Losing Money to Be a Tycoon
chapter-360

December 20th, Monday… Last week, Tengda’s administrative department worked hard to prepare for the annual meeting while the other subsidiaries and departments continued researching and developing their respective products.

Thus, Pei Qian did nothing but slack and wait for time to pass.

The company was meant to have a gathering at Ming Yun Private Kitchen on the 20th of every month, but today was special.

That was because the annual meeting was also set for today. Pei Qian gathered all of Ming Yun Private Kitchen and Fish-Catching Take-Out’s chefs to the location of the annual meeting.

Tengda’s annual meeting was going to be different from other companies’.

Most other companies would set their annual meetings in the evening. That meant everyone would only leave the office in the afternoon and remain at the venue until 7 or 8 PM, or perhaps even later. That would severely cut into their rest time.

Of course, this was unacceptable to Pei Qian.

Thus, the plan for Tengda’s annual meeting was this: everyone would work as per usual in the morning, attend the annual meeting in the afternoon, and aim to end before their usual knock-off time. Pei Qian could not allow his employees’ rest to be affected.

At that moment, Wu Bin was seated at his own work desk with nothing to do. He wondered how he should spend his time!

He looked around…

Why was everyone working so seriously?

If he was at Hengtu Games and everyone knew that the annual meeting was going to begin shortly, they would be idling and slacking on the job, just waiting for time to pass.

After all, it would be extremely difficult to focus on work under such circumstances. Yet, things were completely different at Tengda. Everyone continued working on whatever they were supposed to work on and actually looked even more serious than before!

Wu Bin was puzzled.

We’re supposed to have the annual meeting today. Shouldn’t you be excited for tonight? Shouldn’t you have trouble focusing on work?

Why are you all tapping away at your keyboards and being so preoccupied with work?

Were they acting?

That couldn’t be. Wu Bin stole a glance at the man beside him and realized that he was indeed working. He was neither chatting with others nor surfing random webpages. Wu Bin whispered, “The annual meeting is going to begin. Why does everyone look so much busier?”

The man sipped his coffee and answered, “Isn’t that normal?

“The annual meeting is taking up our afternoon. We have no choice but to be more productive in the morning so that we can finish up our work for the day.

“There’s only so much work to do anyway. The sooner we can finish it, the sooner we can rest. If we keep delaying it, it’s difficult to obtain permission to work overtime!”

Wu Bin was speechless.

What the hell did he mean by ‘it’s difficult to obtain permission to work overtime’?!

This was the first time Wu Bin was hearing that employees did not have the freedom to work overtime. In fact, there was an imposed limit. It was no wonder that everyone was working as hard as they were. They had fixed tasks.

Other companies enjoyed making their employees work overtime. If they gave their employees ten hours to finish a task and their employees finished earlier, they would only give the latter more work to do.

Naturally, those employees took their own sweet time and found it best to submit their work at the last possible minute.

Tengda was extraordinary. There was also a lot of work to be done, but the company reduced its employees’ working duration as far as possible.

Employees were to adhere strictly to the eight-hour work limit. Even if they wanted to work an extra hour, whether they would be allowed to or not was dependent on Boss Pei’s mood.

Furthermore, the tasks were fixed. Even if they finished earlier, they would not be given new tasks.

Thus, many people had become used to working efficiently.

On one hand, finishing their work sooner would mean being able to rest and play sooner. On the other hand if they left their work undone and they were not allowed to work overtime later, they would not be able to finish their work before the deadline.

Today, everybody’s afternoons would be taken up by the annual meeting. Thus, they had to finish as much work as possible in the morning

Of course, they were extremely productive!

Wu Bin could not help but feel moved. Tengda was really freaky. Why was it doing the complete opposite of every other company out there? The company must have had a special technique that could ignite the passion in its employees.

Since that was the case…

Wu Bin needed to be as efficient and passionate at work as possible in order to fit into the company better!

He quickly made a mental note of all these things.

That was because he was due to take his first Tengda Spirit compatibility test that morning.

This was his first time. If he passed, he would obtain tenure and become one of Tengda’s employees.

If he failed, he would have three more chances.

Wu Bin knew this very well: the more special and unique a company was, the harder it would be to grasp its spirit.

Thus, Wu Bin had no idea what kind of questions would be tested. Soon, it was time.

At 11 AM, Wu Bin walked into the conference room. There were many laptops in the room. Tengda Spirit compatibility test’s program was opened on every single one of them.

One would not be able to change windows or exit the program. They would only be allowed to submit the test once they had answered all the questions.

Furthermore, people from the administrative department were there to invigilate the test. They would not be allowed to communicate or use their cell phones.

Wu Bin looked around and found that more than twenty people were going to sit for the test this time.

Obviously, those were not all the people who had been selected to join Tengda in the previous round. A few of them were still in the midst of leaving their previous jobs and thus had not joined the company yet.

The twenty-odd employees in the room were just like Wu Bin. They had left their previous jobs almost immediately after being selected. That was why they had made it in time to join this batch.

Wu Bin realized that the atmosphere in the conference room was still quite relaxed. Although people were not laughing and chatting, nobody was sulking or behaving like they were going to war.

Obviously, everyone thought that this test would be similar to physical examinations for government officials or psychological tests that some universities organized; very few people would fail.

Most of them thought that they would be able to pass as long as they answered the questions instinctively. This was a mere formality to them.

Soon, everyone took their seats and started the test.

Wu Bin sucked in a deep breath, grabbed the mouse, and read the first question.

