Chapter 9: Janna is making progress
Levi and Baku looked back and were surprised to find:
The middle-aged man who was angrily cursing Zuan was actually the factory owner who was usually dressed in a suit and looked well-mannered.
"Mr. Erwin, why...why are you here?" Baku was shocked: "I...we were just...joking..."
"A joke?" Mr. Erwin was totally rude today. "Let me tell you - if you dare to make fun of my daughter behind her back again, I will have the law enforcers drive you back to Zaun!"
Baku closed his mouth in fear.
Levi was also very embarrassed.
"Levi!" Erwin called him unhappily.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Erwin..."
"That's enough. I don't want to listen to your nonsense." Mr. Erwin said angrily, "You little brat, you still have the mood to make such a dirty joke here... But I came here specifically to find you, do you know that?"
Levi's heart sank.
He was just an apprentice, and the boss had to come to him personally? Something bad was probably going to happen.
Sure enough, I heard Boss Erwin asked unhappily: "Levi, are you borrowing money from a loan shark?"
"I..." Levi's face became even uglier.
If you ask a Zaunite who is the worst person he has met in Piltover:
A. Piltover business ownerB. Piltover landlordC. Piltover law enforcer
What will they choose?
The answer is D, Zaun.
The people who treat the Zaun apprentices worst in Piltover are their fellow Zaun people.
These bad guys form gangs and engage in underworld activities in Piltover, but they dare not bully the people of Piltover, let alone make a scene in front of the Piltover law enforcement officers.
They only focused on bullying Zaun's apprentices in Piltover and exploiting their fellow countrymen.
If the big businessmen in Piltover are all vampires, then these Zaun gangs are juicers - after the vampires have sucked the blood, they will come over and squeeze out the last bit of oil and water left in the human body.
And Levi was unfortunately involved with this bunch of bastards.
In order to pay for his sister's medical treatment, he had borrowed money from a Zaun gangster at high interest rates. The interest on this loan had already become a figure far more despairing than the rent.
"The thugs from the Iron Fist Gang even came directly to the factory during the day - they came to collect debts from you by name!"
"Levi, I advise you to take care of your own affairs, otherwise it will delay the production of the factory..."
"I won't keep you any longer."
"I... understand." Levi sighed.
He knew that Boss Erwin would not be afraid of those gangsters, but he certainly did not want to offend them.
At least, there is no need to offend others for a small apprentice.
"That's good to know."
"May the best be to you."
Erwin said one last word and turned to leave.
Baku, as well as the other workers who were watching, all looked at Levi with sympathy.
Everyone realized that Levi might be about to leave.
"Wait, Mr. Erwin..." Levi suddenly stood up and called his boss.
"Do you have anything else to do?"
"Mr. Erwin." Levi weighed his tone: "Can I get an advance on next month's salary from you? You know my current situation..."
He doesn't even need to pretend to be miserable now, he is already very miserable.
The fellow workers also looked on, with expressions of grief on their faces.
"Are you kidding?" Erwin rejected him coldly without any hesitation: "Levi, you still have the nerve to ask me for an advance on your salary? You broke a few boards last month and wasted a lot of mithril. You know that yourself, right?"
"I have done my best by not deducting all your wages for the past two months to make you pay compensation."
"But you actually want to advance next month's payment?"
"Why don't you just come and rob it!"
Levi was completely speechless.
The good boss who was cold on the outside but warm on the inside in the original owner's impression now seemed to be only cold.
But what could he do? The landlord would come with law enforcement officers to evict him tomorrow, and if he couldn't pay, he would have to go back to Zaun.
"Mr. Erwin..." Levi still wanted to fight for it.
"That's enough!" Boss Erwin just interrupted him impatiently: "Don't act pitiful in front of me."
As he spoke, he glared at the workers who were watching:
"What are you all standing there for? It's still work time!"
The workers hurriedly buried their heads in their work, not even daring to look.
Then Erwin looked at Levi again: "Levi, if you don't want to do it, don't do it. Don't affect production here-"
"Deduct half of your salary for today and make you stand outside!"
He said this without waiting for Levi to react.
The two factory security guards who had been following the boss walked up tactfully, picked up Li Wei from his workstation like a chicken, and carried him all the way out of the workshop.
"Hiss..." The workers were all frightened.
Even his best friend Baku lowered his head and dared not speak.
So, just like that, Levi was rudely kicked out of the workshop and was forced to stand outside the workshop as punishment.
His ragged overalls were very thin, and the night wind, carrying the humidity from the port, made him shiver.
