Work Prophet

"You resigned?" Li Yu raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, but I still have to transition my current work, and the company needs time to recruit someone new. It'll probably take another month," Wang Guowei said while eating.

"Why did you suddenly quit?"

"Because the company got a new executive who started enforcing discipline as soon as he took office. I was just five minutes late for work and he called me out in front of everyone for criticism, and even wants to give me a low score for the month.

"But the thing is I've been working overtime for four days in a row now, each day not leaving until past midnight. What's the big deal if I arrive five minutes late in the morning?"

Wang Guowei sneered, "Plus, isn't there an old saying that when a company starts cracking down on discipline, it's not far from its downfall? Who knows what other troubles might be lurking? I don't want to stay and deal with the nonsense."

"Did you look for another job in advance?" Li Yu asked.

"I did. I asked a senior to give me an internal referral. He's at a pretty big internet company," Wang Guowei answered. "If I can get in, my salary could double from what it is now."

"That's quite good then."

"But to be honest, I don't know if I want to keep doing this," Wang Guowei admitted. "Switching jobs might mean more money, but I'd probably have to work overtime, and it could even be worse."

"I tried cooking today and found it to be quite interesting, except washing dishes is a hassle."

"You could use a dishwasher. I've already ordered one; it should be delivered tomorrow," Li Yu said.

"I'm thinking of opening a restaurant," Wang Guowei pondered aloud.

Li Yu nearly spat out the rice he was chewing at the comment, "Calm down. My praise just now was just friendly. Even if you've been learning to cook from videos online, your cooking skills are still far from enough to open a restaurant.

After a pause, Li Yu added, "Of course, if opening a restaurant has always been your dream, you could try it.

"But running a restaurant is tough, too. Unless it's a big one, you have to do everything yourself—wake up before dawn to stock up, prepare ingredients..."

"All right, all right, I was just saying," Wang Guowei waved his hand and slumped back. "Ah, why isn't there any work that pays well and is easy?"

"There is, but you'll probably have to wait until after you're dead," Li Yu replied.

Wang Guowei rolled his eyes. "Then I might as well die now."

Despite his words, he was somewhat reluctant to give up on the upcoming blockbuster games.

After eating, Wang Guowei sprawled on the sofa watching TV, enjoying his rare lazy lifestyle. He saw a news report about recent extreme weather events and said to Li Yu, who was washing dishes in the kitchen,

"It seems like there have been more natural disasters lately."

"Mmm, it's said to be due to climate change, but it's probably not too severe," Li Yu said. "Similar things have happened in human history before, like the Little Ice Age during the Ming dynasty when there were also many disasters."

"True, with today's advanced technology, even if there are climate fluctuations, there should be ways to deal with it, right?"

Wang Guowei didn't take it too seriously and continued to relax. After a while, he said, "Brother Li, what about the Persian Cat from last time? Borrow it again for me to play with for a couple of days. I need to pet a cat to recharge my energy."

Li Yu paused his dishwashing, "I can ask for you, but I'd advise you not to get your hopes up."

"Alright then."

For the next two days, Wang Guowei got home fairly early and was enthusiastic about cooking. With him in the kitchen, Li Yu always had hot meals waiting for him when he got back, although Wang Guowei's cooking skills were hit or miss.

And speaking of job hunting, Li Yu also remembered that he still had an unused recruitment slot.

His current job level was P6, with a fixed salary of 32,000, and according to the rules of the Third Era, the salary of other project staff was one-third of his fixed salary.

That meant Zhang Yanlin and the others were now earning just over 10,000, which was an improvement from before, and the most he could offer to new recruits was also capped at that level.

Taking into account the company's environment and work schedule, it should have some appeal, but compared with B city's internet companies, it certainly wasn't as impressive.

Li Yu casually asked about the companies Wang Guowei was interviewing with, their salaries were about three times what he could offer, so he didn't bring up the matter with Wang Guowei.

After experiencing a few days of the leisurely life of Tao Yuanming, Wang Guowei inevitably started clamoring about making money again.

Seeing him regain his vigor, Li Yu stopped attending to him and refocused on his own work.

It seemed that the good reputation he had built up was beginning to pay off; several prospective clients sought him out, hoping Li Yu could handle their reincarnation.

The busier it got, the more cautious Li Yu became. Zhang Hai and the others got busy, halting their short video production to start external investigations.

Li Yu screened for individuals who were compatible with the Double Rest Sect and signed labor contracts with them. After they died, he would collect their souls and take them to another universe dimension.

Then one afternoon, Li Yu had just signed a high school physics teacher and was leaving the hospital.

A black Audi A8 stopped in front of him, and a middle-aged man, about one meter eighty in height with a crew cut and a strong build—who likely served in the military in his younger years—got out of the car.

He was polite in his manner, greeting first, "Mr. Li."

Li Yu paused, "Who are you?"

"You can call me Zheng, you might not know me, but you should know my boss." the middle-aged man said, "The medical technology building on your right was donated by my boss."

Li Yu looked up, "Then your boss has a kind heart."

"Yes, he does," the middle-aged man said, "Boss Yang always likes to do good deeds. He would like to have a chat with you, if you have the time?"

Li Yu glanced at his watch, "But I have a plane to catch."

"No problem, we have a car. We can give you a ride to the airport without delaying your schedule," the middle-aged man said, making a gesture of invitation.

"Let's go then," Li Yu, upon hearing this, didn't refuse and got into the car.

In the car, aside from the driver, there was only an old man sitting in the back, with bright eyes but a sallow complexion, seemingly having been ill for a long time.

Considering his wealth and his illness not yet cured, Li Yu figured it must be a terminal disease.

Sure enough, shortly after Li Yu sat down, the old man eagerly said, "I heard from a friend that Mr. Li, you seem to be able to help people reincarnate."

Li Yu did not respond but countered, "What friend?"

"There's no need for concern, Mr. Li, I mean no harm," the old man sighed, "I've lived a life full of ups and downs, weathered many storms, but fortunately ended up quite lucky, earning a fortune that most people wouldn't see in several lifetimes. However, both my wife and son have left me due to accidents.

"Especially my son's death made me realize money isn't everything. Since then, I started to do good, donating hospitals, schools. In the past twenty-plus years, I've donated over a hundred schools.

"And every time there's a disaster relief, me and my company have been consistent in making donations, sometimes a few million, sometimes as much as hundreds of millions."

"Mr. Yang is generous," Li Yu said.

"It's only right," the old man said, "I made my money from society, so naturally, I should give back to it. If you only take without giving back, you would become a Pixiu, right?"