Lunch with the Boss’s Credit Card

—The wontons!

“There’s something wrong with the dishes you chose.” Su Lai glanced again at the rules posted outside the display window, lost in thought.
“Choose your dishes carefully. The cafeteria does not accept returns.”
“You can’t return this bowl of wontons either…”

At Su Lai’s words, Bai Ke suddenly understood.
His colleagues in the same department were staring at him like an outsider, their eyes frequently drifting to the wontons floating in his bowl.

The problem was the wontons!

The colleagues sitting together all had identical meals in their trays: boiled fish scales and spicy lobster heads.
Was it because their food was different that they couldn’t sit together?

Though it sounded absurd, they might have stumbled upon an unspoken “implicit workplace rules” not written in black and white——
「You must have the same taste in food as your department colleagues to sit together.」

If the dishes you chose were different, you would be seen as a misfit. A new employee ordering different food couldn’t integrate into the department’s lunch group.

Just like the implicit workplace rules of “everyone must drink afternoon milk tea together.” Especially for new employees, in order to build workplace relationships and integrate quickly, whether you’re on a diet, allergic to caffeine, or saving for rent, you have to join these boring afternoon tea sessions.

Whether you can eat and play with your colleagues often becomes the measurement standard for whether a new employee “fits in.”

In the pollutant-built Fortuitous Retribution Building, these implicit workplace rules are infinitely amplified, becoming rules that players must follow. There is no blurry boundary. Once a new player violates them, they will trigger an unknown crisis.

“The employee handbook mentions: Solidarity and fraternity are part of the company culture.” Su Lai reminded him from the side.

He had a detached calm, as if he couldn’t empathize with Bai Ke’s predicament.

After all, he had made the previous security guard quit through special means so he could inherit the job. His method of “solidarity and fraternity” with colleagues was quite unique: making the other party find a better opportunity.

Now, the entire Security department only had him.
If you reluctantly counted the former security guard brother still hanging around on the 11th floor, he did have a colleague. But this colleague was quite eerie and not very hygienic, from time to time spraying blood on the ceiling and tiles.

The old saying goes: a person’s last words are good ones.
By that logic, a person already in the ground is not only good but also honest. Su Lai liked dead ghost colleagues. They were much simpler than complicated living workplace relationships.

“I was careless earlier. Didn’t think about the workplace communal dining situation. Didn’t think before buying the wontons…” Bai Ke started self-blame in his anxiety.

His current real-world company, though competitive and full of overtime, was at least in the internet media industry, known for its wolfish nature. Everyone was focused on serving clients and producing content, not much energy for office politics. He wasn’t very skilled at that.

Bai Ke went back to the display window to look. The boiled fish scales and spicy lobster heads were both very expensive dishes, costing 5 and 7 work hours respectively. Together, they far exceeded his remaining work hour balance.

If he hadn’t bought the wontons, it would have been just enough…
This was definitely a trap deliberately set by the instance. The two dishes together cost 12 work hours, exactly what he had earned in the afternoon. Once he chose wrong, there was no room for reversal.

The cafeteria rules clearly stated: “Choose your dishes carefully. The cafeteria does not accept returns.” This was to remind players to be prudent. New employees could easily fail the “fitting in” implicit workplace rules by choosing the wrong dish.

Su Lai: “Cousin, do you want to eat these wontons?”

Bai Ke looked at the oil slick floating in the bowl and shook his head.

Su Lai: “Do you want to eat the boiled fish scales and spicy lobster heads?”

Bai Ke grew more dejected and shook his head even more firmly.

Su Lai nodded thoughtfully.
“Too bad you don’t have a choice.”
“You might have to eat both the wontons and the fish scales and lobster heads.”

Bai Ke’s eyes lit up with a flicker of hope.
“Lai-ge, are you… going to help me pay for the meal?”

Su Lai patted his shoulder sympathetically, paused for half a second, and said sincerely.
“Cousins like us, though not close, I wouldn’t do something that stupid.”

Bai Ke: “……??”
Bai Ke was speechless. The faint flicker of hope in his eyes was completely extinguished.

