Chapter 98 The Heart Will Not Grow Old
Levi knew that the existence of Goddess Gana was naturally a huge deterrent.
Convincing the Piltover Council of Janna's existence will only benefit the Windleader's cause, not harm it.
So he told Mel without hiding anything: "This blue bird is the incarnation of Janna..."
"It?" Meier was a little disappointed and instinctively questioned. But after questioning, she felt that this explanation was reasonable.
Indeed, all gods are proud.
How could a goddess like her take action personally?
Sending a bluebird clone to follow the chosen one is already the greatest favor from the goddess.
Mel believed it a little, but not completely.
She was just an ordinary person who didn't understand magic, and she had no idea whether this so-called blue bird clone was conjured up by Levi using magic to play tricks and deceive people.
So Mel still maintained a cautious attitude, and then tried with a polite smile and a subtle tone:
"Forgive my poor eyesight for not recognizing the incarnation of the goddess."
"By the way... I wish I could be as lucky as those workers and witness the miracle of Goddess Janna."
"There will be a chance." Levi didn't respond at all.
He knew that with Janna's current strength, all the "miracles" she displayed could be explained by the magic of extraordinary people.
Since you don’t have the ability to perform miracles, just don’t perform.
Otherwise, not only will you fail to convince the other party, but it may also have the opposite effect and cause all kinds of speculation from this wise lady.
"Well, I'll look forward to it." Mel skipped the subject thoughtfully.
She was not in a hurry to test Levi, but returned to the original conversation naturally: "Then Mr. Levi, please continue to lead the way for me next."
"No problem." Levi took Mel to continue the in-depth tour, and the group soon entered the interior of the factory.
Because it was lunch time, the workers were not working at their posts.
But they did not disperse to rest, but gathered together for a meeting under the organization of several leading cadres.
"What are they discussing?" Mel couldn't help but wonder.
Ordinary private factories would not have such workers' meetings.
Zaun apprentices in other factories cannot have such a leisurely lunch break.
She leaned closer to listen out of curiosity, and heard those leading cadres doing ideological work for the workers.
What they advertised was:
"A pay cut?"
Mel looked at Levi in surprise: "You leaders are actually planning to reduce the wages of workers? "
"There's nothing we can do." Li Wei explained helplessly: "In the beginning, we didn't consider it enough and made wrong decisions, so we increased the salary of apprentices tenfold in one go."
"With our current financial situation, we simply cannot afford this level of labor cost expenditure. So we can only cut the workers' wages."
Mel could understand this. After all, the business owners in Piltover would do everything they could to reduce the workers' wages whenever they had the chance.
Business owners have done similar things.
But what Meier couldn't understand was: "In your leadership's philosophy, workers should be the 'masters' of the factory."
"Since they are the ones who are in charge, will they agree if you reduce their salaries and benefits?"
As a Piltover councillor, Mel knew very well:
It is easy to raise welfare but difficult to reduce it.
For example, the benefits that Piltover provides to local people are already astonishingly generous, which should be enough to satisfy people.
But even so, as long as there is even the slightest news of a reduction in welfare, these "greedy" people of Piltover will still jump up and complain loudly.
Well... the leader now wants to cut the workers' salaries and benefits, will they agree?
What should the leader do if the workers disagree?
Mel is looking forward to the answer to this question.
But what she didn't expect was that... after the workers held a collective meeting to discuss the issue, they didn't even give her a chance to answer the question.
Because they never refused to take a pay cut from the beginning.
The workers even initiated the leader's internal democratic decision-making procedure on the spot, voted unanimously, and collectively passed the wage cut with an absolute majority.
"How is this possible?" Mel once again encountered something she couldn't understand.
She was clearly watching the expressions and demeanor of the workers.
They didn't volunteer.
They all wholeheartedly agree with the leader's policies and are willing to accept pay cuts.
Mel simply couldn't imagine how these ordinary workers could be so calm and indifferent in the face of such huge material losses.
Don’t they all love money?
"It's not that they don't love money, but in their hearts, there are things more important than money."
