Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Shencheng City, Zhongsha Science and Technology Park, Orange Phone Factory Headquarters.

Outside the packaging workshop, a production supervisor in his forties, beaming, raised his voice to the dense crowd of frontline operators. ”I have some good news. AHEM, my throat’s a bit dry.”

”Brother Xiang, have a smoke to wet your whistle!” a young man darted out of the crowd. Cigarette in one hand and a lighter in the other, he sidled up, eagerly trying to curry favor.

”I remember you. Zhu Ancheng, right?” Brother Xiang asked with a grin as he took the cigarette and lighter.

”You have a great memory, Brother Xiang!” Zhu Ancheng praised, quickly giving him a thumbs-up.

”Zhu Ancheng of Packaging Workshop B7 has openly violated the company’s safety management regulations. You are fined five hundred yuan. A second offense will result in termination.”

Brother Xiang announced loudly, holding up the cigarette.

The smile on Zhu Ancheng’s face froze.

But a smile never disappears, it just moves to another face. His colleagues from the same workshop broke into wide grins, looking at him as if he were a clown.

Zhu Ancheng didn’t dare to object and sullenly returned to his spot in the crowd.

”Alright, back to business. The big boss just made a new decision,” Brother Xiang said, then paused mid-sentence.

”Brother Xiang, spit it out!”

”Is the big boss coming to Shencheng City for the annual gala?”

”It’s not layoffs, is it? Other factories pay 10 yuan an hour, while we get 20. I’m honestly worried the boss can’t keep it up!”

Hearing the workers’ chatter, the corner of Brother Xiang’s mouth lifted in a disdainful smirk. He waved his hand dismissively. ”Orange Mobile Phone sold 50 million units last year, and the Smart Speaker sold over 10 million. You think he can’t afford to pay your salaries?”

”Starting in February, the minimum hourly wage will be raised from 20 yuan to 25!”

But after he spoke, he didn’t hear the cheers he’d expected. The crowd just stared at each other, unable to believe their ears.

”Brother Xiang, did you get that wrong? Did you mean 15 yuan, not 25?” someone couldn’t help but ask.

”It’s a hundred percent true. President Cao just told me himself after our meeting,” Brother Xiang boomed with laughter.

”Fuck! 25 yuan?”

”WOOHOO!”

”Long live the big boss!”

”Can I sleep with the boss for a night? Otherwise, I won’t feel right taking this money.”

”Pah! Daydreaming about something so nice? You brat, you’d be repaying his kindness with cruelty!”

Everyone in Packaging Workshop B7 instantly erupted in cheers!

Dozens of meters away, Packaging Workshop B6 was also in an uproar!

The employees in dozens of workshops—like A1 SMT, C6 Assembly, B3 Screen Production, and D9 Antenna—couldn’t help but break into a clamor!

Brother Xiang smiled so wide his eyes vanished into slits. He had worked his way up from the assembly line and knew exactly how important the hourly wage was to the workers.

The hourly wage increasing from 20 to 25 yuan meant the base salary would rise to 3,300 yuan.

One hour of overtime on a weekday would earn 37.5 yuan.

One hour of overtime on a weekend would earn 50 yuan.

One hour of overtime on a statutory holiday would earn 75 yuan.

According to current factory regulations, workers could put in up to four hours of overtime on weekdays and six on weekends and holidays. Over a month, they could easily earn eight or nine thousand yuan. During holidays like National Day, Spring Festival, or May Day, it wouldn’t be difficult to clear ten thousand before taxes.

’Assembly line workers like them, who just tighten screws, earning over ten thousand a month?’

This was in 2013. It was safe to say that, aside from being exhausting, this job paid even better than a white-collar position in Yanjing or Hu City.

News of the wage hike at the Orange Phone Factory quickly spread throughout Zhongsha Science and Technology Park, then to Seg Software Park and Huaqiang North, and eventually, it started trending online.

At first, netizens didn’t think 25 yuan an hour was anything special. But once they calculated the overtime pay, they couldn’t contain themselves.

”Location: Luzhou. Liberal arts major from a second-tier university. I’m a web editor making four thousand a month, no room or board, no insurance or retirement benefits.”

”I’m in tears! I work in operations in Hu City with a base salary of six thousand. With perfect attendance and bonuses, I take home eight thousand a month. But after rent and food, I can’t even save four thousand.”

”P5 wage slave at Ah Li here. My boss manipulates me all day, and my take-home is just over nine thousand. Honestly, I’d rather go tighten screws on an assembly line.”

Netizens, green with envy, left a stream of salty comments.

People in the tech industry usually worked from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., five or six days a week. It was no less grueling than tightening screws, yet their income was lower than a common factory worker’s. This really hit a nerve for a lot of people.

”@Chen Yansen I’m a loyal Orange Mobile Phone user. Can I get priority for a factory job?”

”@Chen Yansen I graduated from Xuyuan in ’06. For old times’ sake as fellow alumni, could you give me priority for a position?”

”@Chen Yansen Being rich makes you so great, huh?! Don’t you understand you’re ruining the labor market in Shencheng City?”

”Who forgot to zip up and let the guy above out?”

Before long, netizens flocked to Chen Yansen’s Weibo comments. Some were just teasing, but others were genuinely asking for jobs.

At the Orange Phone Factory, base salary and overtime were only the core income, not the full picture. There were also quarterly bonuses, a monthly housing subsidy equal to 20% of the base salary, meal allowances, social insurance and a housing fund, holiday bonuses, free physicals, and various other benefits.

All told, with four days off per month, the pre-tax salary was well over ten thousand yuan.

And with room and board covered, a worker could save a hundred thousand yuan a year.