In this situation, an ordinary person might not help, but they would at least offer words of comfort, providing necessary or unnecessary emotional value.

But then again, his “cousin” was no ordinary person.

And as a security guard, Lai-ge’s base work hour multiplier was already lower than others. It wouldn’t be fair to ask him for help…

But Bai Ke had no time to dwell on embarrassment or self-reflection. Only one question remained: how to get enough work hours in a short time to buy the disgusting boiled fish scales and spicy lobster heads from the display window?

If this wasn’t resolved, he was doomed today. This instance was different from the urban village. He didn’t have the cover of being Wang Chunying’s distant nephew. His situation was much more dangerous.

「Work hours,」 like mental stability, were hard to recover once consumed. And in the reward system, there was no work hour item…

Su Lai looked at the Admin department table. Perhaps his gaze was too direct, but that group of coworkers, who had been staring so intensely, now started subtly rolling their eyes, shifting their gaze away. They couldn’t avoid it too obviously, so they darted their eyes.

The harder they tried to avoid his stare, the more intently Su Lai stared.

“Cousin, who’s the leader among these people?” Su Lai even rolled up his sleeves, staring back even harder.

Now, the Admin department colleagues who liked to stare all looked away. The pressure of being stared at immediately lifted, and Bai Ke could breathe.

He didn’t dare point, only used his eyes to indicate.
“ID 844. Third from the right.”

Su Lai stepped closer and stared unreservedly at the Admin Director’s ID badge.

Employee Name: ***
Department: Administration
Employee ID: 844
Position: Admin Director

Though Su Lai’s gaze was calm, the director was still made uncomfortable by the stare.
An indescribable sense of oppression arose. He even forgot that he was an NPC, like a timid student caught engaging in small tricks by the teacher.

Strangely, there was no malice on Su Lai’s face, but the Admin Director felt that if he kept being stared at like this, he might get beaten up… This security guard looked tough, probably hit hard…

Su Lai didn’t care about the nervousness flickering across the other’s face. He just wanted the information on his ID badge, every word of it.

The Admin Director couldn’t take it anymore and asked quietly.
“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?”

Su Lai shook his head, narrowing his eyes.
“No. Just looking.”
“And saying hello.” Su Lai said naturally.

“…” The Admin Director was stunned, then nodded stiffly. After a moment’s hesitation, he didn’t dare say more.

Half a minute later, Su Lai looked away, turned, and walked back to the serving window.
“Auntie, how much for the gutter oil?”

Auntie: “…?”
Her face full of question marks.
“What are you doing? Picking a fight?”

Su Lai: “Not picking a fight. Don’t misunderstand.”
“White rice is too plain. Want some gutter oil to fill my stomach.”

The auntie looked at him doubtfully. But because Su Lai looked calm and sincere, not like someone looking for trouble.

She hesitated for a moment but ultimately raised her heavy ladle. Luckily, she didn’t whack Su Lai on the head with it. She turned and scooped a ladle of thick, dark oil from a blue plastic bucket and whoosh, poured it into Su Lai’s empty rice bowl.

Normally, they wouldn’t respond to such “begging” behavior from employees. Though this young man had a rascal air about him and his flashy flip-flops made him look like no proper youth, he was good-looking and lively. He also said he’d support her business. Giving him an extra scoop of gutter oil didn’t violate the rules.

“Thanks, Auntie. I’ll support your business later.” Su Lai carried the bowl of gutter oil towards the Admin department.

As if detecting Su Lai’s impending high-risk behavior, the system issued a warning——

[Player Wang Xiaosi, please note! Do not commit personal attack against NPCs.]

Su Lai shook the gutter oil in his bowl.
“You misunderstand. I’m not attacking anyone.”

After all, the oil was cold. It wouldn’t burn anyone.

[Warning! Do not be rude to colleagues!]
[Solidarity and fraternity are part of the company culture. Your words and actions will affect your colleagues’ evaluation of you, especially those with higher position.]

Su Lai: “What evaluation?”

The system emitted a BEEP——, and for some reason, the message was blocked.