"well……"
The original owner thought that Erwin was a good boss who was cold on the outside but warm on the inside, and that if he raised any difficulties, the boss would definitely help. But now it seems that this may be because the original owner was being sentimental and misunderstood...
Erwin might be a good boss, but not as good as the original owner imagined. This kind of good boss usually doesn't hesitate to give small favors to employees, but once something really happens and the employees are no longer useful, their kindness will reach its limit.
This can’t be blamed on the boss’s ruthlessness. After all, “Those damn hooligans actually came to the factory to collect debts…”
"Now, Boss Erwin is obviously afraid of getting into trouble and wants to 'graduate' me directly. How could he do a business at a loss and advance me next month's salary?"
Levi sighed helplessly in his heart.
But just as he was complaining in his heart, he heard footsteps approaching from behind him.
Looking back, the person who came was Mr. Erwin!
After he finished inspecting the workshop, he came over alone.
"Boss?" Li Wei was a little surprised: "You... ahem, why are you here?"
Erwin didn't say anything, but walked over with a cold face and handed him a small cloth bag.
When Levi took it in his hand, he realized that the bag was quite heavy.
"This is?"
"Your salary for next month," Erwin replied.
"Are you willing to give it to me?" Levi was puzzled: "Then you just..."
"There were too many people inside just now."
"I run a factory, not a charity. I can't just give money to anyone who comes to me to play with my misery."
"At least, I can't start this in the factory... Otherwise, if everyone is like you and comes to me for money when they have difficulties at home, I won't be able to manage this factory."
As he said this, Erwin gave him a dissatisfied look.
Levi was stunned for a moment, then he held the purse tightly with a complicated expression: "Thank you...Mr. Erwin."
"I swear, I won't tell anyone about this." Looking at Mr. Irving's sincere eyes, he couldn't help feeling a little ashamed.
"That's good." Mr. Irving's expression softened a little.
He thought for a moment and then asked, "Is this month's salary really enough to solve your problems?"
"It's enough for emergency. I'll find a way to deal with the rest." Li Wei was quite confident: "Don't worry, I won't come to bother you again."
"Oh, what can you do?" Erwin said sincerely, "If you get involved in loan sharking, you're doomed. I'm saying, how could you be so stupid as to trust your fellow villagers from Zuan?"
"I didn't believe them either. But I couldn't help it because my sister was sick at that time."
"You have a sister?"
"Well, she's 18."
"She's here too?" Erwin actually started chatting patiently with a young apprentice like him.
"Yes, I brought her here."
"Apprentice?"
"No, my sister is an international student. She is studying Hextech Mechanical Engineering at Piltover University."
"Your sister is at Piltover University?" Erwin was slightly startled, and then as if he remembered something, he said to Levi with emotion: "Yes, your sister has a bright future."
"Zuan people have to be willing to work hard to learn, and learn better , in order to have a chance to stay here. After all, Piltover is a place where anyone can realize their dreams... as long as you are willing to persevere."
"Hmm?" Levi was slightly stunned. He seemed to have heard something.
"Do your best..." Erwin patted him on the shoulder and said, "Everything will be fine."
After saying that, the boss finally turned around and left.
Erwin's back gradually faded away.
Suddenly, Janna popped her head out of Levi's purse.
"He is also from Zaun," she sighed.
"Do you know him?"
"Yes, I met him by chance more than 20 years ago." Janna has been active in the Twin Cities, and the goddess never forgets things: "He was still an apprentice at that time, just like you, supporting his girlfriend to study in college."
"They are working very hard to ensure that their next generation can be born in Piltover in the future."
"But... after not seeing him for more than 20 years, he has changed a bit."
"What has changed?"
"Erwin used to be a good man."
"Isn't it the same now?" Li Wei thought this boss was pretty good. He was a good person.
"He is a good man indeed." Janna just sighed:
“But he is not pure anymore…”
"He clearly sympathizes with the apprentices in Zaun, but he still only pays you a salary that is barely enough to make a living. Even if he is kind enough to help the workers, he has to do it secretly and avoid others. He is afraid that his good deeds will break the "rules" of the factory and his conscience will prevent him from continuing to earn more money."
"It's as if the only meaning of his life is to make more money. To do this, even if he doesn't want to, he has to make himself cold and ruthless."
That's true. But is it Erwin's fault?
Is it that he himself has become less "pure", or is there something that forces a purely good person to become like this?
"Wait..." Suddenly, Janna seemed to have thought of something: "Mr. Summoner, is this what you said..."
“The alienation of man?”
"Huh?" Levi was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help laughing: "You learn really fast, Janna."