“I’ve said it before – these are not ordinary workers, they are trendsetters.”
Because the apprentices in this factory are basically all leaders whose ideological awareness has been greatly improved.
So although salary cuts seem very difficult, they are surprisingly simple to implement.
The workers are willing to understand the difficulties that the leaders are currently facing and overcome the difficulties together with them.
Because they themselves are the leaders.
“The workers all know that we are not exploiting them for profit.”
"Our leading cadres and these lowest-level workers have always been treated the same. If they cut their salaries, we will also cut our salaries. We are not letting them suffer so that we can enjoy ourselves."
"We are fighting in the same trench, overcoming difficulties together."
Levi's explanation made it even harder for Mel to accept.
She asked suspiciously, "Are the cadres of your leadership... treated the same as the workers?"
"Yeah." Levi nodded affirmatively: "Even as the president, my salary is not much higher than that of a worker."
"Vice President Victor's salary is very high. But that's because he is a scientist and has extra allowances."
Mel didn't want to believe it.
Even though this is the Leaders Association, the territory of idealists... this story of cadres and workers sharing weal and woe sounds a bit too idealistic.
Why?
Cadres are leaders and managers, so why should they be treated the same as workers?
In this case, is there anyone willing to become a cadre of a leader and work for the leader?
"If you are an extraordinary person, a scientist, or a professional who has made outstanding contributions, we will provide additional allowances and rewards."
"But if it is an ordinary leading cadre, it will not be much higher than the workers." Li Wei emphasized again.
Mel was silent for a long time.
After thinking for a long time, she finally sighed: "Okay, I can believe everything you said."
"But I can tell you clearly that what you are doing is unscientific and anti-human, and it will definitely not work in the long run."
"People are born selfish. With so much power in their hands, how many people can resist using it?"
"Levi, you are too naive."
Meier shook her head repeatedly. In her opinion, the spirit shown by the leader now was just the temporary enthusiasm of young people.
Once these idealists stay in the world for too long, they will naturally turn back into ordinary people.
Isn't it true that a country as powerful as Noxus is gradually being destroyed by those entrenched military aristocrats?
History has long proved that human nature is destined to be unchangeable.
"I don't believe in people either, but I believe in God." Levi replied: "Janna will always protect us and guide us in the right direction."
"How to protect?" Meier laughed sarcastically. She believed that even gods could not solve the problems of human nature.
"Just like this—" She wanted to see a miracle, and Levi actually gave her one:
The bluebird flapped its wings slightly, and faint white lines were drawn out from the people present one by one.
"What are these?" Mel was puzzled.
"These are embodied beliefs. Through these 'lines', we can see how devout a person is to his or her faith."
Hearing this, Meier's pupils suddenly shrank:
Can faith be materialized? Can one see whether one is pious or not?
If all this is true:
An immortal god of faith, an everlasting great faith, plus a team of eternally pure believers... this is equal to an unstoppable storm of change!
In this way, the so-called ultimate ideal that is like a dream seems to have hope of being realized.
Thinking of this, Mel couldn't help but become a little dazed.
"Wait——" She was stunned for a long time before she realized belatedly that something even more terrifying was happening.
"I..." Mel stared at his hands blankly: "Why do I have a 'line' too?!"
Yes, she's wired too.
The line was very faint, almost invisible, and although it was not very firm, it did exist.
"Because, you are also a believer of Janna." Levi sighed.
He was not surprised by this. The reason why he was so patient in accompanying Mel around today and telling her those sincere truths was because...
Janna told him when he met Mel:
"Mel, you also believe in Janna."
"This is impossible!" Mel lost his composure:
How could she possibly believe in Janna?
She just flipped through the booklet a few times and read the theories in it carefully.
Just because she is familiar with something doesn't mean she believes it.
"How could I possibly believe in that kind of fairy tale fantasy?" Mel muttered to himself, "I... am no longer a child!"
"But it is true."
Levi looked at her thread of faith. Not only did this thread not disappear with Mel's denial, but it became a little brighter.
"Miss Meyer, maybe you have just matured."
"But your heart is still young."
