41: Chapter 41 Is this what you call a sweatshop? Employees of major companies across the internet are envious.

He turned on his body-worn camera and strode up to the young man.

"Don't be afraid! We are from the Jiangcheng Joint Law Enforcement Team. Don't have any concerns. What is your name? Are you a junior college graduate who just got assigned here?" Director Li said in a very serious tone.

The young man peeled off his face mask and tossed it into the smart sensor trash can by his feet.

"My name is Li Qiang, I graduated from the Hongxing Electromechanical Class Two, and I've only been at the factory for half a month. Officer, I wasn't late today, I'm on leave." Li Qiang looked completely confused.

The Labor Bureau Officer immediately rushed forward, his face full of righteous indignation.

"Comrade Li Qiang! Tell the truth, did they take away your ID card and diploma? Were you forced to be locked in here and not allowed to leave? How many hours of hard labor do they force you to do every day? Speak up boldly, and we will rescue you immediately!" the Labor Bureau Officer said in a loud voice.

After hearing this, Li Qiang was stunned for a full ten seconds. He looked at the Labor Bureau Officer as if he were looking at an idiot.

"Leader, are you okay? Who confiscated my ID? Who locked me up?" Li Qiang pointed to the spacious room.

The Section Chief of Industry and Commerce got anxious and slapped the whistleblower report in his hand. "Someone filed a real-name report! It says dozens of you students are crammed into a basement of a dozen square meters, eating moldy food every day. How do you explain this!"

"What is there to explain? Are you blind!" Li Qiang's hot temper flared up. He pointed to his feet.

"I live alone in a fifty-square-meter river-view suite with a private bathroom and 24-hour hot water. You call this a dozen-square-meter basement? If you want to live in a basement, go live in one yourself!"

The SWAT team leader pointed to the computer on the table. "Don't hide anything. You bought this computer with your own money, right? Did they force you to buy company equipment at a high price?"

"Buy my foot!" Li Qiang rolled his eyes. "This is a benefit purchased by Factory Director Lu for everyone. It was issued on the first day I joined the factory. Even that PS5 was just delivered by Old Zhou from the Administration Department yesterday, saying he was afraid we'd be bored after work with nothing to play."

Li Qiang pointed to the Ragdoll cat nearby. "It's a stray cat. The factory said whoever is willing to adopt it gets an eight-hundred-yuan monthly cat food subsidy from the Finance Department. I just bought a box of imported canned food yesterday."

Across all major live streaming platforms, the screens of five million online viewers were completely submerged in exclamation marks. For a full half-minute, there wasn't a single substantive text comment, just "!!!!!!!".

Immediately after, the volcano of public opinion erupted. The bitter resentment from major internet tech giants and all kinds of miserable workers gushed out.

"What the hell? This is what you call a dark room? The place I live in is the real dark room!" "A fifty-square-meter river-view suite? Top-tier Alienware computer? Paid cat-raising? Which dimension's pyramid scheme den is this!"

"I graduated with a master's degree from a 985 university and joined a big internet company in the capital. I work 996 every day, six people squeezed into a ten-square-meter room with bunk beds, and we have to queue up and swipe meal cards just to take a shower. Why does a junior college graduate live more luxuriously than my boss!"

"Who wrote the whistleblower letter! What is the basement I pay four thousand yuan to rent in Shanghai? Is it a morgue!"

"Please, Chenguang Electronics Factory, come scam me. Lock me in there too; I'm willing to stay locked in this room until I die, and I won't take a single step outside!"

"Where are all those people who were cursing Lu Chen just now? Come out and take a look. If this is a bloodsucking capitalist, please give me a dozen of them!"

The trend of public opinion on the internet underwent a shocking reversal in that instant. The fifty-square-meter fully furnished single dormitory directly stomped the various smear campaigns online into the ground.

At the same time, at the headquarters of Tengfei Electronics, fifty kilometers away, "Crash!" Wang Teng kicked over the mahogany coffee table in front of him. The imported liquor bottles on top smashed onto the floor into glass shards, and the expensive liquor flowed all over the ground.

"Liars! A bunch of good-for-nothing idiots who can't accomplish anything but can ruin everything!" Wang Teng roared hysterically, pointing at the screen on his tablet.

He grabbed his phone and dialed the number of the boss of the online troll farm. As soon as the call connected, Wang Teng started cursing.

"Are you people blind? A fifty-square-meter suite with an Alienware computer, and you tell me this is a pigsty! Is this how you fabricate dirt? I spent tens of millions to hire you, and you're here giving reverse advertising for Lu Chen, aren't you!"

