Chapter 465: Chapter 465

Jiang Yuan perked up immediately, "Now we’re getting to the good part, tell me more!"

"Did you see that cluster of poop-yellow buildings? That area is called Jinxiu Li, and there’s a quite large and luxurious internet café in that district. The owner, Qi Deqiang, is a real piece of work!"

Wu Yegen curled his lips and said disdainfully, "Instead of focusing on properly operating the café and attracting customers to boost revenue, when business is bad, he resorts to other tactics—like hiring game grinders. Hey, do you know what game grinding is?"

This term has a bit of history. Jiang Yuan remembered that when he was in college, quite a few classmates would do game grinding part-time.

It’s basically hustling in online games and then selling gold coins or valuable equipment, which can then be exchanged for RMB at a certain rate.

He had seen it but never tried it himself. First, because back when he was in university, his family wasn’t well-off and he couldn’t afford a computer suitable for game grinding;

second, his classmates were grinding games just to earn some pocket money, which wasn’t as cost-effective for him as doing part-time work.

So the online games that were popular at the time managed to escape this phenomenon; otherwise, they likely would have faced the fate of becoming deserted.

"Are there still people grinding in games nowadays?" He was quite shocked. The development speed of mobile games in the past two years had been absurdly fast, and he hadn’t paid much attention to the online game market, assuming it had long faded away.

"Of course there are." Wu Yegen watched him cast his fishing line without any bait, and within a minute, he hooked a fish. He couldn’t help but think this beginner’s luck seemed exaggeratedly excessive.

At least put some bait on, for appearances’ sake! No wonder the Mediterranean noticed you; over there, he’s struggling to catch one fish while you’re catching them and releasing them.

If the Mediterranean knew you weren’t even using bait, he might get so frustrated he’d lose his appetite for three days!

"Uh..." He got a bit distracted and then picked up the conversation, "Though it’s not as booming as it used to be, there’s still a market for online games, and many players are willing to spend money now. If you find the right game to grind in, you can earn quite a bit.

Oh right, business at Qi Deqiang’s internet café is average. Since the network and equipment are already there, he started hiring game grinders last year.

The base salary is eight hundred, accommodation is covered but not food, and the commission is 40% of what you grind, exchanged into RMB. Basically, the more you work, the more you earn. But there are two conditions: First, you must use the account provided by the café; second, if you earn less than a thousand RMB in a month, you get no base salary."

Jiang Yuan listened and thought there was nothing wrong, "Seems fair enough, considering accommodation is provided. These conditions can prevent those game-addicted teens who don’t want to earn money from exploiting loopholes.

Otherwise, providing accommodation and covering electricity, and the grinder earns just ten to twenty RMB, it isn’t enough to cover the losses."

The other shrugged, "Normally, people think these two restrictions make the owner seem sincere in hiring.

With the poor job market in the past couple of years, there are too many unemployed and laid-off individuals, his internet café quickly recruited many game grinders. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on NoveI-Fire.ɴet

The first batch leveled up the newly registered accounts; the second batch got the equipment set up; by the third batch, those grinders calculated their commissions and, driven like adrenaline junkies, stayed at their computers day and night, thinking they could play games for fun and earn tens of thousands monthly.

In the end, Qi Deqiang took the money, turned around and said they hadn’t earned a thousand RMB in a month, so they didn’t get the base salary; instead, the café made another profit selling cigarettes, drinks, instant noodles, and even boxed meals."

"Paying out of pocket to work?" He was heated just listening, "Hasn’t anyone confronted him?"

"What can they do? The salary terms were verbally agreed upon, not even a perfunctory contract was signed, and the victims can’t even prove they worked at the café.

There is surveillance, of course, but it only proves they were at the café just playing games in groups.

Besides, Qi Deqiang is cunning. Every time, he logs in himself using the account password before letting others use it. Without having the account password, even if someone clears the account, how can you investigate how much money was made?"

Wu Yegen watched as another fish was released, feeling a bit numb, and said helplessly, "Qi Deqiang even chooses weak targets, not recruiting people who seem tough.

He recruits honest students just out of college or middle-aged people facing layoffs.

The former don’t know how to claim their rights when scammed, and if Qi Deqiang PUA manipulates them enough, they really think they aren’t cut out for the job because they haven’t earned much;

The latter have family responsibilities from both older and younger generations, are already under financial pressure, and for just one month’s salary, waste both time and effort, yet might not even get paid, most choose to swallow the insult and find another job to support their family.

A few get intimidated by Qi Deqiang’s thug status, believing it’s better to avoid trouble, admit being unlucky. Some go to the police, but then get counter-accused with surveillance footage claiming they didn’t pay for surfing the internet."

Jiang Yuan frowned, "Hasn’t anyone exposed him? Posting on Weibo or making short videos to reveal his true colors, even if there is no solid evidence, at least it would warn others, preventing them from falling for it."

Wu Yegen laughed at his naivety, "Without being a celebrity, not having a team, and no money to buy viewership, ordinary people posting as many messages as they want won’t help! Moreover, there are always those who disregard warnings, there’s plenty who will take the risk, if you don’t, there are others who will."

"True enough." Jiang Yuan recalled the company he had been in which closed and ran off, not a bit of use having countless employees trying to claim their rights.

That was a company with a business license and official contracts; facing something , there’s no choice but to admit defeat, not to mention a small setup that doesn’t even classify as a company?

The conditions sound suitable for "acting on behalf of heaven," but you can’t act on just one side of the story, you must investigate thoroughly before deciding; also, he was worried if he went to "work" and played games, he might bankrupt the game instead...

"Mediterranean’s coming over!" Wu Yegen alerted him, "You’re catching and releasing fish and got noticed, he’s been watching you for a while!"

He knew all the nearby fishermen well and kindly reminded Jiang Yuan, "Take the opportunity to interact with Mediterranean. Don’t underestimate him because of his looks—the hairstyle is nothing short of formidable.

Mediterranean is the most renowned retired cardiologist at our province’s second hospital, with countless disciples, renowned across the nation, many wealthy people can’t even hire him.

If you could connect with him through fishing, man, imagine the contacts...anything you want done, he could help you!"

Jiang Yuan looked up to see it was true; the fisher with the shiny forehead and an unsuccessful attempt to support the center with the sides was indeed approaching with his gear.

Wu Yegen continued in a low voice, "This guy is indifferent to fame and wealth, utterly absorbed in fishing, even refused rehiring to enjoy his retirement life properly.

Previously, many people wanted him to do favors, accompanying him on fishing trips, but I suspect there really weren’t any fish in this river, as no one ever caught any.

Mediterranean was stubborn, insisting on catching fish here, gets irritable when he doesn’t, eventually causing people to leave him be undisturbed..."

He paused, eyeing the two big fish hopping around in the bucket, "Tell me honestly, did you hire a diver to hook the fish for you, just to catch this big fish, Mediterranean?"