temperature was a constant 24 degrees Celsius, the atmosphere was as tense as a bowstring about to snap.

No one packed their bags in advance, and no one went to the break room to slack off or chat as usual a few minutes before leaving get off work.

In the open-plan office, most of the more than one hundred employees were still sitting at their workstations, pretending to be typing on keyboards. But in reality, the code and test data on the computer screens had long since become meaningless gibberish to them.

Hundreds of eyes were uncontrollably glancing at the silent phone screen on the table.

The finance department's system always processes applications on time. If General Manager Huang promised to send it out before the end of Friday, then it definitely won't be delayed until after the New Year.

4:58.

"Ding-dong—"

In the office area, quiet except for the faint hum of electricity and breathing, a crisp text message notification suddenly rang out. This sound, usually insignificant, was like a spark thrown into a powder keg at that moment.

Then, as if triggering some kind of crazy chain reaction, "Ding-dong! Ding-dong ding-dong ding-dong—"

The bank's deposit notification sounds and WeChat service account push notifications were like thousands of firecrackers set off precisely at midnight on New Year's Eve, exploding loudly on every floor and at every workstation of Xinglan Technology!

The dense sounds blended together, even drowning out the howling wind outside the window.

The front-end developer who had been muttering in the break room about being grateful for his 13th-month salary on time frantically grabbed his phone, which was lying face down on the table. His hands were shaking so badly that he had to use facial recognition twice to unlock the screen.

屏幕上，是一条来自建设银行的官方简讯： 【建设银行】您尾号9527的储蓄卡于1月15日16:58收入人民币30，000.00元，附言：星澜科技年终奖金。

"Holy crap!!! 30,000?! Is it really a guaranteed minimum of 30,000?!?"

"I received it too! It really is 30,000! Adding my full attendance bonus this month (without taking any days off) and some project performance bonus, it's 31,500!"

"I got 90,000! Holy crap, 90,000!"

"One hundred thousand! I got one hundred thousand! Mr. Li is awesome! Xinglan is awesome!"

"150,000! Good heavens, this is the first time in my life I've ever seen so much cash at once!"

In this cold winter as the year draws to a close, the scale of this cash handout is terrifying, even unprecedented, within the entire technology sector of Jiangdong Province.

Even those traditional software giants and logistics data platforms that have been entrenched in Jianye for many years, if they can give ordinary employees a few thousand or tens of thousands of yuan in bonuses at the end of the year, they will already be boasting about their so-called "wolf culture" and "corporate benefits" at the annual meeting, and they will also have employees toast them to express their loyalty with gratitude.

Many high-tech startups are just following the same old tricks.

They treat people like beasts of burden during normal times, but at the end of the year, they promise executives stock options while giving lower-level employees a few bags of rice and a barrel of oil, all under the guise of "starting a business is difficult, let's all overcome the difficulties together, and we will definitely treat everyone well after the company goes public."

But in Xinglan, Li Xiao used the simplest, most brutal, and most shocking method to tear off the hypocritical fig leaf of all capitalists.

Entry-level employees who have been with the company for at least three months, regardless of their position, are guaranteed a minimum of 30,000 RMB! Mid-level managers and algorithm backbone personnel start at 80,000 to 150,000 RMB!

There are no complicated performance calculation formulas, no betting agreements for the following year, and no unattainable option traps. There is only real money that can be withdrawn immediately and truly held in your hands.

This kind of treatment, let alone in Jiangyang, an inland county-level city, is absolutely top-tier and would make people envious, even compared to many first-tier factories in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, not to mention the entire Jiangdong Province!

Faced with overwhelming profits, the exhaustion of 996 work schedules, the hair loss from staying up all night fixing bugs, and the hardships of cross-city business trips all turn to ashes.

What replaced them was the burning ambition of more than a hundred young people, and their almost totem-like devotion to Li Xiao.

Two programmers who had already packed their belongings and were preparing to resign after receiving their year-end bonuses and return to their hometowns to take the civil service exam, looked at their bank account balances and without hesitation pulled out their resignation letters from their drawers, tore them to shreds, and threw them into the trash can.

"Screw you leaving! Nobody's stopping me from working overtime after the New Year! I was born a Xinglan man, and I'll die a Xinglan ghost!"

The cheers outside grew louder and louder, but in the deepest part of the office area, in the chairman's office with excellent soundproofing, a quiet and calm atmosphere was maintained.

Li Xiao leaned back in his large leather chair, holding a freshly brewed cup of Da Hong Pao tea. The office door opened, and Chen Qiming, Zhao Ming, and Lu Yuan, who was in charge of the chassis control of Deep Blue Factory, walked in with different expressions.

Even through the thick soundproof door, they could vaguely hear the almost roof-lifting sounds of revelry coming from the large open space outside.

"Brother Xiao, those brats outside have gone crazy."

As soon as Chen Qiming entered the room, he couldn't help but smile and speak. He sat down on the sofa, took off his glasses, and wiped them.

"You've really gone all out. I just glanced at our work group chat, and it's flooded with messages. They're all sending you red envelopes and wishing you a Happy New Year. Several key technical staff members even messaged me privately, swearing they'll give their all for Xinglan next year. You've completely got these tech geeks figured out."

Zhao Ming sat down as well, touched the bluish stubble that had grown on his chin from staying up all night, and sighed:

"Mr. Li, to be honest, I've been in this industry for so many years and worked for several startups, but I've never met a boss as willing to spend money as you. The way those people outside look at you now is probably no different than if they were looking at a god of wealth."