19: You ignored me at first, but now you think you can’t reach me!

"Old Xiao, stop trying to fool us."

"Li Mubai was just strolling around outside, he only went in a short while ago. Now you're saying he's not here? Aren't you messing with me?"

The one speaking was Lao Zhao.

He was also a former employee of the factory.

He was big and burly, with a fierce face and a flat-top haircut.

His face was pockmarked, enough to make most children cry if they saw him.

At this moment,

he had a gloomy expression.

He was staring at Old Xiao with an unfriendly gaze.

The others were the same, their eyes all showing a hint of displeasure as they looked at Old Xiao.

"I'm not fooling you. The boss is indeed out on business."

"You might have seen him earlier, but perhaps you were mistaken. The factory recently hired over a dozen college students, and their ages aren't much different from the boss's."

Old Xiao didn't mind their unfriendly gazes.

What good would displeasure do?

Back then, these were the people who chose to leave on their own.

And they left without even saying goodbye.

It forced him and Li Mubai to work continuous overtime at the factory.

The first batch of goods almost didn't get finished because of it.

"Old Xiao, we've been colleagues for a year, at least show some respect. Is this how you treat us?"

"Old Xiao, stop trying to argue. We're not short-sighted. Don't we know if that figure was the boss or not?"

"Are you afraid that if we come back, we'll steal your job? Is that why you're deliberately hiding it?"

The few of them spoke at once.

In their words,

they directly belittled Old Xiao as an ungrateful person.

Regarding this,

Old Xiao ignored them and continued to repeat what he had just said.

He wasn't afraid of offending these people.

Even if he did, so what?

He no longer worked with them, so why would he be afraid of them making trouble for him?

"You, surnamed Xiao, don't be unappreciative!"

"We're giving you face by calling you Old Xiao, what do you think you are?!"

Lao Zhao was furious.

His fierce expression was enough to scare away any cats and dogs.

Old Xiao's repeated explanations

made Lao Zhao feel like he was losing face.

In his anger,

he decided to just tear off the facade.

The other few also glared angrily at Old Xiao.

The group looked as if they were about to force their way into the factory grounds.

The security guard nearby

had already tightly gripped the baton tucked behind his waist, ready to act.

As long as the other party tried to force their way in,

he would launch a lightning-fast attack, delivering a heavy blow to them.

Ever since the college students reported for duty,

his salary as a security guard had also increased by two hundred.

His current monthly salary was seven hundred.

This was already the salary of an ordinary worker in a typical factory.

For this,

he was sincerely grateful to Li Mubai.

After all, security guards in other places only earned four hundred a month.

Seeing the other party's appearance,

even with Old Xiao's good temper, he couldn't help but frown.

"Do you really want me to spell it out for you?"

"Alright!"

"I wanted to save you some face, but you don't want it."

"I'll just say it directly. Not seeing you is not my decision, but the boss's decision."

"With you fair-weather friends, what boss would dare to hire you?"

Old Xiao was not at all verbose, directly stating the matter clearly.

Originally, he didn't want to tell the truth.

After all, he was afraid of hurting their pride.

But now,

these people not only refused to take the hint but also pushed their luck, wanting to force their way into the factory.

He had no choice but to make things clear.

As expected,

upon hearing this,

the few people who were originally restless immediately froze on the spot.

A hint of surprise was in their eyes.

Lao Zhao was the first to react.

He looked at Old Xiao and shouted in disbelief:

"Impossible!"

"How could the boss say such a thing? After all, we're all old employees of the factory, how could he not even want to see us?"

The others were also startled awake by this shout.

They all shouted "Impossible!" in unison.

Even more so,

some directly yelled Li Mubai's name towards the factory area.

"What are you shouting about here?"

A voice suddenly appeared.

The few of them looked over.

They saw Li Mubai slowly walking towards them.

Old Xiao had been out for a long time and hadn't returned, so Li Mubai decided to come out and check the situation.

As expected,

as soon as he came out, he saw the two sides arguing.

"Boss!"

Lao Zhao's face broke into a smile, and he shouted loudly.

The other few also greeted him.

"No, no, no."

Li Mubai waved his hand to stop them:

"Please don't call me boss, I can't possibly bear that title. Isn't your current boss the head of the largest factory in the County?"

Anyone with a discerning ear could hear the sarcasm in his words.

Lao Zhao and the others were naturally no exception.

"Look at you, Boss. You'll always be our boss!"

Lao Zhao forced a smile.

"That's right."

"That's right."

The other few also echoed respectfully.

"Call me whatever you want. Tell me, what are you doing here?"

Li Mubai didn't want to get too entangled with them.

"Boss, we know we were wrong. Can you give us another chance?"

Lao Zhao's face showed pleading, appearing servile.

As if he was the victim.

Seeing this, the others immediately followed suit, apologizing and vowing to repent.

"No, no, no, you're not wrong. It's my Steel Factory that's wrong."

Li Mubai shook his head.

He didn't believe their nonsense at all.

If they wanted to leave, they just needed to tell him in advance, and he never said he would withhold their wages.

But these people quietly ran off to other factories.

When he called to notify them to come to work,

he only then realized

that these people had already changed jobs.

Even when changing jobs, they didn't even notify him.

It left him scrambling to hire people, forcing him and Old Xiao to work overtime through the night to meet the deadlines.

Those few days,

he was as tired as a dog.

Moreover,

the very afternoon after the goods were shipped, these people came to demand their wages.

Fortunately, he had already received the payment from Zhao Zhenghua at that time.

Otherwise,

if he couldn't produce the money,

would these people have given up so easily?

These people would have surely caused a huge scene at the factory, and perhaps even moved things out of the factory to sell, to offset the debt.

And now,

these people might not be doing well at the other factory.

Now that they saw the Steel Factory recovering, they actually wanted to come back, attempting to get him to take them in.

Did they think his place was a shelter?

Coming and going as they pleased, was it that easy?

"Boss, can you really just stand by and watch us suffer at other factories? Are you that heartless?"

Seeing that pleading didn't work,

Lao Zhao immediately began to use moral blackmail.

These words directly made Li Mubai laugh.

"Back then, you were indifferent to me."

"What?"

"Now that you see the factory is doing well, and you've suffered outside, you want to come back?"

Li Mubai said, then suddenly changed his tone.

"It's not impossible for you to come back."

Lao Zhao and the others' eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this.

Li Mubai's lips curved upwards:

"Our factory only hires college students now. If you can get a college diploma, I can let you come back."

After speaking,

Li Mubai looked at them playfully.

Back then, they were indifferent to him; now, he would make them unable to reach him!