Crime and Punishment
Gu Fengzhu paused for a moment, wondering if she should tell Xia Fei the truth about Harris. After all, Xia Fei was the one who brought the weird-tempered old man to the company, and the two seemed to be quite close.
Xia Fei could tell that Gu Fengzhu was hesitant, so he said, "Harris is just an employee of the company. As the supervisor, you should be honest with your employees. You don't have to worry about it."
Gu Fengzhu was more confident after getting Xia Fei's hint. She sighed and said, "Harris is impeccable academically, but his temper is a little weird. He often beats and yells at his colleagues, just like how a slave owner treats his slaves on TV. Many of our colleagues can't take it anymore. If it weren't for the fact that we have a contract with the company, and no one could afford to pay a hundred million federal dollars for the breach of contract, many of us would have quit a long time ago."
"Actually, our colleagues aren't asking too much of him, as long as he doesn't beat or yell at them. After all, everyone knows how great Harris is in his studies. We can learn a lot of advanced technology by following him, and the company is paying us handsomely. We'll be satisfied as long as he can change a little.
"We can't let this go on. I'm afraid that the conflict will eventually explode if it keeps accumulating," Gu Fengzhu said, feeling wronged. Gu Fengzhu said in an aggrieved tone. Even she, the person in charge, had been scolded by Harris.
Treating his colleagues like slaves? Xia Fei only found it funny. Harris was clearly his slave, yet he had ended up playing the role of a ruler out in the wilderness. Xia Fei had been careless, knowing that Harris had a strange temper, yet he had not taken any precautions against it. Of course, the man did not dare to be presumptuous toward him, but when it came to normal people, Harris' deep-rooted bad habits would be exposed.
Xia Fei obviously had a way to control Harris, so he did not mind it too much. He asked about something else instead.
"How many permanent employees are there in Alpha Base?" Xia Fei asked.
Gu Fengzhu sighed in her heart. Xia Fei did not seem to be blaming Harris, so she could not help but feel disappointed. She thought that Xia Fei was trying to protect Harris because of his talent.
"There are three research teams, each with twelve researchers. The company is in charge of the security department, which has a hundred and sixty-three people. The reception and logistics departments have thirty-two people, making a total of two hundred and thirty-one people. We've all signed long-term contracts, so we're all permanent employees, "said Gu Fengzhu. She sounded a little depressed.
Xia Fei nodded. "We still have too few people, especially the researchers. We should at least double the number. As the company grows, the workload will only increase. Let's go and see that bad-tempered Harris."
Gu Fengzhu nodded. She led Xia Fei to the seventeenth floor underground. Alpha Base had a total of eighteen floors. The lowest floor was used for dangerous experiments and was completely sealed off. The remaining seventeen floors were open.
Harriss voice could be heard even before Xia Fei entered the room. It seemed like he was scolding the others for being clumsy. His scolding was very piercing to the ears, and it was mixed with the dialects of many other planets. Xia Fei had a translation chip in his head, so he could hear everything clearly. Though the others could not understand what he was saying, they could guess that it was nothing good.
Furrowing his eyebrows, Xia Fei pushed open the door and entered the lab, only to find that it was already a mess. Countless glass containers had been smashed on the ground by Harris, and colorful liquids were flowing everywhere. There were also several chemical reagents that had undergone some sort of reaction and were bubbling. The air was filled with a spicy smell as if he had entered a warehouse that stored chili sauce.
A young man with glasses was holding his forehead. Blood was dripping from his head, staining his white uniform. His face was pale, and his lips were blue. He glared at Harriss furiously.
Harriss was about to throw a tantrum again, but he immediately behaved himself when he saw Xia Fei at the door. He knew Xia Fei's personality very well. It would not end well for him if he angered his master.
Harriss quietly took two steps back and mumbled, "These guys are too stupid. They didn't even learn the Geometry Theorem of Infinity. Every single one of them is so stupid. They're better off being raised as pigs. How dare they do research with such a standard?"
Xia Fei rolled his eyes at Harriss. Harriss shuddered. He felt a chill run down his spine as if someone had poured cold water on him on a snowy day. He felt cold from head to toe.
Xia Fei ignored Harris and walked over to the bespectacled young man. He patted him on the shoulder and said, Hurry up and go to the infirmary to get your wounds bandaged. Rest well for the next few days. Everyone will have three days off, and your year-end bonus will be triple!
The young man did not know who Xia Fei was, so he looked at him suspiciously. Gu Fengzhu quickly stepped forward and said, "This is the CEO of Quantum Holdings, Mr. Xia Fei. Everyone, please go back and rest. We have to trust the CEO."