Just then, an economics professor posted an article angrily criticizing the move: ”The wages at the Orange Phone Factory are too high and should be lowered to a reasonable level.”

A factory owner followed suit, furiously posting on Weibo: ”The Orange Phone Factory’s malicious wage hike has thrown the labor market in Shencheng City into chaos.”

This sent netizens into fits of laughter. A ”malicious” wage hike? Since when was that a thing?

”If raising wages is malicious, then I say bring on the malice!”

”I’m too pissed to sleep! Does anyone know what university this damned professor teaches at? I suggest we cut his salary to three thousand a month and see if he’s still squawking then!”

”The sanitation workers in my county only make fifteen hundred a month. Let’s see him try that for a few days.”

Netizens swarmed in, flaming the professor and the factory owner so badly they had to disable their comments. But when they checked their private messages, they found them full of ”sweet nothings” directed at their entire families.

The two were so frightened that they deleted their accounts that very night.

「Meanwhile.」

Chen Yansen hadn’t noticed the news online. He had been in a meeting with Wang Teng and the others all afternoon.

First, Orange Technology would establish an official open-source community for the Aurora Future System, called the Aurora Future Open Source Project (AFOSP). It would be geared toward development enthusiasts worldwide, with the goal of advancing the Aurora Future open-source project.

The source code repository would contain all the components necessary to build the Aurora Future operating system. Developers could use this source code for customization and development, and anyone would be free to download, view, modify, and distribute it.

Second, they would establish an Aurora Future Bug Bounty Program with a prize pool of up to thirty million US dollars.

Anyone who discovered a system bug and was the first to submit proof to the company would receive a bounty of no less than fifty thousand US dollars.

Chen Yansen knew full well that the more users the Aurora Future OS had, the more viable it would become.

After he and Wang Teng finalized the plan, he sent a video conference invitation to Mao Chaorong.

Next, Orange Technology would use channels like Mimo Short Video, developer BBS forums, Facebook, and *Wired* magazine to go all-out in promoting the Aurora Future OS.

”Wang Teng, help me win this battle.”

Chen Yansen said, patting Wang Teng on the shoulder as they were about to leave the conference room.

”Yes, Boss,” Wang Teng replied with a firm nod.

What Chen Yansen had said in the conference room had left his blood boiling with excitement.

’Fuck it,’ he thought. ’We’re going to topple the reign of Android and iOS in the smartphone world and build a mobile OS for the people of Hua Country.’

”Boss, people are going crazy online about the wage increase at the Orange Phone Factory,” Ye Qiuping reported, trotting over with a file in her arms.

”Are they saying I’m being too stingy?” Chen Yansen joked.

”They’re accusing you of a ’malicious wage hike,’” Ye Qiuping said, enunciating every word.

Chen Yansen shrugged, finding it rather amusing. ’The hourly wage at the Orange Phone Factory is only 25 yuan, and the base salary is just 3,300. That’s not even that high,’ he thought.

”So no one is praising me?” Chen Yansen asked, his expression darkening.

”Everyone else wants a job tightening screws at the Orange factory. Your Weibo DMs have blown up,” Ye Qiuping said with a look of resignation.

”Just handle it however you see fit,” Chen Yansen said dismissively.

’I’ve got connections high up. What the hell do I have to be afraid of?’

’With Meng Yuanzhi’s backing, I can do whatever I want in Huian!’

’As for Cao Dahua, if he really got into trouble, I wouldn’t be stingy. I’d at least get him a nice titanium alloy urn.’

Ye Qiuping watched Chen Yansen’s departing figure, a faint smile slowly spreading across her face.

’I used to think that aside from his good looks, great body, emotional intelligence, and ability to make money, Chen Yansen was a complete disaster in every other respect—a womanizing pervert who was just after my body.’

’But now... it seemed he wasn’t completely rotten to the core. At the very least, he was genuinely good to his employees.’

’Even the couriers at Cloud Speed and the delivery drivers at Kuai Pao received valuable stock option awards.’

「At the same time.」

At the production office for the talk show *Dialogue*, the host, Chen Hongwei, was stunned when he heard the news. He recalled what Chen Yansen had said during the program. ’Could he have done this on purpose?’

’Before the episode even aired, Chen Yansen had already made huge headlines.’

’It was easy to imagine the massive impact the episode would have when it aired tomorrow.’

”Mr. Chen, the producer is calling you in for a meeting,” a voice called from outside the door.

Chen Hongwei acknowledged the call, pushed his thoughts aside, and left the break room, heading to the control room behind the main studio.

The lead writer, director, producer, and others were all there.

”We just got a call from the higher-ups. They told us to cut all the sensitive topics from the Chen Yansen interview,” the producer said with a sigh.

’If we cut all that, what selling points will the episode have left?’

”Didn’t yesterday’s cut get approved?” Chen Hongwei asked curiously. He paused, then added, ”Is this related to today’s news?”

”The higher-ups want to use Chen Yansen as a poster boy, not a lightning rod for controversy. Naturally, they’re going to protect him,” the director said with a smile.

”We’ll need to re-record a few shots. Sorry for the trouble, Chen,” the producer added.

Chen Hongwei nodded in understanding. He had encountered situations like this countless times and was long used to it.

That evening, discussion about the wages at the Orange Phone Factory began to die down on Weibo, forums, and major news portals as related reports were quietly buried.

Just as Wang Xin thought the storm had passed, he received more news: the Tangcheng City Market Supervision Association had received a massive number of user complaints, demanding that Meituan issue a formal explanation and resolve all local customer issues within three business days.

Wang Xin knew Pei Yi had struck again. He cursed inwardly, ’When is this going to end?!’