The troll farm boss on the other end was about to cry. "Mr. Wang, this has nothing to do with me! Who could have imagined that a broken electronics factory on the verge of bankruptcy could provide this level of accommodation? This completely defies common sense. Now the netizens online have all turned against us; they are grouping up to scold our marketing accounts for issuing press releases, saying we are spreading rumors and causing trouble. Hundreds of our accounts have already been banned..."

"Shut up! Keep swaying public opinion for me! Say that student is a temporary actor hired for the occasion! Go!" Wang Teng hung up the phone viciously and smashed it against the wall.

Inside Room 306 on the third floor of the apartment building, Director Li's back was already soaked with sweat. The development of events had completely deviated from the script. He had expected to push open the door and see miserable low-level laborers, but instead, he saw an e-sports teenager living a life of luxury.

Director Li took two deep breaths, forcibly suppressing his wildly beating heart. He stared at Li Qiang. "You just said you were on leave today. You've only been in the factory for half a month, what kind of leave are you taking? Are you sick, and the factory didn't approve your leave, just threw you in the dormitory to fend for yourself?"

Li Qiang was completely speechless. "Leader, can you not understand human language?" Li Qiang stood up, picked up a bottle of imported sparkling water from the computer desk, unscrewed it, and took a sip.

"Yesterday, I stayed up all night in the basement with Chen Hao and the others coding for the equipment. We worked a twelve-hour night shift consecutively and only finished this morning," Li Qiang explained.

"Factory Director Lu said night shifts are too tiring, so he gave our Technical Group Three three days of paid leave. I just went to the temperature-controlled swimming pool between Building 5 and Building 6 and swam for two hours. I just got back and turned on the computer to play a couple of games when you kicked down my door."

Li Qiang slammed the sparkling water bottle onto the table. "What kind of joint law enforcement do you call this? Is this just disturbing the peace!"

Hearing "three days of paid leave" and "temperature-controlled swimming pool," the eyes of several officers nearby went wide.

The Section Chief of Industry and Commerce turned and ran to the floor-to-ceiling panoramic window to look down. Between the two buildings, a huge, azure outdoor swimming pool was sparkling, and several shirtless young men were playing water polo inside. There were also a dozen beach chairs and parasols set up by the pool.

The Section Chief swallowed, then retreated back into the room. "You live here... and you really don't have to pay a single cent for accommodation?" Director Li's voice was a bit dry.

"Pay what? Utilities are free, internet is fully covered," Li Qiang pointed outside. "The base salary starts at ten thousand, plus night shift subsidies and bonuses. Old Zhou paid me twenty-six thousand last month, and meals in the cafeteria are free. I don't even know where to spend the money. You insist on running over here to investigate some exploitation. Are you sick?"

The scene was deathly silent. The only sound left was the sound of the Tiger Vanguard wielding a big blade to chop monkeys in the computer speakers. The camera lens recorded the stiff expressions of Director Li and the SWAT team members, broadcasting it synchronously across the entire internet.

Lu Chen, who had been standing outside the door without saying a word, took out a cigarette pack from his pocket and pulled out a cigarette, putting it in his mouth. Lu Chen leaned against the solid wood door frame of the hallway and exhaled a thick puff of white smoke.

"Director Li." Lu Chen's voice wasn't loud, but it could be heard clearly in the deathly silent hallway. "Does this 'dark room' environment comply with your labor protection regulations? Or would you like to take a ruler and measure if this room is less than a dozen square meters?" Lu Chen pointed into the room.

Director Li's face turned red and then white. The whistleblower report in his hand felt like a red-hot branding iron, too hot for him to hold. But he had been handling cases for decades and had never seen a situation like this; he didn't know what to do for a moment. But since the report was accepted, he had to investigate.

Director Li turned around abruptly, his gaze locked firmly onto Lu Chen. He opened his notebook and jabbed his finger hard onto the page. "Lu Chen... good environment and high benefits do not mean there are no violations!"

Director Li gritted his teeth, trying to recover. "He just said it himself, he worked a twelve-hour night shift consecutively!" Director Li stepped forward, his aura fully unleashed.

"The Labor Law stipulates that daily working hours must not exceed eight hours. You forced employees to work continuously for twelve hours in the basement. This is serious overtime labor. This is sacrificing employees' health for the company's profit!"

Director Li "slapped" his notebook shut and turned to look at the Labor Bureau Officer and the Section Chief of Industry and Commerce. "Take everyone away! Go to their Human Resources Department!" Director Li ordered sternly.

"Immediately pull out the factory's attendance sheets, time-clock records, and the detailed payment records for everyone's wages. I want to check them one by one. As long as there is any record of forced overtime exceeding eight hours, seal their Human Resources Manager's office immediately!"