‘It’s time to get off work. You have an incomplete assignment on your hands. You should:’

Wu Bin scanned the options and frowned at once.

“That simple? Of course, I have to work overtime if the work’s not done. Nobody would select ‘wait until tomorrow’, right?

“Holy sh*t, there’s an option to argue with one’s superior? Whoever selects this option would probably be fired immediately, right?

Wu Bin was beginning to find the test strange. He even wanted to laugh.

These questions were very different from what he had expected. Wu Bin had thought that the questions in the test would be complicated and difficult and that the options would be very demanding. He imagined questions that would be as difficult to answer as ‘if your wife and your mother fell into the sea, who would you save first?’

However, from the looks of the current situation, the test was extremely simple!

Indeed, it was merely a formality.

Even newbies with some EQ would know the answer to questions like that, right? Wu Bin quickly selected the option to work overtime and complete the task. However, just as he was about to submit his answer, he realized that something was amiss.

Is it really that simple? Did they have to set a test for this?

He immediately recalled his experience.

Most of Tengda’s employees were very efficient. That was probably why they would not be placed in a situation where they could not finish their work. If this happened, it would show that one was very inefficient at work. Then…

They should still work overtime to complete the task, right?

Wu Bin tried to consider the question on a deeper level but found that his answer did not change.

“…Perhaps I’m thinking too much.

“This is only the first question. There’s no reason to feel so conflicted. I’ll continue reading.”

Wu Bin answered the questions faster and faster.

He really wanted to think deeper about them, but the truth was… there was nothing much to think about.

From any angle, the answers to the questions were clear!

As he continued answering the questions, Wu Bin suddenly frowned.

“Eh? Didn’t I answer this question before? Are there too many questions? Is the question bank too small?”

Wu Bin studied the question closer and found that it was very similar to the one before. They were both about working overtime, but there was an extra phrase here: ‘Boss Pei told you’.

“Eh? It’s probably not a repeated question.

“Does that mean there should be a difference in my answers for these questions?

“Should I work overtime to complete a task from Boss Pei?

“Hmm… this question should be different from the earlier one.

“Boss Pei repeatedly emphasizes that we should not work overtime. Since he probably would oversee this task, I should not work overtime.

“That means I shouldn’t select the ‘work overtime’ option.

“All in all, if I’m unable to finish my work, it would mean I’m being inefficient. Naturally, I should work overtime to finish the work. However, I can only do so sneakily. If Boss Pei finds out, I would not be allowed to work overtime.

“Yes, that should be it.”

Wu Bin was not very sure about the answer, but since the test contained so many questions, he figured that it would make no difference even if he got this question wrong. Thus, he quickly scrolled past it.

Soon, all the questions were answered.

Wu Bin had initially thought that the answers would only be revealed after some time. However, when he submitted his test, he saw a button on his screen that said ‘Check Test Results’.

Wu Bin paused. “I get the results on the

spot?”

He suddenly panicked inside.

However, after some thought, he realized that there was nothing to panic about. This test was merely a formality.

Even if he got one or two questions wrong, he would probably still pass it, right?

He was just about to click the button when he heard the man opposite him holler in shock.

“Holy f*ck?!”

Wu Bin looked up to see the man staring at his computer screen in disbelief. Soon, shocked voices sounded all around the room.

Since the questions were simple and easy to understand, most people did not need much time to answer them. Thus, everyone finished the test at nearly the same time.

The shock soon started to spread around the room. Many people did not scream or shout. However, the strange, astonished expressions on their faces told Wu Bin all that he needed to know.

Wu Bin suddenly realized that something was wrong. Weren’t the questions very simple?! How could so many people fail the test?

He quickly moved his mouse to click on the ‘Check Test Results’ button.

Only one line of words appeared on the screen: ‘Apologies… you did not pass the Tengda Spirit compatibility test. Please work harder!

Wu Bin was speechless.

Finished.

He had not expected this result at all. Hadn’t the questions been very simple? How did he get them wrong?

Moreover, it had not been just one or two questions, but many of them!

Wu Bin felt extremely confused. He tried hard to recall the questions and still could not find any problem with his answers. Where exactly had he gone wrong? He looked around and saw that everyone was reacting differently, but their expressions were all filled with shock.

“Whoa, I actually passed!”

“How did I fail? What happened?”

“This is terrible!”

Most people were perplexed and puzzled, but a few were pleasantly surprised. However, whether they passed or not, everyone was extremely confused by the questions.

Wu Bin really wanted to ask those who passed how they had done it, but the employees from the administrative department—who had been invigilating the test—were beginning to chase people out of the room.

“If you’re done with the test, please leave immediately. You’re not to discuss the questions. It’s alright if you didn’t pass this time; you all have three more chances.

“Please use the remaining time to study Tengda’s spirit well. May you all pass the test the next time!”

Baffled, Wu Bin returned to his workspace.

“How did you do? Did you pass?” The man beside him asked as he tapped away at his keyboard, working.

Wu Bin shook his head, still bewildered. “I didn’t.”

The man’s head was obviously filled with question marks at that moment, but he still comforted Wu Bin. “Don’t worry. It’s probably because you just joined us not long ago, and you don’t understand the Tengda spirit well enough. Keep working hard; there’ll be more chances in the future.”

Wu Bin, “…What exactly is the Tengda spirit?”

The man remained silent for a long time before answering, “You’ve stumped me. I don’t know either…”

Wu Bin was speechless.

It looked like the test was not as simple as he had imagined…