Everyone's eyes suddenly lit up. Xia Fei's name had been circulating around Earth for a long time, but this was the first time these people had seen such a legendary figure. They did not expect the owner of the top mega corporation in the Earth Federation to be so young and approachable. He did not seem to be the same as the rumors said.
"Tell everyone to have a meeting in the conference room in an hour. I have something important to announce," Xia Fei said in a deep voice.
Everyone left the room. Gu Fengzhu took one last look at Xia Fei before she tactfully closed the door and left.
Only Xia Fei and Harriss were left in the lab. Xia Fei turned around and looked at Harriss. He smiled and said, "Hehe, I didn't expect you to be so capable. You've turned a perfectly good lab into a mess. I wouldn't have known how capable Mr. Harriss are if I didn't come."
Harriss was terrified. He quickly tried to explain, but the words were stuck in his throat. His heart turned cold. He knew that Xia Fei was controlling him with his consciousness.
'Sh * t! Xia Fei didn't even give me a chance to explain! 'Harriss screamed in his heart.
…
"Was that really Xia Fei?" asked the young man with the bleeding head.
Gu Fengzhu nodded. "That's right. That's him. I'll bring you to the infirmary first."
The young man said angrily, "I wonder how he's going to treat that stubborn old man. We've suffered a lot because of him."
A freckled researcher beside him said, "Don't think too much about it. Harris may have a bad temper, but he's very useful to the company. Xia Fei will at most reprimand him a little, but he won't actually do anything for us. I thought that I would be able to show off my skills when I first joined the research institute, but I ended up being ordered around. I can only hope that I can fulfill my contract as soon as possible and leave this d * mn place."
The disappointment was spreading. Gu Fengzhu had to say many comforting words. The truth was, she did not have much confidence, either. She had no idea when the godforsaken days would come to an end. Gu Fengzhu did not have high hopes for Xia Fei, believing that he would be as perfunctory as the other leaders. At worst, he would just give his subordinates more bonuses. After all, he had plenty of money.
An hour later, in the conference room on the third floor.
The staff of Alpha Base entered the room one after another. They saw Xia Fei and Harriss sitting side by side on the stage. Harriss seemed to be in a lot of pain. He kept rubbing his ribs with one hand. The smile on his face was uglier than a crying face.
A few moments later, thirty-six researchers and four administrators, led by Gu Fengzhu, arrived one after another. The staff in charge of security did not show up at the conference since they were directly under the headquarters.
Xia Fei cleared his throat and said in a deep voice, "Since everyone is here, let's have a short meeting. I'm Xia Fei. From today onward, I'll be working in the lab for a period of time, just like everyone else. I'll need everyone's help when the time comes.
"The reason we're having this meeting today isn't because I'll be working here, but because one of the staff in the lab has been disrespecting his colleagues, which has severely affected the internal unity. That person is the current chief researcher, Harriss."
Boos could be heard coming from the crowd. No one had expected Xia Fei to be so harsh right from the start, directly criticizing Harris by name.
Xia Fei paused for a moment before continuing, "I wasn't here before, so there are a lot of things I don't know, but since I'm here today, I won't tolerate this kind of behavior that has severely disrupted the company's discipline. Fair rewards and punishments have always been the way Quantum Holdings operates. "
"I hereby announce that Harriss, the chief researcher and the leader of the first research team, will be demoted to a probationary researcher. His salary and bonus will be deducted for three years, and he will be responsible for cleaning the lab on the seventeenth floor for the next three years."
Everyone was shocked. Demoting the talented Harriss to a probationary researcher and deducting three years of his salary and bonus, even forcing the arrogant man to clean the toilets?
This was simply unimaginable!
Little did they know that Harriss did not have any salary to begin with. Working for Xia Fei was completely free, let alone anything else. Why would a slave need a title?
Right after that, Harriss stood up and uncharacteristically apologized to everyone. His attitude was sincere and his words were unprecedented. Everyone found it hard to understand why the domineering Harriss was like a mouse meeting a cat the moment he saw Xia Fei. He did not have any temper and allowed Xia Fei to do whatever he wanted with him.
In any case, this outcome made everyone secretly happy. The haze from before had also been swept away. As long as they were not bullied, they were very willing to work for Quantum Holdings. After all, it was the largest corporation in the Earth Federation. The salary was generous, and it sounded good to the ears.
In Xia Fei's plan, Quantum Holdings needed to have its own technological research and development capabilities as soon as possible, so the expansion and development of the research center was also an important task in his mind.
What he said earlier was just a show of his attitude. Seeing everyone's reaction, Xia Fei knew that it was time to throw out his bait.
Xia Fei cleared his throat and said, "Everyone, Quantum Holdings will not only provide you with a generous salary and an excellent working environment, but we will also give you a chance to develop yourselves."
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