[Do not be rude to colleagues! Especially physical rudeness!]
The system emphasized again, showing its urgency and helplessness.

Su Lai: “You make it sound like I’m about to commit workplace sexual harassment.”

System: [.]
It shut up. That’s not what it meant. It was wronged.

Su Lai was undeterred.
“What if I am rude to a colleague with a higher position?”

If the system hadn’t mentioned position, Su Lai wouldn’t have been as interested.

[Such behavior may draw the attention of the Security department.]
[The building security guard may take compulsory measures against you…]

The system stopped mid-sentence.
It remembered that this temporary player was a bug. Wang Xiaosi was the only employee in the Security department.

——In other words, Wang Xiaosi was the Security department.

The system fell into a logical dead loop.

And the viewers watching the livestream had a high demand for Wang Xiaosi, threatening to boycott if he was removed.
The system didn’t dare. It simply didn’t dare…

“Compulsory measures, huh…” Su Lai’s eyes lit up, musing.
“So I have the privilege of forcing others. Thanks for the reminder.”
“I can’t fork myself out, can I?”

He remembered the telescopic steel fork in the security room. Suddenly felt his hands were a bit free.

The system seemed to realize it had only increased the player’s interest and chose to fall completely silent, unwilling to make another sound.

Su Lai asked one more thing.
“If an employee’s property is stolen, is that also my Security department’s responsibility?”

Though reluctant, the system dutifully gave a definite answer.
[Yes.]

Su Lai: “Then I’m relieved.”

[……]

At the same time, Su Lai carried a bowl of gutter oil, his flip-flops slapping, and walked openly towards the Admin Director.
The other noticed him and kept glancing from the corner of his eye, unable to sit still.

Su Lai, as if no one else was there, stood at the director’s table. He lifted his hand, fingers slightly tilted. The cooled gutter oil flowed from the inclined bowl, pouring over the director’s head.

For a moment, the cafeteria air congealed.
All the dull chatter stopped abruptly. Shocked or sympathetic gazes turned in unison towards the Admin department.

Bai Ke, sensitive to workplace gazes, could clearly feel that beneath these seemingly sympathetic looks lurked the strongly satisfying of onlookers.
Who in the workplace wouldn’t want to see a fussy supervisor get a bowl of oil poured over his head by a security guard?

The Admin Director was stunned, unable to process what had just happened.

Su Lai struck first, his tone casual.
“Sorry. Hand slipped. Got gutter oil on you.”

The oil in the bowl kept dripping, quickly soaking the director’s white shirt, staining it with a large patch of brown oil.

Was this just “getting some on you”?
Could this be explained so casually?

Bai Ke, who had navigating the workplace for years, quietly gave his cousin a thumbs-up.
Now, no colleague cared about Bai Ke and his wontons. Su Lai had become the focus of attention.

Under the shock, the thick, wall-like exhaustion on the Admin Director’s face finally vanished into thin air. Now, shocked and angry, he looked more like a living person.
“Y-y-y-you are——!”

Su Lai: “Hello. I’m the security guard here.”
That 「hello」 was said as a matter of course.

He even shook his hand like the cafeteria auntie shaking her ladle, pouring the last bits of oil all over the director.

Not a drop wasted.

[Temporary player Wang Xiaosi, please note! Your actions have angered a high-ranking NPC. This is not conducive to unity and cooperation between departments. It violates the company’s culture of solidarity and fraternity.]
[Based on the actual situation in the instance, your Corporate Culture Concentration is rapidly dropping!]
[Please note! If your Corporate Culture Concentration is too low, it will be disfavorable for a new employee’s survival in the workplace. Please regulate your words and actions. Avoid becoming a 「misfit」 in your colleagues’ eyes.]

The system seemed very concerned about the player’s 「Corporate Culture Concentration」 value, emphasizing it repeatedly.

Su Lai: “Oh. Looks like it’s already too late.”

System: [……]
[Please try to make amends for your rudeness. Rebuild your civilized and friendly image as a new employee in the company.]

Su Lai even curled his lips.
“No problem.”
He planned to “humbly” accept the system’s advice.

“Y-y-y-you——!” The oil-drenched director was still sputtering.

Su Lai was very direct, his tone sincere.
“How much was the shirt? I’ll pay for it.”
He signaled to Bai Ke. Bai Ke understood and immediately pulled out a thick stack of cash.

He was getting good at being this cousin. From the urban village to Fortuitous Retribution Building, he kept paying his way out of problems for his cousin.
After all, the only reason he had this money was because Lai-ge had saved his life.

The Admin Director choked and reluctantly named a price. Bai Ke quickly counted out the cash and handed it over.

Problems that could be solved with real-world money were small problems.
For Bai Ke, who had just earned a retirement fund from the last instance, this tyrant’s declaration was true.

Now, he had money to burn, but lacked the life to spend it.
Paying for his life was only natural.

Su Lai: “I suggest you go to the bathroom and change your shirt.”

“I don’t need your suggestion! I know what to do!” The furious Admin Director rushed off to the cafeteria bathroom.

Su Lai had already scouted. The bathroom stalls in the building had no shelves. If you wanted to change, you had to put your things by the sink.

The Admin Director had his privileges. He took a spare uniform from a locker and went into the bathroom to change.

To change the oil-soaked shirt, he had to temporarily remove his ID badge.
Su Lai casually turned off the corridor surveillance. He also went to the bathroom to wash the gutter oil off his hands.

“Activate item: 「An Employee ID Card with Missing Information.」”
This was the special item he had found while patrolling the 11th floor. He guessed it was 911’s old ID card. Due to age or other unknown reasons, the employee information on the card had disappeared. In his hands, it was a blank card.

As the deceased senior of the Security department, 911 had given him this information-lost ID card.

[Special item 「An Employee ID Card with Missing Information」 activated.]
[Please enter the employee information in the correct format.]
[Note! Once entered, the information is for viewing only. Work hour and position authority cannot be used.]

Su Lai didn’t care. It was a pirated card. He couldn’t ask for too much. As long as it looked the part.

He copied the Admin Director’s (844) information onto the item card.
After confirming the bathroom was empty, he silently swapped the ID cards.

****

Cafeteria Dining Area.

The incident of the new security guard pouring gutter oil on the Admin Director had become the freshest “side dish” for the employees.

On his way back from the bathroom, the system sent another prompt——

[Temporary player Wang Xiaosi, your uncivilized behavior has attracted the attention of many building employees.]
[And has brought strongly satisfying to the majority of employees. You have unlocked the hidden achievement: 「A New Colleague Beloved by Beasts of Burden.」]
[This hidden achievement will help increase your popularity in the workplace.]
[The system detects that your Corporate Culture Concentration is slowly rising. Congratulations.]

The system’s 「congratulations」 was said reluctantly.

It seemed this Admin Director had accumulated quite a bit of resentment. These NPC employees might feign shock and sympathy, but they were secretly gloating.
Whether in an urban village or a beast-of-burden workplace, gossip was always beloved. Dead or alive.

The rule emphasizing 「Solidarity and fraternity are part of the company culture」 was indeed literal. Which employees to unite with, who to be friendly to, who to please—there was a lot of room for interpretation. Players could operate freely.

Meanwhile, a bewildered Bai Ke saw Su Lai return to the dining area and hurried over.
“Lai-ge, are you okay?”

Su Lai: “Great.”

Bai Ke nervously looked behind him.
“You didn’t… kill our department director, did you?”
He mimed a throat-slitting motion.

Su Lai looked at him, speechless.
“Violence can’t solve workplace problems.”
“Besides, I’m a proper security guard.”

Bai Ke: “…”
“What really happened?” He had a faint suspicion. After all, that director had made his afternoon hell.

Su Lai teased him.
“Cousin, remember Article 9 of the New Employee Handbook?”

Bai Ke nodded. He knew it by heart.
“Solidarity and fraternity are part of the company culture. There is no backstabbing within the team.”

Su Lai, holding the swapped ID badge, nodded.
“A generous superior treating their adorable subordinates to lunch is also a manifestation of solidarity and fraternity, right?”